The ambition crunch

I've just finished Ken Robinson's latest book, The Element. It's a call to arms advocating that everyone discover what's at the core of who they are and where their talents and passopions lie. It's a good feel-good read although, in my opinion, doesn't really deliver on the promise with anything readers can actively work on to find their own 'element'.

However, right at the end, Ken quotes Michelangelo:

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."

For me this represents one of the key challenges to the times we find ourselves in. With less money and less time to achieve what we want, the temptation is to aim lower, to keep things ticking over, to settle for good enough. Yet if history teaches us anything it's that at times like these it is those who aim higher, who refuse to settle, that come out stronger.

The ironic thing about all this is that with so many aiming low, in some ways it is now easier to aim higher than ever before.

See Ken Robinson in action at TED (18 minutes very well spent)