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AMBITION

AMBITION

AMBITION

AMBITION

27.05.2025

ISSUE 08

ISSUE #03

4 MIN READ

In his memoir "Open," tennis champion Andre Agassi makes a confession that shatters our illusions about success:

"I hate tennis, hate it with all my heart, and still I keep playing, keep hitting all morning, and all afternoon, because I have no choice. No matter how much I want to stop, I don't. I keep begging myself to stop, and I keep playing, and this gap, this contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life."

Here was a man who reached the pinnacle of his sport while secretly despising the very thing that defined him to the world.
Ambition costs you before it pays you back. It takes your time, focus, and life energy right away, while the rewards come much later if at all.

In his memoir "Open," tennis champion Andre Agassi makes a confession that shatters our illusions about success:

"I hate tennis, hate it with all my heart, and still I keep playing, keep hitting all morning, and all afternoon, because I have no choice. No matter how much I want to stop, I don't. I keep begging myself to stop, and I keep playing, and this gap, this contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life."

Here was a man who reached the pinnacle of his sport while secretly despising the very thing that defined him to the world.
Ambition costs you before it pays you back. It takes your time, focus, and life energy right away, while the rewards come much later if at all.

In his memoir "Open," tennis champion Andre Agassi makes a confession that shatters our illusions about success:

"I hate tennis, hate it with all my heart, and still I keep playing, keep hitting all morning, and all afternoon, because I have no choice. No matter how much I want to stop, I don't. I keep begging myself to stop, and I keep playing, and this gap, this contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life."

Here was a man who reached the pinnacle of his sport while secretly despising the very thing that defined him to the world.
Ambition costs you before it pays you back. It takes your time, focus, and life energy right away, while the rewards come much later if at all.

In his memoir "Open," tennis champion Andre Agassi makes a confession that shatters our illusions about success:

"I hate tennis, hate it with all my heart, and still I keep playing, keep hitting all morning, and all afternoon, because I have no choice. No matter how much I want to stop, I don't. I keep begging myself to stop, and I keep playing, and this gap, this contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life."

Here was a man who reached the pinnacle of his sport while secretly despising the very thing that defined him to the world.
Ambition costs you before it pays you back. It takes your time, focus, and life energy right away, while the rewards come much later if at all.

In his memoir "Open," tennis champion Andre Agassi makes a confession that shatters our illusions about success:

"I hate tennis, hate it with all my heart, and still I keep playing, keep hitting all morning, and all afternoon, because I have no choice. No matter how much I want to stop, I don't. I keep begging myself to stop, and I keep playing, and this gap, this contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life."

Here was a man who reached the pinnacle of his sport while secretly despising the very thing that defined him to the world.
Ambition costs you before it pays you back. It takes your time, focus, and life energy right away, while the rewards come much later if at all.

The first thing you notice is how hard it gets to focus. Big projects need deep work. Each break hurts more because getting back into the flow takes longer. Yet our world seems built to break our focus with alerts, emails, and the pull of "urgent" small tasks. Over time, we make quiet deals with ourselves. We pick work that can survive the chaos rather than work that might really matter. We settle for what we can finish instead of what could be great. We think smaller because we've gotten used to working in bits and scraps of time.

The first thing you notice is how hard it gets to focus. Big projects need deep work. Each break hurts more because getting back into the flow takes longer. Yet our world seems built to break our focus with alerts, emails, and the pull of "urgent" small tasks. Over time, we make quiet deals with ourselves. We pick work that can survive the chaos rather than work that might really matter. We settle for what we can finish instead of what could be great. We think smaller because we've gotten used to working in bits and scraps of time.

The first thing you notice is how hard it gets to focus. Big projects need deep work. Each break hurts more because getting back into the flow takes longer. Yet our world seems built to break our focus with alerts, emails, and the pull of "urgent" small tasks. Over time, we make quiet deals with ourselves. We pick work that can survive the chaos rather than work that might really matter. We settle for what we can finish instead of what could be great. We think smaller because we've gotten used to working in bits and scraps of time.

The first thing you notice is how hard it gets to focus. Big projects need deep work. Each break hurts more because getting back into the flow takes longer. Yet our world seems built to break our focus with alerts, emails, and the pull of "urgent" small tasks. Over time, we make quiet deals with ourselves. We pick work that can survive the chaos rather than work that might really matter. We settle for what we can finish instead of what could be great. We think smaller because we've gotten used to working in bits and scraps of time.

The first thing you notice is how hard it gets to focus. Big projects need deep work. Each break hurts more because getting back into the flow takes longer. Yet our world seems built to break our focus with alerts, emails, and the pull of "urgent" small tasks. Over time, we make quiet deals with ourselves. We pick work that can survive the chaos rather than work that might really matter. We settle for what we can finish instead of what could be great. We think smaller because we've gotten used to working in bits and scraps of time.

This is true in projects, and it's just as true in life. The real price of ambition shows up in how you live each day. My life shrinks to fit my goals. Work fills my calendar, friends get quick texts instead of long talks, family dinners become chances to check email under the table. My body keeps score too. Sleep cut short, workouts skipped, tension locked in my shoulders, all while my mind whispers "just push through." The people I love learn to accept a version of me that's never fully there, always partly lost in plans and problems. By the time I look up from my work, I've missed birthdays, sunsets, and the quiet shifts in relationships that can't be scheduled for later.Even who I am shifts. My mind gets sharp in some ways but dull in others. I can solve hard problems but forget how to play. I get better at making things but worse at simply being here now.

~

All important things take time, they say, and I believe that. All important things are important because they require an obnoxious amount of the most valuable currency there is ; one's time and energy.
Ambition guides time and energy to something remarkable. But when there are strong currents testing your ambition all around, it is not easy to keep going. The costs of high aims come due every day, while the payoff might take years or decades. Choices I make today shape a future self I can barely picture.

At some point, the big question hits: Was the trade worth it? What I gained versus what I lost. There's no clear answer, but the question stays with me in quiet moments. Is the price worth it? I guess I will never know.

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© ITSIDDHARTH / 2023

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LOOP

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I would love to chat and hear what you thought about this little project so please don’t hesitate to say Hi.

© ITSIDDHARTH / 2023

STAY

IN

THE

LOOP

NO SPAM. OCCASIONAL CERTIFIED GOOD STUFF.

↑ SCROLL TO TOP

I would love to chat and hear what you thought about this little project so please don’t hesitate to say Hi.

© ITSIDDHARTH / 2023

STAY

IN

THE

LOOP

NO SPAM. OCCASIONAL CERTIFIED GOOD STUFF.

↑ SCROLL TO TOP

I would love to chat and hear what you thought about this little project so please don’t hesitate to say Hi.

© ITSIDDHARTH / 2023

STAY

IN

THE

LOOP

NO SPAM. OCCASIONAL CERTIFIED GOOD STUFF.

↑ SCROLL TO TOP

I would love to chat and hear what you thought about this little project so please don’t hesitate to say Hi.

© ITSIDDHARTH / 2023