Ambition

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.

William Blake

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Most of us have been asked this question during our early years in school. Adults love to hear our answers as if we give them a glimpse of who we will become.

But you know the story.

Somehow, people forget about their dreams when they get to high school. They felt lost. They start to doubt themselves.

My experience was a bit different, though. I love to talk about my ambitions. But when you are an informal settler ( iskwater in tagalog), people around you don’t take you seriously. That’s because very few get to finish high school.

When I said, for example, that I intend to get a college degree, my friends laughed. How one, whose family cannot afford to have three meals in a day, can have ambitions?

Whatever your station in life is, do not be afraid to hold a bold ambition. To achieve anything in life, hitch your wagon to a star.

I need to take a second look at this quotation for this can be interpreted in many ways. Some people with a fixed mindset can even think that this shows the incapability of an individual to achieve his dreams alone.

But since we are talking about life ambition, I see it differently.

You are your limit.

You can fly as high as you want as long as you keep using your wings. Consider all your assets and everything that you have.

You can use all you’ve got to achieve your dreams. Your wings can be your assets. Your determination, skills, and willingness to brave the storm can be your assets.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can be great.

Mark Twain

Surround yourself with successful people if you want a successful life. They will understand you because they’ve been where you are.

Most of them were ambitious and it is likely that they remain ambitious to this day.

Last night, I was in a conversation with the CEO of Health Code International. I admire him because he is very successful. But during our three-hour conversation, I learned that he is very ambitious too.

He is humble. But his ambition for his company and the people it serves is very ambitious.

I realized that he has the ability to 10x his business because he has the willingness to sacrifice many things for his ambitions.

Society often forgives the criminal but it never forgives the dreamer.

Oscar Wilde

When Robredo lost the elections of 2022, this quote became clear to me.

Dreamers want transformation. They are against the same-same world of corrupt practices in the government. Someone who campaigns on the platform of governance is the enemy of everyone who believes that they must stay in power forever.

People are blind to the truth that those whom we considered criminals a few years ago are the ones in power today.

Oscar Wilde must be laughing at us.