What if your job is simply a distraction from your true purpose? A career isn’t just a job — it’s how you choose to spend roughly 2,000 weeks of your life at work. The decisions you make during those weeks greatly influence your journey and the world around you. Yet, many find themselves stuck in boring routines or roles that seem trivial, like being in traffic every morning with no clear destination. Why accept less when you have the power to create a meaningful path?
Rutger Bregman, in his thought-provoking book Moral Ambition, provides a clear path out of this grind. He urges us to rethink what we call “success,” prompting a shift from pursuing fancy titles or higher salaries to concentrating on the impact we can make for society.
What is Moral Ambition?
Moral ambition, as Bregman describes it, is the desire to excel not for personal praise but for the greater good. Imagine a gardener tending to a community garden: their motivation isn’t fame or wealth, but the thriving of plants and the nourishment of neighbours. Similarly, moral ambition involves dedicating one’s career to solving the most significant problems facing humanity, whether that be fighting climate change, eradicating diseases, or challenging destructive industries like Big Tobacco.
This kind of ambition gauges success not by the size of one’s bank account or office, but by the positive influence one has on society. It’s a compass aimed at legacy rather than luxury.
Success, in this sense, isn’t measured by how much you accumulate, but by how much you contribute.
Why Should We Care About Moral Ambition?
Too often, people chase what looks good on paper, a good salary, a job title, or prestige, only to find themselves feeling empty, much like eating junk food that fills you up but doesn’t nourish you. Bregman warns that this widespread pursuit of hollow goals squanders both personal potential and opportunities to make a positive impact on the world.
By shifting our focus to moral ambition, we join countless others making meaningful change, akin to volunteers who fix up a local park or friends who regularly check on an elderly neighbour. This new orientation can bring lasting satisfaction and genuine purpose to our day-to-day lives.
How Can You Cultivate Moral Ambition?
Think of your career like planting a tree. Early decisions—what seeds to sow, where to plant—determine the shade and fruit it will yield years down the line. Bregman’s Moral Ambition acts as a guidebook for identifying the right seeds—values aligned with social good—and nurturing them into a flourishing career.
Here’s a simplified approach inspired by the book, with everyday examples:
- Reevaluate Your Success Metrics: Instead of merely pursuing a promotion or a higher salary, think about how your daily tasks make life easier for others—for instance, organising a team lunch to boost morale or streamlining a process so colleagues can complete their work more quickly. Ask yourself, “How did I make someone’s day better?” or “What small improvements am I leaving behind?”
- Align Work with Values: Reflect on what matters most to you. For example, like Rudder4Life’s framework, your values may inspire self-motivation and a desire to uplift others. If you’re passionate about education, you might volunteer as a tutor after work or support a local school with supplies. If you care about the environment, think about proposing more recycling bins at your office or helping to initiate a green commuting scheme, linking your job to your values in small but tangible ways.
- Embrace Contribution Over Accumulation: Focus on what you offer, not just what you receive. For example, instead of competing with a colleague for credit, share knowledge freely or help a new teammate settle in. Even baking treats to share with your department or offering to cover a shift for someone in need highlights the joy of giving.
- Joining a community of change-makers: It is not just about finding like-minded people; it’s about becoming part of a shared journey towards positive change. Their examples and support can inspire and sustain your moral ambition, transforming individual efforts into a collective movement for the greater good. This sense of community can make you feel connected and part of something larger than yourself.
So, you don’t have to be a world leader or a famous activist to advance moral ambition. Bit by bit, these actions add up, like drops filling a bucket—eventually overflowing into real change.
In conclusion, moral ambition, as described by Rutger Bregman, is fundamentally about creating a lasting legacy, one choice at a time. The aim isn’t to lecture or judge, but to motivate everyone—from students choosing their first job to professionals considering a career change—to use their talents for something greater than themselves.
As Rudder4Life’s mission to empower young leaders demonstrates, nurturing healthy self-esteem and motivation rooted in values creates the foundation for meaningful action. Bregman’s Moral Ambition adds the professional dimension to this personal growth, encouraging all of us to make our work count where it matters most.
So, next time you’re at a crossroads, ask not only “What’s in it for me?” but “How can this help others?” Over time, you’ll find, like a garden tended daily, that your efforts will flourish into a career—and a life—with real impact.
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