[Big Mac]

Am I too ambitious? Too ambitious for my own good perhaps? I may not be doing as much as some others, but here's what I have on my plate:

1) Major business
2) Second major business (currently going for licensure)
3) Vice presidency of prominent not-for-profit organization
4) Side business

The main problem I have is that I feel like I want to get my long term goals accomplished immediately, right now! And there's an urgency to it all. I find it hard to relax at times. Do you ever feel like there's just so much to do and so little time?

[Railroader]

If you think you are too ambitious, then you are. Don't worry about what others think.

And lastly, if you think your busy now... wait until you have a family and a career.

[imitchellg5]

No I don't think you are too ambitious. Just be patient. It's hard sometimes even for a 16 year old like me to get so excited for the future and just want to do everything now. Brutus hath told you that Caesar was ambitious and Brutus is an honourable man. Caesar hath wept when the poor hath cried? In this did Caesar seem ambitious? But Brutus hath said that Caesar was ambitious, and Brutus is an honourable man.

[Cold Warrior]

Maybe not too ambitious - perhaps at risk of over-extending yourself or resources.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

No I don't think you are too ambitious. Just be patient. It's hard sometimes even for a 16 year old like me to get so excited for the future and just want to do everything now.

Thank you, mitchell. Boy, I wonder. Sometimes I wish I could go a decade or so back. I could have done many things differently, but then, it's possible that no matter what a person does he or she always second guesses it. Now I'm going to give some advice to you. My advice to you is, strike a balance between achievement and enjoyment at your age. Try to enjoy your high school years. I know I wouldn't have taken mine so seriously. It sounds like you're almost as frantic about things as I am, and you should not be. It's probably hard to take that advice to heart, but you'll have a lot of time to be concerned with achievement. At your age, focus on long term goals and how to go in that direction rather than getting too absorbed in petty concerns, while enjoying life with friends and family. Cherish your parents (as long as they're decent).

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Thank you, mitchell. Boy, I wonder. Sometimes I wish I could go a decade or so back. I could have done many things differently, but then, it's possible that no matter what a person does he or she always second guesses it. Now I'm going to give some advice to you. My advice to you is, strike a balance between achievement and enjoyment at your age. Try to enjoy your high school years. I know I wouldn't have taken mine so seriously. It sounds like you're almost as frantic about things as I am, and you should not be. It's probably hard to take that advice to heart, but you'll have a lot of time to be concerned with achievement. At your age, focus on long term goals and how to go in that direction rather than getting too absorbed in petty concerns, while enjoying life with friends and family. Cherish your parents (as long as they're decent).

Thanks for the advice! It is very hard to find the balance between achievement and enjoyment. My parents are a great asset though. They are excellent and always encouraging.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Thanks for the advice! It is very hard to find the balance between achievement and enjoyment. My parents are a great asset though. They are excellent and always encouraging.

You're welcome. And that's great to hear. (Remember, we all get a short time on this earth, and our parents are a lot older than we are. Do the math.) As far as that balance is concerned, you're an overachiever I'm sure. My advice about school is that, if you really love it and do well, then do overachieve but also try to have some sort of life aside from academics. If you like school but it's stressful, don't stress as much. I stressed throughout middle and high school. I was a little more relaxed in college but only a bit. I have now found that given the unexpected career path I have taken, my degree and certainly everything before it matters a lot less than I expected. My experience is highly dependent on the major I chose and the career path I subsequently took. And my outlook may change if and when I decide to go back to school for graduate work, but right now that's the way things look.

I said you should be thinking about long-term goals so that you can chart out what kind of degree you'll want in order to maximize your employment options and earning power. Yet, I have to point out that my long-term goal of going to law school was scuttled (at least for the foreseeable future) after I got a taste of what the legal profession actually entailed. Our perspective change as we mature (duh), so the "best laid plans of men often go awry." Try to keep that in mind. Oh, and do go to school dances - they're fun. That's my advice to you my young friend, FWIW.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

I'm the most unambitious guy ever, and look where it got me...nowhere, that's where, nowhere.

Just add that loose change to the rest.

greg

[Mastrap]

Are you too ambitious, or are you simply showing off?

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Mastrap 

Are you too ambitious, or are you simply showing off?

That's not what I was trying to do, I assure you Mastrap. I have businesses and a lot to do every day but I'm not wealthy, yet.

[PER3]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

That's not what I was trying to do, I assure you Mastrap. I have businesses and a lot to do every day but I'm not wealthy, yet.

Wans't he replying to ShortcutToMoncton?

