The Importance of Ambition in Life

Our natures may be trying to sniff out the cost and benefit of taking action, willing to retreat to placid conformity in case those early ventures get punished. This might make for a theory of motivation that says do whatever your culture requires you to do with different kinds of actions being strongly discouraged if they don't yield big rewards. In particular human beings exhibit inconsistent time preferences for satisfaction here and now versus long-term rewards in the future. Procrastination may be a delaying tactic to avoid wasting energy right now even if you think you might work harder in the not so far future.