"The other morning, I was on a Zoom call with a CEO, trying to sound composed, when my four-year-old burst into the room demanding to know where her princess dress was. I glanced down at my to-do list - which never seems to get shorter - and noticed I still needed to book a trip to San Francisco. In that moment, surrounded by chaos, I thought: I write a column called The Long Game."
"His new book, Conscious Accomplishment, maps a middle path for people who pursue excellence, without losing awareness in the process. The book challenges a cultural assumption - that ambition and inner life must run on separate tracks. You can't have both, we're told: become a monk or build a company. Scott's view is more integrated. He argues that your work, family, and even your frustrations can all become part of a daily practice."
A Zoom-call interruption by a child and a crowded to-do list illustrate how daily life disrupts high ambition. A former tech founder turned spiritual adventurer confronted a wall after years of chasing success and realized achievement alone wasn't enough. The proposed middle path enables pursuing excellence while maintaining self-awareness and presence. Ambition and inner life can be integrated rather than separated. Work, family, and frustrations can become elements of a daily practice of attention and presence. Cultivating presence and the courage to slow down supports sustained, grounded accomplishment without self-destruction.
Read at Big Think
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