Too ambitious

Ambition is defined as “a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.”

But sometimes you share your ambitions with people and they say that you’re “too ambitious,” as if that’s a good thing. This can be especially hard to hear when you’re in your younger formative years and when you hear it from people who are older or that you look up to.

Why I Learned to Keep My Ambitions to Myself [Too Ambitious] – “Ambition is a way of taking yourself seriously, a way of being generous with yourself. Which, if you’re anything like me, is not easy to do. Women are conditioned to tone down their accomplishments and be modest about their aspirations. Ambition also makes people deeply uncomfortable. Which is why, for better or worse, I’ve learned to keep my ambition to myself.”

The vulnerability of being broke (even temporarily) [I Pick Up Pennies] – “This month, the last week was nerve-wracking, as I watched my bank balance drop lower and lower, knowing my check was days away. Then as I started scraping the bottom of the bank balance barrel, checking the mail every day and not finding my check. Every new expense that came up made me more tense. And I despaired as purchases I’d already been putting off from earlier in the month could no longer be put off. I’d stress out each time I bought something I couldn’t pay for immediately.”

Why thieves love to steal catalytic converters [The Hustle] – “Catalytic converter theft has always been a problem. But in the past few years, reported incidents have skyrocketed by more than 11x. Auto repair shops that used to see 2-3 of these thefts every month are now seeing as many as 6-8 per day.” Many years ago, I’d heard about people stealing catalytic converters but I had no idea they were worth this much!