I think you are right that most people suffer from this lack of big ambition. I think I tend to fail in the other direction. I consistently come up with big plans, which might potentially have big payoffs if I could manage them, and then fail partway through. I’m a lot more effective (on average) working in a team where my big ideas get curtailed and my focus is kept on the achievable. I do also think that I bring value to under-aimers, by encouraging them to think bigger.
Sometimes people literally laugh out loud at me when I tell them about my current goals. I am not poorly calibrated, overall. I tell them that I know my chance of succeeding at my current goal is small, but that the payoff would really matter if I did manage it. In the course of aiming at a long term goal, I do tend to actively try to set aside my realistic estimate of my success, in order to let myself be buoyed by a sense of impending achievement. Being too realistic in the ‘doing’ phase, rather than the ‘planning’ phase tends to sharply bring down my chance of sticking with the project long enough that it has a chance to succeed.
I think you are right that most people suffer from this lack of big ambition. I think I tend to fail in the other direction. I consistently come up with big plans, which might potentially have big payoffs if I could manage them, and then fail partway through. I’m a lot more effective (on average) working in a team where my big ideas get curtailed and my focus is kept on the achievable. I do also think that I bring value to under-aimers, by encouraging them to think bigger.
Sometimes people literally laugh out loud at me when I tell them about my current goals. I am not poorly calibrated, overall. I tell them that I know my chance of succeeding at my current goal is small, but that the payoff would really matter if I did manage it. In the course of aiming at a long term goal, I do tend to actively try to set aside my realistic estimate of my success, in order to let myself be buoyed by a sense of impending achievement. Being too realistic in the ‘doing’ phase, rather than the ‘planning’ phase tends to sharply bring down my chance of sticking with the project long enough that it has a chance to succeed.