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Does Being Grateful Kill Your Ambition?

In this week’s episode of LOVELife, I discuss the conflict of ambition and gratitude.

Does satisfaction and feelings of gratitude sap your drive and leave you less hungry? Check out the video to see how I reconcile the two..

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9 Replies to “Does Being Grateful Kill Your Ambition?”

  • Either you wrote this just for me or we are one person! Did that come out right? No lie me and my girlfriend were talking about this last night and I feel if you want to find true happiness then you need to find a way to be grateful even if your life is pure crazyness and chaos find the good and good will find you. I have been totally struggling with the whole being content thing because I know there’s more out there but I’ve noticed when I get to a place where I just feel like things could never be better that’s when they get better. Crazy huh?
    Change of subject! I can’t believe it’s been worst 3 years since I met you on that stage. That was such a crazy summer. Good things are yet to come my friend and it would be awesome if we got to experience some of them together;)
    I hope your Christmas was wonderful here’s to 2015

  • You are almost there, Matt. Please check out Abraham Hicks on YouTube. You are already aware of the law of attraction or you have skimmed it recently. You are almost there so please review the teachings. I know they have helped me to move toward happiness. : )

  • Great points, Matthew. I also thought about this subject before like some of the other commenters.

    I think, especially in the first world countries, people are never satisfied with what they have. They complain if it is too cold, too hot, if it doesn’t snow in Christmas, if their coffee is not hot enough, if the food comes late in the restaurant, if they can’t find the proper size of that pair of shoes in the store, when they have a minor headache…so on. They just complain non-stop about trivial things. I don’t like being around this kind of people in my personal life. Because, it drains my energy. They are not grateful themselves, but they advise everyone else to be grateful, because it sounds cool. They are hypocrites.

    The real grateful people don’t bitch about trivial issues, they get on with life, but they might strive to do better, not because they think they deserve better, but because they know they can do better. Why waste your talents when you know you can do better? So you were in this category in my opinion, Matthew. In the meantime, you’ve never lost a sight of reality, because you are a grateful person.

    You put it perfectly, “…because to me, truly being grateful and appreciating the opportunities you have is also to take some responsibility in making the most of the opportunities you have. If you say I am grateful for this day…then I also feel the weight, the responsibility of actually doing something with that opportunity.”

    In my life, there is always a goal to be accomplished- personal or career vice. Once I tackle a goal, I go for the next one. The more I accomplish the more I am grateful and vice versa. It works like a cycle. This mentality reflects on the romantic relationships too, of course. When you’re aware of your potential, you don’t want to sell yourself short. Not because you are not grateful, but because you know you deserve the greatest.

    Kiraz xx

    1. I don’t like people’s saying I deserve this, I deserve that, that is why I said “not because they think they deserve better”. We don’t really deserve anything, we just get what we work for. We are renting our space on this gorgeous planet, and no one owes us anything.

      As for partners though, it could be a nice complement. “I deserve you.” hmmm. Sounds nice. That would probably give him a big head though. lol. :-P

  • Great insight Matthew. Yes, gratitude isn’t about giving up and there’s a balancing act to be achieved between gratitude and expecting the most of ourselves. Thank you.

  • To be honest, I wasn’t sure where the conflict was between being grateful and being ambitious. You explained it well, but I don’t think being grateful is the same thing as being complacent, and it’s certainly not related to giving up. (The lack of ambition seems related to depression whereas being grateful promotes happiness and rids people of depression.) Being grateful increases one’s awareness and makes one sensitive to the opportunities that are all around, which your conclusion touches upon–and the overall message of this video is great.

    I’m not sure if you’ve ever looked into the 365grateful project, but it’s really inspiring. Gratitude is the best thing people can do to help themselves, and–more than that–help others. Being thankful is a paradox: the more thankful you are for what you have, the more you want to share with others.

    It’s amazing how being grateful for just three things a day will change your life.

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