Lack of ambition

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I really just don't know what to do anymore. I'm failing two of my classes due to my lack of ambition. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with it? I tried setting attainable goals and achieving them, but I don't get that "mental high" people talk about. I really want to not fail out and have to switch schools and have to leave everything I know and love behind. I really need help with this!

I was so glad to discover I wasn't the only one when I came here to WP. It's downright unAmerican after all .

It has been a long time since I was in school, but I know the general boredom and lack of ambition that can accompany both the academic and the mundane ... and especially since I can really only learn things "hands-on" anyway. As best you can, keep your overall goal in mind while remembering the things in front of you now are all parts of what is required to eventually get there.

The fear of failure (and of the waste that it generates) slows me down a lot, but I'm not convinced that's such a bad thing. I think it's perfectly possible to burn yourself out by chasing unattainable rainbows.

One of the problems is that there's a lot of pressure to believe that any individual is capable of "getting to the top" when the truth is that most people who try will fail, because there's just not that much room up there. I'm more interested in carving out a reasonably comfortable niche for myself and making sure it doesn't fall apart. Nor is it particularly morally defensible to seek a better standard of living than one's peers. Your financial gain will be their loss.

On the other hand, I can soon get depressed if I'm not going after some kind of improvement. I'd rather spend an evening making something than just sitting there taking in entertainment. I just try to keep my goals feasible and finite, so that I stand a good chance of winning. I prefer to take small steps, one at a time, without focussing too much on the long view.

There's a horrible film I've forgotten the name of, in which this guy does nothing but work his butt off trying to be a top salesman. He gets accepted by a big firm that exploits him bigtime, with only vague promises that he might be picked for a top job one day. Of course in the film he gets his dream....supposed to be based on a true story, but for the vast majority of people it just wouldn't work. I felt more empathy for his wife, who got sick of being ignored and left him.

I'm sure that highly ambitious projects can be great fun, but without a robust feasibility assessment, I'd steer well clear. The average person achieves an average performance......I am not some kind of chosen one with magical powers, I just try to do what I do best. The key goal of humanity is survival, and if we can achieve that, then it's enough.

^
We obviously have different ideas about a few things......to answer your question, I think the decent business like you describe is the exception rather than the rule.

What I'm really trying to say is that people shouldn't feel gulity if they don't measure up to the current icons of success.

There's some truth in Chris Gardner's edict as long as it's not taken too far. There are things that we can't do, and these mantras can do a lot of harm if they're applied to the wrong situations.

Well, dunno about a complete lack. I do know that while i will aim for a goal, if i think its too obscene (meaning that im not going to drive myself into a rubber room over it) i will drop it. For example, while in school, my only goal was to do well in it. With the exception of the classes i liked, i aimed for the B+ grade range (when i graduated HS, i only made 1 C grade the whole time). Pretty much the same for college. If you make a goal, make sure its practical and obtainable with respect to your interests (i made the mistake of going into electrical engineering when i should have gone into math, chemistry, or computer engineering).

Odd thing.

I've had classes I hated but had to take, and it was a bugger to stay motivated, but I looked at a bigger goal...usually wanting a great GPA as motivation to get through and to do my best. Other classes, I had an interest in, so getting an A was my goal and easy to stay focused on.

However, in law school, I had an injury which made me take time off, and when I came back, my motivation was much less than it was. I didn't know if I wanted to finish. I just stuck with it because I didn't know what else to do. I got the same or better grades, but that's probably because I just relaxed and did the time. The option was a dead end job in town, so I was hoping things would get much better when I finished school.

Still, if I was totally unmotivated to do something, I could see the problem. I took the bar exam, but I had no interest in finishing it or taking the bar exam. I fought to make myself do it, and the chief motivation was a money back guarantee on the study class. To be eligible, I had to finish the prep class and take the exam. I got a refund if I didn't pass the exam (which I didn't...no surprise).