Ambition leads to action.  Your ambition leads you to affect the quality of the day through some action.  So what is the ultimate result of your ambition transformed into action?  Samuel Johnson has suggested it is "to be happy at home."

If, as Johnson recites, being "happy at home" is the ultimate result of your ambition, then why are you working so hard?  Is there a way to avoid working evenings and weekends?  Could you schedule your child's soccer game into the week's plans?  Is that next appointment more important than celebrating life with your spouse at anniversary time?

One way to affect the quality of your day, which in turn may result in happiness at home, is to "build a wall" to paraphrase Frost.  Keep in mind that walls may limit you if they are constructed of heavy gauge steel mesh rimmed with concertina wire.  Walls can also be formed as a low hedge or a split-rail fence - even more simply as a line in the sand.  Rather than limiting us, they become a mere reminder of how far we are willing to go.

As we affect the quality of our life and push our ambition to the limit, we may also make choices about the boundaries of our lives.  By choosing sound principles of living, for example, we may say "No" to friendships with those who operate outside our boundaries of accepted activities. We may decline meaningless activities, or the occasional committee appointment, which robs us of our valuable time.

In the end, WE are solely responsible for affecting the quality of our individual lives.  We must choose wisely.

Paul Christian, CRS, is a nationally recognized real estate author, trainer, and broker. Affectionately known as the "GHOST", Paul publishes "ghost written" newspaper columns for agents and brokers throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Paul also has been an instructor for the Council of Residential Specialists and remains active in council activities.