Ambition ≠ Greed – Mitchell News

Glenda @ Mitchell News

Be intentional about what you choose to do. Be intentional about actually doing it.

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Ambition ≠ Greed

Baking a Bigger Pie

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*Hot Off The Press*

After a busy month in January, February gave me time to take a breath. On the work front anyway. Moving into a house with a large garden has required a shift in priorities. Following record breaking rainfall, the weeds have been taking over. So, we’re working with a horticulturalist and garden services to conquer the unwanted plants. Not only have I had to take my own advice about realigning priorities, I have had to learn to cope with not being in control and not having a picture-perfect English country garden. Instead, I am learning to embrace having a working garden that produces bananas, passion fruit, pineapples, tomatoes and more. Enjoying the abundance of birdlife is a definite perk of living in a home amongst the trees. I am still struggling to like the bats that pay us a visit – reminding myself that they are good for the garden. Apparently they can eat enough pests to reduce the dependence on pesticides – link to bats & butterflies.

During the period, I attended a local workshop run by the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. The Changemakers Workshop presented leaders with models and tools to promote progress and innovation in the region. It was a great opportunity to meet leaders in the area, learn / revisit some models of change and to learn more about the strengths and challenges facing my new community.

I am excited to announce that I have rescheduled the previously postponed group coaching series. An added bonus: I will be running two cohorts simultaneously, one on a Tuesday and the other on a Thursday. The Tuesday instance is for those that wish to get underway before Easter and begins on 18 March 2025. The Thursday session will commence on 8 May 2025. If you haven’t already done so, check out the website for more detail – link to live life with intention passion. From there, you can register your interest or book yourself on the series. Any questions, please reach out.

My Travel & Adventure blog is starting to gain traction.

Substack – Travel & Adventure

I have started another one on Life & Leadership, someof which will be a repeat of what you receive in this newsletter, particularly in the early days.

Substack – Life & Leadership

If there are any topics that you would like me to explore or if you would like to be a “guest” writer on either blog, let me know.

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*Baking a Bigger Pie”

When did ambition become a four-letter word?

Think of the last time you used the word “ambitious” to describe yourself or another person. Was it in an entirely positive context? Did it sound a little cringy even when it was meant to be a compliment?

Ambitious looks like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Hillary Clinton. Perhaps Donald Trump. Regardless of your view about their politics or business practices, most of us equate their ambition with greed — an ego driven bottomless pit of desire.

Calling someone ambitious carries multiple connotations and if we’re being honest, many of us don’t want to be publicly recognised and lauded as being ambitious.

I’m going to call it……go for full disclosure…..

Many of my friends and peers are ambitious. We slaved away in our 20s and 30s in the urban hustle-and-bustle culture to create our own mini-empires. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, bankers, management consultants and business owners.

At face value, any stranger would think we’re “successful” in the conventional sense. We kept climbing the ladder, whether it’s the fixed corporate steps or one we’ve built for ourselves leading to an unknown mountain peak.

Even though I’m “retired” from full time corporate ladder-climbing, I’m still hiking up my own trail (but no longer for a fixed salary).

I still relish helping my clients – companies and individuals – achieve success.

I was recently asked about whether my clients shared any common personality traits.

I hesitated because I could not think of a short, easy answer. Each client is unique.

The truth is that I currently have clients ranging from 28 to 75 years in age and they vary in gender, nationality and just about every other classification you can conceive.

Whether it’s the mother of three small children who wants to express herself more fully in the world, the father starting a small business after working in a large corporate his whole career, or the retired previous owner of a one of the largest transport companies in Australia, they do all share one unmistakable trait.

Every single one of them is unapologetically ambitious.

There is a fire burning inside each of them! A fire that if stoked masterfully, can help them reach their own meaningful life goals while being a source of endless inspiration to others.

Ambition is a critical value to drive one towards success. “Success” is of course subjective, but it’s whatever you define as an improvement.

The pursuit of more

I’ve been what many refer to as a high achiever all my life. Whether in business, sport or as an adventure seeking world traveller, I’ve been driven by my quest for excellence. To take it literally, I do actually look for a mountain peak to summit wherever I go.

Eventually, will there be a point when it’s “enough”? When I’ve had enough, when I’ve experienced enough, when I’ve done enough. Or is there ever an end?

