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> What do you do when you believe that you can do great things but something that you have no control over is holding you back? You believe that you are good at

> What do you do when you believe that you can do great things but something that you have no control over is holding you back? You believe that you are good at what you do and are meant for great things but you have to do your job even though it doesn't do justice to your capabilities. How do you cope with that? Seeing your future as an underachiever pains you. What do you do? It sounds like your someone with ambition. You know you're capable of great things and wouldn't be satisfied with anything less. I'm like that too and I thought a lot about it. IMO, the ultimate goal is to be happy, so the natural question is how these ambitions translate to happiness and whether you could do better by taking another approach to happiness. Other approaches might work for other people, but I suspect that they wouldn't work for people with true ambitions. I suspect that people with true ambitions are so driven and motivated to do big things that they won't really be able to rid themselves of these thoughts. If you try to settle down into some nice relaxing lifestyle where you should be happy, you'll always be haunted by the thoughts that you could/should be doing something better. Note: I'm saying "suspect" a lot because I'm only 21 and am not too confident in this hypothesis. So if you're ambitions are a core part of you, I suspect that it's best to pursue them. And if you need to get yourself some stability in the short term, don't worry about it. Do what you can with what you have, and think long-term. - - - Also, I hate the idea that smart and ambitious people can't pursue their ambitions because they need to pay the bills. I wrote about it here - https://medium.com/p/f4902d078f58 https://medium.com/p/f4902d078f58. I think you'll be able to relate.

RogerL 12y ago
May I prescribe a course in reading? Read Zola's Germinal. Read Moby Dick. Leaves of Grass. Pride and Prejudice. King Lear. Les Miserables. Lysistrata. The Odyssey. Anything great. We all (for reasonable values of 'all') yearn. It's the human condition. "true ambitions" suggests a fairly naive view of the world. To put this in context. Almost everyone who ever lived has died of starvation, a broken leg, an infection, or by being eaten, if they somehow made it through childbirth and the next 3 years of helplessness. Everyone. Even today, most people work selling shoes or insurance, or assembling things in a factory for 12 hours. As I stand here at my expensive stand up desk, outside some guy is driving a lawn mower around with a bandana around his face to inadequately protect him from the flying dust. I hope your mental model of all these people is not a lack of 'true ambition'. We all yearn. I guess you can put yourself on a pedestal and conclude that you are different than everyone else, or recognize your brother/sisterhood, and try to learn what life is about. You have 80 years left if you are extremely, outrageously lucky. I'm not saying don't strive, but I am arguing for perspective into the human condition. We all yearn. Life is limited. The air is beautiful today, and your wife wants some attention. Live it, instead of lamenting that you are such an incredibly special snowflake that being at the very, very top of opportunity for humans in the history of the world just isn't good enough for you. The people that just died in Typhoon Halong deserved more. We all do, but we don't get it. Take what you can, embrace the bittersweet, and live. It's all going away soon. I think you'll be happier that way. To the person I am replying to: I am more riffing off the things you said, than replying to you specifically. You may be perfectly happy. No disrespect intended. edit: I yearn too. I'm not dismissing the feelings of the OP, but pointing out that it is pretty darn universal. I've found that viewpoint incredibly helpful for my own life; perhaps the people reading will as well.

RogerL 12y ago

May I prescribe a course in reading? Read Zola's Germinal. Read Moby Dick. Leaves of Grass. Pride and Prejudice. King Lear. Les Miserables. Lysistrata. The Odyssey. Anything great. We all (for reasonable values of 'all') yearn. It's the human condition. "true ambitions" suggests a fairly naive view of the world. To put this in context. Almost everyone who ever lived has died of starvation, a broken leg, an infection, or by being eaten, if they somehow made it through childbirth and the next 3 years of helplessness. Everyone. Even today, most people work selling shoes or insurance, or assembling things in a factory for 12 hours. As I stand here at my expensive stand up desk, outside some guy is driving a lawn mower around with a bandana around his face to inadequately protect him from the flying dust. I hope your mental model of all these people is not a lack of 'true ambition'. We all yearn. I guess you can put yourself on a pedestal and conclude that you are different than everyone else, or recognize your brother/sisterhood, and try to learn what life is about. You have 80 years left if you are extremely, outrageously lucky. I'm not saying don't strive, but I am arguing for perspective into the human condition. We all yearn. Life is limited. The air is beautiful today, and your wife wants some attention. Live it, instead of lamenting that you are such an incredibly special snowflake that being at the very, very top of opportunity for humans in the history of the world just isn't good enough for you. The people that just died in Typhoon Halong deserved more. We all do, but we don't get it. Take what you can, embrace the bittersweet, and live. It's all going away soon. I think you'll be happier that way. To the person I am replying to: I am more riffing off the things you said, than replying to you specifically. You may be perfectly happy. No disrespect intended. edit: I yearn too. I'm not dismissing the feelings of the OP, but pointing out that it is pretty darn universal. I've found that viewpoint incredibly helpful for my own life; perhaps the people reading will as well.