I used to always tell myself:

“I wish I could do that”

“If only I were you”

“You’re so lucky”

And sometimes I would even grit my teeth and mutter “congratulations" under my breath... For the longest time I was jealous of other people’s success. I've thought of so many excuses to why I wasn’t at their level; whether it'd be socioeconomically, academically, athletically, or even spiritually. Their ambition just seemed to have been blessed from above, and I kept on telling myself:

“Maybe I just wasn’t born into a good family… they don’t support me like how my friend's do”

or "I could’ve done that too if only I had what (s)he had”.

It was a struggle for me to finally realize that my dissatisfaction with many things in life were from how I believed that all of these things were beyond my control, and perhaps even predestined.

I hated feeling that way, so recently I had decided to try my hardest ever to stop the blame and envy —- to forget my persisting fixed mindset for a growth one.

To be inspired; to love; and to have the lush world for us to try it all out. Is it not enough? We have such a hard time motivating ourselves when we are constantly surrounded by magnificent things. The only thing stopping us from moving is to never stand up, or to never open our eyes to treasures beyond the inside of our lids. Many of us have a hard time believing they can change their ambition — while a lot of us don’t even know that we need to.

I’ll share some things that I’ve come to understand about ambition, and what helped me to obtain a growth mindset; maybe you too can start outperforming your own expectations:

1. What do you consider to be the light of day?

Every morning I wake up around 4 AM to fit in some school work before crew practice. Then I would have classes from 8 AM to 10 PM, volunteering or working in between. While I’m not recommending everyone to wake up every day at unconventional hours, I think it’s a good chance to change your perspective of day. Instead of visualizing the end of your day as Netflix immediately after school or work, know that you could be doing so much more. I didn't know how much I would learn to love the silence of a 4 AM, the rush of a 6 AM wind, and the sunrise of an early spring 7 AM. The point is, do everything you can to maximize the day because whatever you don't, you will later wish you’ve had. I promise that it becomes more and more satisfying as you fall in love with the smell of an early April morning.

2. What is blocking your energy?

Sometimes it was hard for me to get started, and in those situations I've realized that the brain just needs a change of environment. Start with your desk, then your room, and notice how during the process, you’ll start to feel a therapeutic sense of rearrangement. While you clean, listen to relaxing music, crack open a window, and let the wind naturally breathe finesse into your workspace to clear up any clutter that might subconsciously affect you. The organization will not only motivate you to appreciate where you work, but it will also help to simplify your thought processes by eliminating external stressors.

3. Ambition pairs well with passion.

I’ve always found passionate people more attractive. They exude some sense of energy that is often enviable, but culminating, because you’ll always learn something new about everything from shining stars to recent book covers. Instead of being jealous of their jubilee, find things that bring the inner you out. Get worked up, and ask yourself if you can find something useful to do with that golden energy.

4. Spend time alone, but make sure to be focused.

If it sounds contradictory to what I said above, it’s really not. What I mean by having some time alone is by literally taking your mind with your body to places together. Often we do what we are used to mindlessly. Take days where you’re alone to really observe and experience the world. Travel if you can. Submerge yourself into a different culture with a different language. Learn more about yourself and how you deal with frustration and fear. It’s all about you forcing yourself and creating greater boundaries

5. Don’t let your mind be untouchable.

You have to believe that soon you will look back to see the differences between the successes and failures from the two different you's. Remember that it is never worth it to sacrifice your personality in attempts to come across as successful. Ambition with success is very different than success with inflated pride. Keep people close and kind, because ultimately they're more important when you want to have your efforts appreciated than scoured.

You'll never be as close to being satisfied as seeing your change of ambition inspire those around you. There is no "You" in "predestined" after all.