[#046] My First Billion: Ambition is Overrated

I’ve been thinking a lot about ambition lately, and I think it's overrated.

Let me explain…

I started noticing how often everyone talks about “more” and I'm one who used to be obsessed with "more."

It was my whole growth strategy.

More leads, more clients, more offers, more ad spend, another funnel, more revenue. It was insatiable.

I get why everybody focuses on more.

Biologically, we're wired to believe that more resources create more security.

And societally, we've been conditioned to believe that more is evidence of Success.

Ambition is the one virtue everybody celebrates in business.

We’re inundated with content about hustling more, scaling faster, and never being satisfied with our results.

The hustlers are leaning against Lambos and taking selfies on PJs…

and more = better is the universal signal.

But I’ve realized that unchecked ambition creates a lot more misery than happiness.

Here's the problem with endless ambition…

Most business advice suggests continual growth.

“Your revenue should always be increasing.”

“Grow your audience.”

“Don’t leave money on the table.”

“Sell more. DO more!”

But from my vantage point…

Most entrepreneurs who chase growth at all costs end up with businesses they hate managing and miserable lives at home.

They started businesses because they wanted freedom, but ended up creating high-stress prisons they can’t escape from.

Some even quit their 9-to-5 for more freedom, just to work 24/7 while making way less than they made on their job, with more stress.

It's what I call "The Entrepreneurial Rat Race."

Now, to be fair, I don’t think the problem is ambition itself.

I think the problem is ambition without boundaries or the core belief that “enough” doesn’t exist, "enough" is settling or that more is somehow always better.

I've even asked some business owners their revenue goal, and some have told me…

"I wanna make as much as possible!"

If you always think more is better, there will always be a gap between where you are today and where you think you should be.

And living in that gap is not sustainable…or not for long, anyway.

I spent a lot of time living in the gap, and I look back on those years as missed opportunities.

I could have (and should have) chilled out a bit more and enjoyed the fruits of my labor, instead of stressing for more.

I didn’t stop to smell the flowers, and I can’t get that time back.

Here are some warning signs of toxic ambition and pretty clear indicators that your ambition needs some taming:

→ You can’t enjoy wins because you’re fixated on the next goal.

→ You feel guilty taking time off, even when you’re exhausted.

→ You measure your worth primarily by money.

→ You think you’ll “start living” after you reach your next target.

If you’re nodding your head to these, you’re going to eventually burn out (if you haven't already)...

And before you do, you’ll probably damage some relationships and go through periods of profound emptiness.

How do I know this?

How do you think? :-)

The Money and Happiness Disconnect

Studies estimate that 80 to 90% of spending goes toward things that have little to no impact on happiness.

Most people are ambitious because they want more money.

Then we get the money and spend it on stuff that doesn’t really make us happy.

And there we are, feeling like we have to keep earning the money so we can keep buying the stuff that isn’t doing what we hoped it would.

It’s a scary cycle, and everywhere I look, people are stuck in it.

But studies tell us, time and again, that once we can cover our necessities and have some savings in the bank…

…more money just doesn’t make us that much happier.

It’s a fact that most people know, but choose to ignore.

So we stay on that ambition treadmill, pushing for more anyway.

I see this all the time.

People hit their income goals and immediately set new ones.

They don’t even pause to enjoy what they’ve built.

The "Enough" Equation

With a lot of introspection, deep personal work, hitting all my goals and not really feeling anything, and just being tired in general…

I’ve changed my mind about ambition.

Put simply, I want less of it. This has caused me to go through a full rewiring.

One of the exercises that transformed my thinking was defining my “enough: the number that covers my monthly expenses.

My ”enough” number doesn’t mean I’ve stopped being ambitious. It just simplifies my life beyond monetary accumulation.

And when I sat down to calculate it…

I was surprised that my “enough” number was much lower than what I’d been pushing toward (an ever-changing goalpost)...

...and that I had far exceeded it AND I was almost there passively.

If you want to step off the endless ambition treadmill…

Here's how to figure out your own "enough":

#1: Calculate your real lifestyle costs, without any status spending.

You have to get real about what you actually want vs. what you spend to impress other people.

Honesty is key here because you want to know how much you need to earn in order to cover your lifestyle.

#2: You also want to identify your non-negotiables. What parts of your life do you refuse to sacrifice for business growth?

Example: Recently, I committed to optimizing for ending my workdays at 2:30 so I can meet my son, RyPie, when he gets off the bus.

This gives me 4 hours per day to "work."

My kids are getting older, so I want to maximize every moment possible with them.

#3: Now, examine which parts of your business energize you and what drains you.

Ideally, you design work that maximizes activities you enjoy and minimizes doing stuff you hate.

For me, 90% of my time is "The Core 3": coaching, conversations, and clients.

#4: And lastly, stop comparing your business to others who probably have completely different values and circumstances than you do.

I had to have a convo with myself.

I was still optimizing my growth strategies around volume.

Most people teach based on volume, and I'm not in the volume game anymore.

So what others do and teach (who are in the volume game), doesn't apply to me.

When you strip away unnecessary spending, you arrive at a monetary target that is your enough.

And if you can earn your enough, satisfying your non-negotiables and doing work that energizes you…

Then you have a recipe for satisfaction (which can be an elusive concept, hiding in plain sight).

Once you hit the "enough number," you don't have to increase it.

You optimize for how to do it in less time.

For the record, I’m not trying to say you shouldn’t be ambitious.

I’m just suggesting a more intentional approach with clear boundaries.

→ Working hours that leave space for other parts of life.

→ Keeping revenue steady instead of always aiming to increase it.

→ Limiting what you’re building so you can deliver without burning out.

→ Saying no to opportunities that would make your business bigger but your life smaller.

Remember, sustainability is about optimizing for overall life satisfaction instead of just business growth.

I call it NetLife > Networth!

Here's the bottom line…

Without any ambition, we wouldn’t start businesses, do meaningful work, or push through the difficult challenges that come with entrepreneurship.

But the problem comes when ambition has no end game.

When the pursuit itself becomes the purpose, rather than simply helping you build a better life while solving a problem for others.

The happiness we’re searching for doesn't come from bigger numbers.

It comes from BEING happy and from that state, doing work that’s aligned with our values and having space for relationships and experiences that give our lives fulfillment.

So, what’s your enough?

And how would your business and life change if you honored your enough, instead of chasing more and moving the goalposts?

Maybe the most ambitious decision you can make today is to stop being so ambitious.

I know I did!

Tell those you love that you love them.

Marquel

P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are 2 ways we can help you grow your coaching or consulting business 2 or 3x this year:

1) Binge my best trainings... for free on YouTube. (this week’s episode is gonna trip you out lol)

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