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What it do, what it do, it's your boy Andre Spruel and you're tapped into Middle of the Fence podcast. What if the life you're working so hard to build isn't actually being driven by where you want to go, but by what you're trying to get away from? I've been asking myself that question lately because I'm realizing there's a very thin line between ambition and survival mode. You can work hard, chase financial freedom, pursue bigger opportunities, and constantly push for the next level. But at some point, you have to ask yourself what's actually fueling all of it. In this episode, I'm getting personal about my own relationship with success, the constant desire for more, and a lesson I'm still learning in real time. Keep the ambition, change the fuel. Let's get into it. What it do, what it do? It's your boy Andre Spruel, and you're tuning in to Middle of the Fence Podcast. As always, thank you so much for taking time out of your day. Whether you're listening, watching, or both, as I like to say, time is the most valuable thing on this earth because we can spend it but can't make it back. So, as always, thank you for your time. And I'm really excited to get into this episode today. So let's not wait anymore. Let's get right into it. I spent a lot of time thinking about the life that I want, the career I want, the financial freedom I want, the kind of family I want someday, the businesses I want to build, the impact I want to have. And I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting more out of life. But lately, I've been asking myself a question that honestly made me a little uncomfortable. Am I actually building a life that I want? Or am I just working really hard to escape the life that I don't want? Let me explain. From the outside, those two things can look exactly the same. Both people might be ambitious, both might work long hours, both might constantly think about their next move. Both might have huge goals, but internally they're being driven by two completely different things. One is running towards something, and the other is running away from something. And if I'm being truthful with myself, like I often do with my podcast, I think I've done both. When we hear the words survival mode, we usually imagine someone barely getting by. But survival mode can also look incredibly productive as well. It can look like working all the time, always needing an extra source of income, always thinking about your next career move, always telling yourself, once I make this much money, once I get this opportunity, once I move, once this business takes off, once I finally get to this point, then I'll be okay. Sometimes survival mode doesn't tell you I'm scared. Sometimes it tells you you need to work harder. So I've been on the record not as frequently, but have been, and especially with people that are closest to me, of how big and ambitious my goals are. To the point where sometimes it's like, all right, dude, yeah, get to grips with reality and be realistic, or you know, just like because they're such lofty goals in the eyes of society today, uh, it gets looked down upon, you know. But whatever vision is held in your heart, you got to believe it, see it through, and just keep going and never giving up. I really believe in that. But along with that journey, what are the reasons that you're doing it for? And I feel like with this episode in particular, um it's like what if that is something that you're chasing or just a better life in in general, and especially if you grew up with limited resources, are you pursuing a life out of the fear of the insecurity financially and and and instability, or are you pursuing it for the freedom to live life to the fullest? And when it comes to bettering your life and wanting more out of it, especially uh career-wise and things like that, I feel like we can get so wrapped up in the material side of things, you know, wanting the newer, faster car, wanting the bigger house, wanting the designer clothes and things of that nature. Instead of I want to live a certain life so I can be more actively present, so I can be at my kids' t-ball game and uh recitals, so I can help out others as much as I possibly can. And making that shift, I feel like, is so important, you know, because again, especially when you grew up with just a lack of, let's say, to uh put things lightly, and you progress in life and start to do good and see better, you're gonna be in situations and circumstances that you've never experienced uh before. So when those times come up, is it a result of, again, like the fear of what it was like growing up and never wanting to go back? Or having that feeling of, all right, now I'm in a position where I can be actively present and help out as many people as I possibly can. And I want to be clear about something. Running away from something isn't always bad. Sometimes being uncomfortable with your circumstances is exactly what forces you to change them in the first place. Maybe you're running from financial insecurity, trying to get out of a career that's draining you, trying to become different from what you saw growing up. Or maybe you're trying to prove something to yourself. That motivation can be powerful. We've seen it time and time again. But here's the problem running away from something can give you a direction, but it can't necessarily tell you where you belong. Let me hit you guys with this question right here. If everything you're currently trying to escape disappeared tomorrow, would you still want the future you're chasing? That's a good question, fuck. Because if the answer is no, maybe you haven't actually figured out what you're building yet. I think one of the earliest traps for ambitious people to fall into is believing that peace exists at the next milestone. Once I make this amount of money, I'll relax. Once I get the right job, I'll be happy. Once the business gets big enough, I'll slow down. Once I reach this level, I'll finally feel successful. But what happens when you get there? The goalpost