Being too ambitious is a clever form of self-sabotage

In the spirit of July 4, John Lewis Gaddis explores a similar theme in "On Grand Strategy". This is one of my favourite explorations, where he compares Abraham Lincoln and John Quincy Adams:

> Compare Lincoln’s life with that of John Quincy Adams. Great expectations inspired, pursued, and haunted Adams, depriving him, at critical moments, of common sense. Overestimations by others—which he then magnified—placed objectives beyond his reach: only self-demotion brought late-life satisfaction. No expectations lured Lincoln apart from those he set for himself: he started small, rose slowly, and only when ready reached for the top. His ambitions grew as his opportunities expanded, but he kept both within his circumstances. He sought to be underestimated.

The point -- being too ambitious can slow you down if you're not strategic.

It almost seems like a tautology.

e.g. By definition the 99.9th percentile person cannot live a 99.999th percentile life, if they did they would in fact be that amazing.

Significant part of what separates 99.9th (or even 90th) from 99.999th percentile is ego management.

In particular IQ is not associated with better life outcomes after you have "enough", and that "enough" isn't Mensa level.

How could that possibly be true?

The former might be a literal genius (in the genuine unironic sense) in one field, say software engineering of astrophysics or banking or diplomacy.

The latter would be a literal genius in all four fields simultaneously.