On being unambitious
Why I am okay with never working again
I recently had a call with an old acquaintance who wanted to know what I was up to and what I planned to do next. Like me, he had tried to acquire and operate a company earlier in his career, and since then he has been involved in a variety of entrepreneurial endeavors. Like an increasing number of graduates from top MBA programs, he attempted something entrepreneurial early on that did not quite stick, and then seemingly got stuck in the difficult mud of exceedingly high professional expectations (internally and externally) without much to show for it.
I think I surprised him when I told him that I had no big plans for the future. I was burnt out from trying to create positive social change within society over the prior 13 years, at significant health, legal, and financial costs to myself. I was now on an extended sabbatical and focused on being a good dad and a husband, toying with some low-stress projects to try to generate income for the family, and that I may never work again. That I was now entirely unambitious.
I am not entirely unambitious, though. I am just unambitious in relation to the career, financial, and power expectations of some of the circles I’ve run in in the past (e.g., West Point, Stanford, New York City, finance).
As an aside, I recently stumbled across a newsletter called
. It is a newsletter for “career superstars” who are “fathers inspired to lead in their careers AND at home with their children.” Interestingly, two of the dads mentioned in one of the posts I read were people I knew, one from West Point and one from Stanford. Even though I am unambitious by the newsletter’s definition, I still subscribed to it and look forward to seeing what insights the author is able to glean.What I am very ambitious about, however, is being able to fully support my child’s growth and development within an oppressive society that is hostile to youth. I have learned far too much about schooling and the structures of society to not stay at home with my child when I do not need to work a full-time job to survive.
I am sure that as my child gets older, and the demands on me as a stay-at-home dad ease up, that I will venture back into non-fatherly related ambitions. For example, I still want to contribute to meaningful movements. I still want to build healthy organizations. I still want to provide financial security for my family.
I just do not want to do any of those things right now. And most likely never as an employee.
Recent podcast:
Vawisai is the Way On language in movements (and a lot of other stuff)
Click on the the above Rethinking Self-Directed Education podcast episode that I recently participated in.
On language in movements (and a lot of other stuff) w/Antonio Buehler
What’s missing from the term Self-Directed Education? What could an alternative term be? Who holds the lines on the values in movements and communities, and why? Will Bria finally accept that Vawisai is the way? And are all terms and movements destined to be co-opted?
Join us as we talk about terms, language, distinctions, dogma, and co-option,. We also throw in some comparisons between SDE movements and police abolition movements, because how could we not!