Actual Document:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qKrTd953LcifzrcHttcq86kMSuDxlO8crDMfzH66S5k/edit?usp=sharing
“My hero is always me in ten years. That’s who I chase every day.” This quote by Matthew McConaughey perfectly sums up what life should be about. The meaning of life is for us to reach new heights. For life to receive purpose, we must always have something to chase after that is out of our reach. It is our ambition that drives us to achieve monetary success. As humans, we aren’t built to be content with the present. What we have now is merely a stepping stone for us to soldier on and extend our limits.
“We have a basic drive for growth and mastery that is expressed in a variety of specific ambitions.”(Ambition: How We Manage Success and Failure Throughout Our Lives by Gilbert Brim). Ambition, defined as the strong will to achieve something (Cambridge Dictionary), is an integral part of our pursuit of higher limits and goals. In fact, ambition is our main source of motivation to keep pushing for new heights. In the book Chasing Success by Alek Trivedi, Frank (the author’s boss) explains to Trivedi that his key to reaching the top of the ladder is by his constant desire for more. Even with his net worth sitting at 15 million USD, he strives to double his worth within three years. Like Frank, we should live our lives with an ambition that never ceases to stop. According to research on Career success: The role of teenage career aspirations, ambition value and gender in predicting adult social status and earnings, ambition value is directly linked to monetary and social status attainment. Young people who have a greater ambition value is shown to be more likely to have a greater salary and living standards when compared to their less ambitious peers. This study shows that having greater ambitions and out-of-reach aspirations tend to lead to higher levels of monetary and social success. Therefore, to be successful – which is what humans strive to be – there must be an inherent desire for wanting more and an ambition level that exceeds our current achievements. We are after all built as a hedonic treadmill.
Hedonic treadmill is a term used by emotion researchers to describe the tendency for humans to return to a base state of happiness after a major event or achievement. According to an article by The Guardian, the trends described by the idea of hedonic treadmill explains why we believe that chasing our next target will eventually and finally bring us happiness. Based on the same article by The Guardian, our brains are built with an optimistic bias, the tendency for us to perceive our future as better than the present. The phenomenon of both the hedonic treadmill and optimistic bias explicitly explains why living in the moment would never make us happy. Achieving a goal or purpose would only reap temporary joy until our emotions return to base state and leave us wanting for more. For example, “After finally publishing a book, it was depressing for me to realize how quickly my attitude went from “I’m a guy who wrote a book!” to “I’m a guy who’s only written one book”.”, claims Frank T. McAndrew, the author of the article mentioned above by The Guardian. “Results will never bring you happiness, but will only leave you craving more.” (Chasing Success by Alek Trivedi).
Results from the present is merely an opportunity for us to learn and adapt to the future. Shah, the mentor of Dr. Alek Trivedi in the book Chasing Success, emphasizes the significance of viewing our present-day tasks and accomplishments as an aid to our growth. Since what we do now won’t provide us prolonged happiness, we should instead take the chance and further support our growth with our current tasks and responsibilities. We should approach our lives “focusing on the process, rather than the result of my effort” (Chasing Success by Alek Trivedi). Results are merely a stepping stone for us to push our limits.
The meaning of life is to constantly grow and to push our limits. It is to have ambition and a drive for continued success that exceeds your current status. It is impossible for us to be content with where we currently are because results would only leave us yearning for more. Our present-day triumphs may produce temporary joy, but more importantly, it provides us with an encouragement to conquer greater victories and success. “There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level” (Bruce Lee).
Brainstorm:
Intro
Argument 1: Ambition is directly correlated with success (monetary success)
Argument 2: We can never live in the moment and be happy
Argument 3: Results from the present is an opportunity for you to learn and adapt for the future. It is a stepping stone for you to keep on pushing your limits.
Conclusion
Research:
Book Chasing Success: Lessons in Aligned Performance
- Page 59, 62, 71, 85, 86, 88, 92, 93, 94, 98, 102, 107, 108, 116, 130, 148, 154, 162, 163, 169, 173, 193, 204,
Newspaper Article:
Book Source:
Academic Journal
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001879110001181
Thesis:
The meaning of life is to constantly try to reach new heights. For life to have meaning, we must always have something to chase after that is out of our reach.
Guiding Questions:
Topic: Are we always trying to get somewhere we’re not?
Are humans built to be greedy?
Are we ever content with what we have?
Is improvement best achieved when we are never content with where we are?
How important is it to stop and be thankful?
What is the source of stress and pressure?
Why is life a struggle for many people?
Why is the world advancing at such a rapid pace?
Why is Hong Kong one of the world’s fastest cities?
Where do religious people want to reach?
Until what point do people stop advancing/be content?
Mok, Ho Lam Edwin Writing Block 
Hey Eddie, This is one of lives most difficult questions, “What is the meaning of life?” I enjoyed seeing the research you did and the process of how this piece came together. Your credible research allowed for a paper that sounded very smart. Looking forward to seeing what you do in the future!
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