Ash Ambirge > Quotes

“There is a difference between being grateful and being gratified. A modern problem of privilege, to be sure, but a very real problem nonetheless. Most people will scoff that if you have the time to be bored, you can't complain, right? The rest of us have actual work to do! But chronic boredom doesn't come from not having anything to do: it comes from doing the wrong things. It comes from a fundamental lack of understanding of what you really want. Turns out, chronic boredom is actually an evolutionary response to destructive patterns. It's a signal designed to tell you to get the hell out of there, something doesn't feel right. Kids know this instinctively: anything even remotely boring, and they're out. But as adults, we've been taught to withstand. To persevere. To "keep calm and carry on." So we don't recognize the warning signal. We keep working for the wrong things.”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“I mean, where do you turn when you've already ticked off all the boxes? What else is there? I had built my ordinary, perfect little life, not realizing that ordinary often comes at the cost of extraordinary.”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“Most people will say anything to justify their own actions, because most people would rather be safe than happy.”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“Rather, there is another question that helps you put things into focus much more effectively. Anytime you've found yourself faced with an impossible decision, I've found it useful to ask yourself this: "What feels the most like self-respect?”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“Rather, there is another question that helps you put things into focus much more effectively. Anytime you've found yourself aced with an impossible decision, I've found it useful to ask yourself this: "What feels the most like self-respect?”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“Employees perform their job duties as described, first out of obedience, and later out of habit. "That's not my job" becomes a rallying cry. Deviation gets marked as defiance. Who gave you permission? Who told you that you could do that? There's a delicate distinction, though, between showing up to work and showing up to do the work.”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“I didn't know, for example, that there's a critical, but important, difference between happiness and its cousin meaningfulness. According to at least four articles on the internet, you know what the difference is? Turns out, happiness is about getting what you want. But meaningfulness is about expressing and defining yourself while you do it. The missing link.”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“Choose to show up for yourself, and then actually do.”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“The most important question you need to ask yourself is this: How would I show up if I were already the best in the world?”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“Achievement without purpose is crisis.”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“But chronic boredom doesn’t come from not having anything to do: it comes from doing the wrong things.”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“But with one death comes many: your identity goes into a blender and your relationship to the world is forever changed. Things you thought were true suddenly aren't. The person you used to be? Not anymore. Maybe you can relate: if you've been through The Hard, then you know what it's like to be massacred by it.”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“Sometimes acceptance is a euphemism for surrender. And sometimes instead of soldiering on,”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“Imposter syndrome is a funny little liar, designed to keep you safe, but terrible at making you strong.”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve

“As a woman, you must be brave enough to cause problems. Make no mistake: this is the opposite of Zen—this is war. But it’s the most important thing you will ever do for yourself. A person who never causes any problems is a person who doesn’t trust herself to handle what happens next.”
― Ash Ambirge, The Middle Finger Project: Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve