The Lazy Path of Achievement
Readtime: 4 minutes
Three years ago, I left my KPMG Partner role and walked away from a significant six-figure salary.
And with it, the identity I’d spent two decades building.
People thought I’d lost it: Colleagues. Family. Even me, a little.
Because why would I walk away from something that looked so good on paper?
The answer for me was because I had been following what I now call the lazy path of achievement.
Not lazy in effort – I was working harder than ever.
But lazy in thought about where I was going. On autopilot.
Because I’d been chasing the next step without ever asking whether it still mattered to me.
That’s the seduction of high performance. You become so good at climbing that you stop noticing what mountain you’re on.
As I’ve thought more about what happened for me, I’ve realised there were four main factors impacting on my decision, even if I didn’t explicitly name all of them at the time.
I’ve set them out here in case they’re helpful for you – in case you’re also on the lazy path of achievement.
Lesson 1: Success on Paper Isn’t the Same as Fulfilment
I absolutely loved making Partner. It took me fifteen years from joining the firm as a graduate. I celebrated. I was super proud.
And that glow lasted for a while. But not for as long as I expected. It was one of those unfortunately typical situations where you achieve the goal you’ve been working towards for ages and then you’re looking for what’s next not long after.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed introducing myself as a partner, and the money was great. It made me feel good.
But, those things didn’t add up to feeling as fulfilled as I was hoping for in the role.
I think I’d got addicted to the climb, to the step-by-step achievement – and I was getting fulfilment from those things – but then the future steps in the role weren’t as big, and so I think the fulfilment that I got from them was lower.
You may have noticed this in your career – when chasing a promotion or a role is initially exciting but then after a while the shine wears off. Even if you have the big title, high pay, etc.
Lesson 2: Ambition Evolves – and That’s OK
For years, I lived by a single goal: make Partner.
That ambition drove every decision, every late night, every trade-off.
But a few years after I’d achieved it, I realised that I needed something else.
My ambition had changed. And at first, that didn’t feel ok to me. Probably because I’d been chasing this thing for so long.
But the more I thought about it the more I realised that I was still ambitious. But for different things. I wanted to have a go at being successful out of the ‘safety net’ of my existing role – and doing work that fulfilled me more. And in hindsight, those were actually more ambitious goals than what I’d had before.
So, the lesson here is that the ambition that got you here may not be the same type of ambition that gets you where you need to go next. It’s not about higher or lower ambition, it’s about identifying what you want now, as opposed to e.g. 10 years ago.
Lesson 3: Big Moves Don’t Start with Certainty – They Start with Action
I kind of knew that I wanted to leave for a while. And that I wanted to do something in personal and professional development.
For months, I waited for the perfect plan to come together. (Although I suspect this was more me delaying the decision, thinking ‘what the **** are you about to do?’ than any real planning…)
But I did think that having more certainty on my next steps would give me the courage I needed.
But every time I tried to map out the perfect plan I just saw either gaps or issues with it.
What I learned, but only about a year after I left, was that certainty only comes after you act, not before. (Or at least as certain as you can be running your own business.)
What did make the different just before I left, however, was clarity about the type of career that I now wanted to build, and why it mattered to me. Even if I didn’t know the specifics.
Lesson 4: Fear of Regret Beats Fear of Failure
When I finally started thinking seriously about leaving, fear hit me hard.
Fear of losing security. Status. Identity.
But eventually a new, bigger fear arose:
What if I never try?
What if I wake up in 10 years’ time wondering ‘what if’ and having that sick feeling in my stomach that I’d missed my chance?
That was the fear of regret. And for me, it changed everything.
It meant I was prepared to take a risk and potentially fail.
Because you can recover from failure. But you can’t recover from wondering what if.
Regret is always permanent.
The Bottom Line
Please don’t misinterpret what I mean about the lazy path of achievement. It’s not about a lack of effort, it’s about whether your effort is focused in the right place for you now, or just the easiest place.
The lazy path of achievement looks impressive.
And I sincerely hope for many of you it works for you as long as you’re working. Because that’s a great position to be in.
But if your own success has started to feel like you’re on autopilot, and you’re not convinced about the direction you’re heading in, then maybe it’s time for you to pause and ask the harder question: not what’s the next step up, but what’s the right next step for me now?
If this resonated for you, and you’d like to hear a little more, take a look at this YouTube video I recorded. It’s 11 minutes long, but you can speed me up 😀.
And if you do watch the video, please can you let me know what you think? YouTube is a new thing for me, and my aim is to build a library of practical, honest insights for high achievers who want to enjoy their work and love their life.
Thanks for reading today.
See you next week.
Mostyn
P.S. Here’s that link to the YouTube video.