Pragmatic desires and wordly desires
Ambition involves desires for future circumstances that you deem worth pursuing and dreaming about. Desires can be mimetic, meaning that they are influenced by the people in your sphere of contact. Luke Burgis explains this concept extensively in his book, Mimetic Desires. Social media culture has exacerbated the influence of mimetic desires on your life. Exposure to the desires of many more individuals molds your own desires as a consequence of that exposure.
Ambition is the desire to achieve a specific objective at some point in the future. Ambition can be vague and imprecise or focused and precise. In the Western world, describing someone as "ambitious" is generally viewed as a positive attribute because it implies an intrinsic motivation to pursue and achieve objectives, without being demoralized by possible failures along the way. Ambition is nothing without resilience.
In Eastern philosophy, ambition and desires are considered two of the core sources of suffering in human existence. Desires take you away from the present moment, which is all that matters in meditation and broader Eastern philosophies. Therefore, fully internalizing the idea of detaching oneself from desiring can be a life-changing realization, as long as it is not made into a desire itself (e.g., desiring to detach oneself from desires). You can focus diligently on what is in front of you right now, paying close attention to it and not worrying about what your life will look like in five years, as it appears to others.
In this podcast episode, Cal Newport presents a middle-ground mental model for ambition: pragmatic ambition. This ladder of ambition is reachable, rewarding in the medium to long term, and a source of consistent gratitude. Pragmatic ambition involves mastering the art of goal-setting, without solely seeking stretch goals, and accepting the reality in front of you. It is often lifestyle-centered and can improve your life satisfaction in the short to medium term. Pragmatic ambition represents the next goalpost in your life that you can visualize from a distance but haven’t completely reached yet. According to Newport, pragmatic desires can be a great source of meaning and a sense of tangible progress in your life, something everyone needs. When you stack your pragmatic desires over time, you can notice a long tail of compounded progress, similar to the impact of consistent habits.
Ambition is a complex and multifaceted concept that can lead to both positive and negative outcomes. While it can motivate individuals to pursue and achieve their goals, it can also be a source of suffering and dissatisfaction. To find a healthy balance, one can strive for pragmatic ambition, which involves setting reasonable and achievable goals that provide a sense of progress and meaning in life. By focusing on the present moment and embracing our finitude, we can cultivate a sense of gratitude and contentment while still pursuing our dreams.