Enough is a vague and tenuous thing.

The concept of “enough” is…elusive. Just as you think you have reached your “enough,” you find yourself transformed by the very journey of getting there. After climbing up your steep staircase of success, you now occupy an entirely different worldview.

And with each step upwards on the ladder, the “old” version of you becomes an inferior, forgotten, barely-recognizable doppelganger.

This is a gradual process up the ladder, and each successive “mini-world” is an entirely new paradigm. Until you end up with a mentality where you may no longer even relate to a prior version of yourself.

Is a desire for more the same as greed?

“Enough is one dollar more” is a phrase often used to illustrate the idea that people often want “just a little bit more,” even when they seemingly have enough, similar to the famous response of John D. Rockefeller when asked how much money is enough, he replied “Just a little bit more”.

It wears like an invisible cloak, blending seamlessly into the fabric of modern culture. It silently seeps into our desires, clouds our judgment, and distorts our values. Greed always seeks more—more validation, more status, more comfort, more things.

But the irony of greed is this: the more possessions, status, or validation we gain, the more we can be left dissatisfied.

What drives greed? Fear of Scarcity or a fear of not having enough can lead to greedy behaviour. Whether rational or irrational, this fear drives individuals to hoard as a form of security.

Ambition vs. Greed: making the distinction.

When filtering for clients, I actively look for personality traits that include a high level of ambition and the existence of little to no greed.

Let me share five distinctions between ambition and greed.

Greed wants a bigger slice of the pie — ambition is all about baking a bigger pie.
Greed is outward focused and has something to prove to others — ambition is internally focused and has something to prove to the person themselves.
Greed does not understand the word, “enough” — ambition does.
Greed is rooted in a scarcity mindset — ambition is rooted in an abundance mindset.
Greed wants more — ambition creates more.

People who are ambitious strive to achieve goals and they often desire success; however, they are ambitious, not greedy, if their achievements and goals are attained for the greater good and without harming others.

For example, if you pursue a higher degree in your field because you have always dreamed of furthering your education, you want to attain a better quality of life for your family and you’d like to be a leader in your industry, you are ambitious. You are working toward goals that not only improve your life but also the lives of others, and you are not hurting anyone on the way.

On the other hand, if you register for classes on a whim because you’re bored, or you decide you want a degree because it will make you look good and maybe give you an edge, that could be selfish, thoughtless greed.

Confirm good intentions

Striving for goals and caring about others simultaneously, we can avoid greed while being ambitious. We may just need to constantly check our intentions and reevaluate our actions.

If you ever feel uncertain about your intentions and you want to confirm you’re being ambitious and not greedy, ask yourself questions like these:

What are my goals?
By achieving these goals, who do I help?
By achieving these goals, who do I hurt?
What great things do I want to accomplish in life?

The answers to these questions and the thought process you go through to find resolution should offer some clarity.

That said, in my opinion there will always be an element of subjectivity. There also seems to be a natural dispensation to cross the line or even to move the line so it’s likely something to keep revisiting. It’s not what other people think you are, it’s what you believe you are. And those in your life that are most important to you.

So, should we be ambitious?

Sometimes people feel confused or guilty about being ambitious. There is desire to appear humble. There is a pressure to live in an egalitarian society. If that’s the case, why would we even want to be ambitious?

Bad ambition is desiring power and status for selfish reasons, wanting to achieve things for personal gain at the expense of others is unhealthy. Good ambition helps others, or at least doesn’t harm anyone. Unhealthy ambition disrupts your life, and throws your life balance off, for a sustained period of time.

If my definition of healthy ambition resonates with you, stop apologising for it. Embrace it. You can be ambitious without being greedy.

Perhaps the world needs people like you to bake a bigger pie for all to enjoy.

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*The 7Ps – To be intentional about what you choose to do and intentional about actually doing it”

Success can be in anything that you are passionate about. If you’re determined to be successful in any area of your life, embrace the ambition and do it. And encourage others around you to do the same. You will end up with a bigger pie to share.

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*Quote of the Month*

” Ambition is at the very core of success and extraordinary achievement. Unlike greed, it’s a powerful, creative and constructive force.”

– Jim Rohn –

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*Kicking Out The Bucket List*

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