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Thanks for the advice! It is very hard to find the balance between achievement and enjoyment. My parents are a great asset though. They are excellent and always encouraging.

You'll shoot your eye out, kid.

[::maroma::]

Nah, you're not too ambitious. Doing all that stuff just means you'll die earlier than most of us. No biggie.

[design219]

What, you don't want to be an astronaut too?

[Zeeb]

While you guys are all out achieving I'm going to sit in front of the TV with a beer and pint of Ben & Jerry's.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Zeeb 

While you guys are all out achieving I'm going to sit in front of the TV with a beer and pint of Ben & Jerry's.

You know, I am basically doing the same thing, but I am only able to do it because I over-achieved for a while.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by PER3 

Wans't he replying to ShortcutToMoncton?

I doubt it. I said I was unambitious.

Which was mostly a lie. But I did get nowhere.

greg

[invisibleX]

What exactly are your goals? The things you list don't really guage ambition; I know people who simply have no/vague goals but overload themselves, overexert themselves, and at the end of the day don't have much to show for it.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by invisibleX 

What exactly are your goals? The things you list don't really guage ambition; I know people who simply have no/vague goals but overload themselves, overexert themselves, and at the end of the day don't have much to show for it.

My financial goal is to, as of now (in my mid-20s), build my two independent businesses so that they both clear 6 figures per year starting this year and, by ten years from now if not sooner, clear 7 figures each per year. I also want to keep my commitment to the not-for-profit because it's near and dear to my heart. I may drop the side business if my main ones are producing as I want them to. I know those goals are readily if not easily achievable, and the question is whether I can keep up with them.

[Zeeb]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

My financial goal is to, as of now (in my mid-20s), build my two independent businesses so that they both clear 6 figures per year starting this year and, by ten years from now if not sooner, clear 7 figures each per year. I also want to keep my commitment to the not-for-profit because it's near and dear to my heart. I may drop the side business if my main ones are producing as I want them to. I know those goals are readily if not easily achievable, and the question is whether I can keep up with them.

I know a few people who work quite hard to get one business going to the point where it is profitable. You want to build not one but two independent businesses and get them both profitable to the point where they both clear 6 figures per year? I'm not saying its impossible--but do you have an idea as to what these business are going to be? If you don't have a clear plan with financial backing I would have to say I'm skeptical.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Zeeb 

I know a few people who work quite hard to get one business going to the point where it is profitable. You want to build not one but two independent businesses and get them both profitable to the point where they both clear 6 figures per year? I'm not saying its impossible--but do you have an idea as to what these business are going to be? If you don't have a clear plan with financial backing I would have to say I'm skeptical.

I understand, Zeeb. Yes, these are attainable goals. My primary business is as a professional securities trader, and it's easily profitable on a daily basis as long as I'm doing things correctly. The second business is as an independent contractor with a major national corporation, and they paint a very rosy picture of the revenue and residual income that contractors can generate in that capacity. (The income potential is so high that most reps retire in 10 years with fully vested retirement plans.)

[PER3]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

I understand, Zeeb. Yes, these are attainable goals. My primary business is as a professional securities trader, and it's easily profitable on a daily basis as long as I'm doing things correctly. The second business is as an independent contractor with a major national corporation, and they paint a very rosy picture of the revenue and residual income that contractors can generate in that capacity. (The income potential is so high that most reps retire in 10 years with fully vested retirement plans.)

Sounds like you're bored out of your brain.

Sounds like you just imagined the day you died, at which you said to yourself, "I made lots of money! It was great! At one stage, I even posted on a forum that I wasn't certain if I was trying hard enough! I mean, I was working so hard on my projects that I just had to project that maybe I wasn't working hard enough on my projects!! That's like, I had no sweat making loot and was pretty confident about it and reaaly enjoying the things in life that my earnings provided, that I had to ask strangers if it wasn't all going so well!!! "

I'm bored, too. Do you have anything you enjoy doing?

[Monique]

There is no such thing as too ambitious. Great things are accomplished by people who dare, not those who hesitate.

For example, last year I gathered care packages for soldiers in Afghanistan from all our offices in the West. This year I want to do the entire country. Someone told me not to chance it, what I did last year was great but I could fail this year. You know what I do not care, I will succeed this year and will be an example for those who dare do something special.

[Railroader]

Very impressive Monique.

[Angus_D]

If you're asking for personal advice on here, you're doomed to failure.

[smacintush]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

If you think you are too ambitious, then you are. Don't worry about what others think.

I can't agree with this more.