“Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles, and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?”
 ~ Lao-tzu (Tao Te Ching, Mitchell translation). And then when that moment arrives, will you kick ass with all your might?

Yin and yang - action and contemplation are two sides of the same coin. Either by itself is incomplete, and with both you realize more of your potential. I say Boetheius should have written his book and then died (or lived!) fighting his way out. The "higher way" is thinking or doing at the right time, and the lower way is doing either to excess or at the wrong time. 

This is actually the first time I post on your blog (even though I have read your book):

I did never think about the concept you wrote about before and yet it makes so much sense to me - I am clearly and utterly philosophically disposed.

Sometimes It feels like it is the opposite of a blessing and more than often I wonder whether my strong commitment to "my values" is a rather bad idea. Sometimes I wish I was ruthlessly outcome-orientated.

Just recently I finished an entire information product setup with a partner, we even had the first customers signing up for our sales-funnel and then I realized that the whole thing "isn't in alignment with my values" and just got out of it. Basically, all I had to do at this point is to wait, do some optimisation and earn the profit, but no, something felt "off".

What's your take on this, Sebastian? Would you say that one could be TOO philosophically disposed? Can more result-orientation be trained?

David

--- Addition: Maybe, every person goes through both of those "states" that you described periodically. It's like a muscle, sometimes in contraction (non-thinking result-orientation) sometimes relaxed (time for philosophy & reflection). I can only speak for myself, but I guess that many of us go through those alternating phases.

Everyone should be result orientated in this day and age.  But it is true they exist.  The carefree who say things like "just enjoy the ride."  I laugh, but there is definitely space for those sheep.  Still, I don't see these two positions being at odds with each other.  Some philosophical systems focus like a hawk on the results (see Aristotle).  In fact, I'd say the exemplars of humanity have been the great consequentialists.  But if you want to look at a philosopher who didn't necessarily share that disposition, look no further than Thomas Aquinas.  How can one say he wasn't result orientated.  His life is nothing but achievements.  The "Summa" is an epic result.  How many pages?  It claims to synthesize Aristotle and Christianity (surely it doesn't), but the sheer massiveness of that crap is only capable of being produce by those of your latter disposition.  And look at the others.  Plato, Hegel, Russell, etc., all were machines.  And I believe that even people like Alexander the Great, Napolean, and Caesar were both philosophical and result orientated.  In our own day, I personally believe that George Soros will one day be looked at as a great philosophical thinker.  It has already been mentioned that there is a time and place for each of these dispositions.  You don't want to try to figure out your philosophical beliefs in the middle of the battlefield.  It is important to realize that being philosophical doesn't mean being ultra skeptical.  I think being philosophical is means being bold enough to believe things about the world (morality, epistemology, metaphysics, and practicalities) based on reasons..., being autonomous in your beliefs (taking responsibility of your beliefs), and going where ever the cold harsh logic takes you.  What's the real alternative to the philosophical disposition?  Mere acceptance of what has been handing down to you, never entertaining any doubt, and not caring about why.  There are people who believe the roads have always been here.  I don't think it matters if you are either philosophical or not, your best bet in this world is to be result orientated.  Why?  We live in a world with limited resources.  And time is among the most limited resources.  Nobody wants to merely experience things.  We want to do!  And if we are being completely honest we all want to be remembered by at least someone.  No bridge ever got built by those people who sit around saying "I just want to experience the ride."  Sure they drive across the bridge.  Sure that bridge saves them months of wasted time canoeing the damn river.  But they are free-riders.  Somebody has to carry those free-riders damn it.          

Interesting, I actually had quite a similar conversation with my roommate recently, while talking about the life of Hannibal. My roommate felt that Hannibal's fate was sad. I disagreed. I believe that he lived and died by his principles, and that a man living by his principles is happy. Well that's what the Stoics preach, more or less.

I read your book [ikigai] recently, and one particular point got me thinking a lot. You say that seeking "happiness" per se isn't really a worthy life goal. It did sound weird but resonated with me, and I realized that deep inside I agreed, even though I could not explain how, why, or more importantly, what was a worthy goal. My answer for now is that what I'm seeking is to always push my limits as a human being. I did not specify a specific goal, because I don't believe in destinations, but rather in journeys. I don't want to ever stop improving, getting better, stretching my abilities. Whenever I am doing something that significantly improve my skills as a human being, I feel this deep satisfaction, this genuine happiness.

Now does it mean that achievements are meaningless? No. Because they serve as validations. It sounds superficial: do we really need external validations? Well yes you do. Suppose that you set yourself to improve how fast you can run a 100m. Well you'll never know if you're improving unless you actually time yourself, and take the risk to realize that you haven't improved much. So achievements are like a timer that let you know if you're improving. But that's not all there is to it. Another important role of achievements is that they build confidence. We're only humans, and however drived we are (some more than others), we can always do with more motivation. And what boosts your motivation more than a franc success? I usually don't over-celebrate achievements, but instead I store them in a part of me, and tap into them when I feel down or de-motivated.

So: Philosophical Disposition vs Results Disposition. I say: Philosophical Disposition as the basis of everything. I tend to agree with the Stoic principle that one should not base his self esteem and/or happiness on anything that is independent of himself. But achievements play an important role too. I think the two concepts can go together.

I guess the whole thread has everyone coming down on the philosophical side. Not that I disagree, but most people seem to argue simply the pros, rather than addressing the cons of the ambitious side. I think the ambitious side is simply too linear; it doesn't allow for that cock-eyed, roundabout way that life works out. Plus, if your plans for ambitions don't work out, you either wind up being a failed ladder-climber (e.g. Death of a Salesman) or you turn to philosophy. As Tynan below mentions, the "best" path is probably somewhere between the two, but it's hard to say where, exactly.