moves. Now you need more money, more followers, more recognition, a bigger house, a bigger business. And eventually you have to ask, if my piece is always waiting at the next milestone, when exactly do I get to experience it? So when envisioning the life that you want, and again, I'm no expert, you know, and I've like there's things in my life that I'm actively working towards and always will be. Uh, but what does enough look like? And I think that that's such an important question because when we're creating the life of our dreams or the life that we envision, or just on the on the quest for wanting more, there's always going to be more, right? Even when you reach the certain milestone or certain goals that you have in your life, yeah, you're gonna celebrate it and it's gonna make you feel good more often than not. But then you're gonna want that chase and hunger for more. And that's why an example that I like to use is when comparing others, it really doesn't make sense because you can look at someone, it's like, oh, yeah, he's this guy is so famous and rich and handsome and successful, and he has a house that's worth 20 million dollars and has 12 cars and all this stuff. Well, guess what? There's someone out there that's gonna have an even bigger house that's gonna have even more cars, that's gonna have even even more money. And then there's gonna be someone that has an even bigger house and more money and more cars than said person, you know? And so it's like, when is what is enough? And that's for you to uh define what enough looks like. Enough from a financial perspective, enough from how much time you're allocating towards work on a daily basis, how much is enough time for you to be actively present in the lives of the people that you love and care about the most? So uh that's something that I would I just I just I just I just wanted to share that with you guys because I think it's such an important uh distinction. Because if we don't define that early on, we can reach the goals and dreams that we have and then lose sight of what got us there in the first place. And I don't think the solution is to stop wanting more. I actually think the question is what's fueling that desire for more. Fear can make you work incredibly hard. Insecurity can make you disciplined. Wanting to prove somebody wrong can take you pretty far. Survival can make you resourceful, but I don't know if those things can sustain the kind of life that I ultimately want. At some point, maybe the fuel has to change. From fear to purpose, from insecurity to vision, from proving people wrong to proving something to yourself, from constantly trying to escape your life to intentionally building one. Keep the ambition to change the fuel. See, because there's a difference between being driven towards something and constantly running away from something. Maybe we need to start asking ourselves different questions here. Instead of only asking, how much money do I want? Ask what do I want a random Tuesday afternoon to feel like? I already noticed the difference with something like that, right? Or instead, what career do I want? Ask how much of my life am I willing to give that career? Instead of who do I want to become, ask what parts of myself am I unwilling to sacrifice getting there? Because your life isn't just your career, it's your time, your relationships, your family, your health, your faith, your peace, your experiences, and yes, your milestones too. So the topic of success, I've I've touched on it in previous episodes, but it really is the idea of what can I do to position myself to impact as many people's lives as I possibly can. And the power of the definition of the word success is that you have the ability to define it the way that you want to. So whatever you see fit as a successful life and impact that you want to leave, uh, it's totally up to you. But I would say that the impact side of things that you want to leave is definitely something that I'm focusing on, and just other people that I've met and interacted with as well that are on that same ambitious path. Um, that's that's really what it's about. So uh when it comes to your term of success, let me know in the comments or shoot me a message of what that means to you. I'm very curious to see what you guys had to say with that. I'm still ambitious, I still have huge goals. There are still things about my current circumstances that I absolutely want to change, keeping it real with you guys. And I'm not going to pretend that I've mastered any of this yet. But I'm starting to realize something. I don't want to spend my entire life preparing to eventually live. I want to build the future without completely missing the present. And maybe that's the balance I'm trying to find right now. You can want a different life without hating the life you have today. You can appreciate how far you've come while still believing you're capable of going even further. And you can be hungry for more without allowing more to become the only thing that makes your life valuable. So I'll leave you with these three quick questions. What are you running from? Number two, what are you building toward? Number three, and maybe most importantly, if you finally get there, would you know how to enjoy it? Thank you guys so much for tuning in to this episode and hope this one was uh you're able to get a lot of takeaways from it and be able to look at your own life and uh see where you can improve and get better on. Because again, no matter what side of the fence that you grew up on, we're all more alike than we think. My name is Andre Sproul. Catch you guys next time. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode. If this episode resonated with you, go ahead and follow the podcast so you stay tapped in and show some love with that five-star rating. It really goes a long way, so we can continue reaching more people just like yourself. And if you want to see these conversations, pull up on YouTube and check out Middle of the Fence. Appreciate you for tuning in. Time is the most valuable thing we got.