Your ambitions, your unconventional career plans, your “Big Idea”—these are the most fragile assets you own. They are seedlings that need to be nurtured in the controlled environment of your Private Laboratory before they are strong enough to face the harsh weather of public opinion.

Your ambition has an R&D department. It is your mind, your journal, your private conversations with trusted mentors. It is not the family dinner table.

The R&D Department: Shielding your fragile ambitions from the hurricane of judgment

Exposing a fragile idea (“I think I might want to be a musician”) to the hurricane of the Moral Diagnosis (“How will you earn a living?! That is irresponsible!”) will kill it before it has a chance to grow.

This is not theoretical. It is the lived reality of millions. The Phantom Committee is particularly vicious when it comes to your career. The ghosts of disapproval will haunt your every unconventional step, whispering that you are foolish, that you will fail, that you are letting everyone down.

The art of keeping is about protecting your seedling from this hurricane.

The Three Stages of Ambition: From hidden seed to undeniable reality

The Stages of Ambition:

  1. The Seed Stage: This is the initial spark of an idea. It is fragile and not fully formed. At this stage, it should be kept almost entirely private. This is the time for internal work: research, reflection, and quiet experimentation. Disclosing it now is like planting a seed in a blizzard.

  2. The Sapling Stage: Your idea now has roots. You have a plan. You have gathered some data. You have achieved a small, tangible result (e.g., you’ve built a prototype, you’ve written three chapters, you’ve gotten your first paying client). Now, you can practice Strategic Disclosure. You can share your progress with a small circle of trusted advisors to get specific feedback.

  3. The Tree Stage: Your ambition is now a reality. It is a fact. You have quit your job, you have launched the business, you have published the book. Now you can disclose it to the world. It is no longer a fragile idea they can kill; it is a reality they must contend with.

You do not need the world’s permission to pursue your ambition. You only need your own. Protect your R&D department. Do the work in private. Let them see the results, not the struggle.