Is it ok NOT to be ambitious?

[Helmlover1]

I mean, career-wise. I have found that people generally expect you to ‘climb the ranks’ over time and move on to more senior positions and higher salaries.

Personally, I have come to terms with the fact that I’m just not a very ambitious person. I have a job which is quite low paid and monotonous which I have been doing for years but I’ve got no desire to get promoted and take on more responsibility, which other people find strange. I feel like I’ve got this attitude to other areas of my life as well.

I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with wanting to reach your full potential and constantly strive for more money, promotions etc but do you think it’s ok to be the opposite? I’m kind of happy with my lot but sometimes feel like I should be wanting more out of life.

Surely the measure of success is whether you're happy? If you don't want pressure and stress, hypertension and depression, don't climb the career ladder. That's fine.

I'm self-employed and earn what many people would consider a low wage. I don't suppose that will change any time soon.
I like my work, it suits my temperament and any feedback I get is usually positive.
In my last salaried employment years ago, I got sick of people on high salaries bullshitting in pointless meetings and writing reports which no one read. Oh, and having to pretend you were "passionate" about something you couldn't give a toss about! I was never going to get anywhere in such an environment.
Plus I like being around for our children before and after school.

I don't want the stress or responsibility of a higher role. I also enjoy my evenings and free time and I wouldn't have that if I moved up. Work is definitely not everything to me.

But you are ambitious to keep the status quo, this is a perfectly valid ambition and not necessarily an easy one given all the possibilities for comparisons with others who have more common ambitions

Yes. I've been in my job over 30 years, and while I've had promotions (without asking for them) I've never had to do any management. It's scientific so the actual content changes over time. My managers find my lack of ambition a positive... they know I'm interested in getting the job done, not likely to bugger off elsewhere so long as I'm treated ok where I am.

I've always been a work to live kinda person not live to work. I make enough to pay the bills and go out when I fancy it (within reason) and I am content with my lot.

I think the super ambitious people are really in the minority - after all, the jobs become fewer the higher up you go! We wouldn’t be able to sustain it if everyone wanted to be CEO!

Also, different things come at different times. A colleague once said something I found to be rather sensible, “You don’t know what you in 15 years wants so don’t try and plan for that”. Meaning I don’t need to make decisions about my career today on the off chance that in the future I decide I want to do something different. I would say I am ambitious, but for not right now. I’m at a stage in my career which is considered a bit of a stepping stone in my field, so a lot of people assume I want to take on a big project to get me to the next stage and onwards and upwards. Except, I don’t. I get paid well, IMO, to do an interesting job, with responsibility, and I am comfortable with that, but I also have work-life balance and the buck on big things doesn’t ultimately stop with me. I figure I might want that one day, so I have an open mind, but it’s not what I want today.

Some other pps have phrased it quite nicely - ambitions to be happy, to enjoy your life, your home etc. Wanting to be very senior or renowned in a field is a very specific and narrow definition of personal ambition - it’s how we often read it, but you can’t have ‘failed’ if you’re doing and living the way you want to, being content sounds pretty good going to me.

Completely !

Success means having a happy life. If you can pay your bills and live the life you want without career promotion and all that extra stress and responsibility you are successful. Remember you can have ambition outside of work through sports pursuits, cultural education, travel etc.

Sounds like you're doing pretty well so you don't need to fit to others' idea of success.

I'm happy enough in my job. It's not "going" anywhere, but that's OK. It leaves me with time for my interests, which define me far more than my job does.

I'm like you! I've been teaching 10+ years and have no desire to go into mgmt. I am, however, feeling pressured by my school to take on more responsibility for my 'professional development', which i have no interest in doing!
I have a good work life balance and don't want to take on any more stuff. It is not being received well by the bosses! I wish they would just leave me alone!