Mark Reynolds argues that chasing external achievements like prestigious degrees creates endless dissatisfaction. A physician's pursuit of Yale and Johns Hopkins shows how ambitious people constantly move the goalpost. Real fulfillment comes from appreciating the present journey, not the next milestone.
One of the things that you learned very quickly is that nothing external from you is going to dictate how you feel. And so if you're always chasing the next thing, there's always the next thing. If you can get into. For example, I was talking with a physician and she competed to get into Yale Medical School and then she's competing to get into Johns Hopkins residency. No matter which mountain you climb, if you're an ambitious person, there's always another mountain. There's always another goal that's higher. And on the one hand that's really wonderful because you achieve really great things throughout your whole life and that there's always more you can do. And that's fun because that means that your journey is not over until you stop. But on the other hand, if you can't learn to enjoy the journey which is your life, then you're always going to arrive at the next thing and realize, I'm still not happy because you weren't happy before.
