The Truth About Ambition (and What You Really Want)

There’s a quote we love at Fletcher Circle — attributed, perhaps loosely, to Rudyard Kipling:

“If you did not get what you want, it’s a sign either that you did not seriously want it or you tried to bargain over the price.”

Everyone wants the outcome. The title. The promotion. The story that looks clean from the outside.

But few want the work — the late nights, the self-doubt, the sacrifices that never make the highlight reel. Ambition asks a lot of us. It demands time, energy, and trade-offs that don’t always show up on a résumé.

That’s what makes the stories of people like Alisa Wood at KKR and Lizzie Reed at Goldman Sachs so powerful.

At Fletcher Circle, we don’t know Alisa or Lizzie personally — and this isn’t a story about women in finance. It’s a story about clarity, grit, and choice. They just happen to be extraordinary people who show what those qualities look like in real life.

We study stories like theirs not to imitate them, but to understand their path — and to reflect on our own. We don’t admire them simply because they reached the top. We learn from what it took to get there — and what they had to give up along the way.

Their paths weren’t lucky. They were deliberate — hours stacked on hours, choices most people admire in theory but wouldn’t want to live in practice.

Alisa went to business school while at KKR. She had three kids in three years. “There were days maybe I was tired. Days when I wished I was doing something with my kids instead. Is this really worth it?” she said in that interview.

That’s the question — the one no one else can answer for you.

We talk a lot about “having it all.” But maybe the real question is: What is “it”?

Do we truly have the ambition to mirror people like Alisa and Lizzie — or do we simply envy their success?

Honesty is the hard part. Because honesty is what leads you to your own path — not someone else’s.

The Work Behind the Outcome

Alisa Wood didn’t land at KKR by chance — she sent a blind pitchbook and a handwritten letter to one of the most competitive firms in the world. Lizzie Reed wrote down her goal — Partner at Goldman Sachs — as a college student, then spent nearly two decades proving it true.

Their stories aren’t about privilege. They’re about purpose. About knowing exactly what they wanted — and being willing to do what it required.

But behind that drive were trade-offs: long hours, constant travel, and the quiet loneliness of being the one still at her desk when everyone else had gone home.

They are role models not because success came easily, but because they had the courage to keep showing up when it didn’t.

Everyone wants the outcome. Fewer want the work. You’ve heard that before — because it’s true.

And that’s okay. But it’s worth asking yourself: What do you really want? And what are you willing to give up to get it?

As Alisa said:

“There were going to be days that I was a great KKR partner and days that I was a great mom — and most likely, those two things never happened on the same day. And that was okay.”

It is very hard to be honest with yourself. It might be the most difficult skill to develop. But that honesty — not passion, not luck — is what leads you to your path.

Knowing Yourself — and Knowing “Enough”

Ambition isn’t the enemy. It’s a mirror.

It reflects what we chase — and sometimes exposes what we’re running from.

The challenge isn’t to want less. It’s to understand why we want what we want.

Some people thrive on the climb. Others crave balance. Some find purpose in building; others in being present.

There’s no right answer — only an honest one.

So admire those who’ve reached the top. Learn from their drive, their discipline, their courage to keep going. But don’t mistake their path for yours.

And it’s okay not to want something that much. Just be honest with yourself if you find you’re bargaining over the price you’d have to pay to get it.

Success doesn’t have a single shape. For some, it’s the corner office. For others, it’s the dinner table, the classroom, the studio, the field.

The key is knowing which one gives your life meaning — and being content when you find it.

At Fletcher Circle, that’s what we celebrate: ambition guided by self-awareness, not envy.

Because the real victory isn’t getting everything you want — it’s recognizing when you already have everything you need.