Why Germans Aren’t As Ambitious As Americans

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There's an old German saying - a good horse only jumps as high as it has to. If you're doing good enough, you're doing good enough. Why spoil that by always wanting more.

As an American now in Germany, I am relieved that I am allowed to be content and that I'm given German protections as well. Part of my hussle in America was knowing that I could be fired at any moment, kicked out of my home at the drop of a hat, and generally things are going to change and no one will help me. I have to always be ready to jump. Now, in Germany, it's expected that I chill out. Sit down and enjoy a coffee or beer. You don't have to be productive constantly. You deserve rest and vacation. Your sick leave is not paid time off. It's separate and doesn't affect the other. Whew! I can just breathe instead of feeling like I'm going to drown.

A little nice story I heard once. There was once a fisherman on a nice afternoon sitting in the sun, enyoing his life. Then a rich man came along the way asking the fisher man what he is doing. The fisherman told he was fishing in the morning and now enyoing his life and the sun. The rich man asked, why he is not fishing in the afternoon. The fisherman asked, why should he. The rich man said: You can catch more fishes sell them earn more money, buy a bigger ship sell much more fish, earn much more money. The fisherman asked: Why? The rich man said: So once you will have enough money, you willno longer have to work, then you could sit in the sun and enjoy your life.

It would be important to define success. I am German myself, but I was in a relationship with an American for years and felt that success for many Americans basically means "accumulating money, owning expensive things and being admired". Germans - the younger generation in particular - probably has a totally different point of view. I think that for many success means living a contented life with financial security (enough money to survive), social support, friends/family and health. And some of these things, such as health, unfortunately cannot always be fully influenced by yourself

I think the differences are mainly due to the fact that the fear of social decline is greater in the US, due to the low to non-existent social security systems.

The main problem with the view that success is in your hands is that you conclude that everyone who is not successful must be a loser. When in reality that person might just have had bad luck. The healthy thinking is to understand that your life is determined by both, factors in your control and factors out of your control. You cannot control which cards life deals you, but you can control how you play with those cards. If life dealt you bad cards, you won't win big times, but you can still make the best out of it. If life hands you excellent cards, you still can lose it all by bad play. From seeing the result only, you cannot determine whether someone was a good player with bad cards, or a bad player with good cards.

I whole-heartedly agree with you. We locals often call Americans "karrieregeil" - but they never seem to be truly happy. They want more, more, more, but never seem to reach a point when they're satisfied. To me, that is not at all desirable. I want to be happy with my life, not constantly dissatisfied. But hey, each to their own.

Short comment on homes: Here in Germany transaction cost for real estate are high while legal protections for renters are strong. So, no reason to buy if you’re not planning on staying for long.

This video confirms that NALF is an American. He's using one business (his channel) to promote another one of his businesses. 👍

I think first of all we have to talk about what success mean.

Having viewed several Videos of yours, this is one of the most empathetic and intelligent videos. As a 70-year old German with many experiences "on both sides" you simply hit the spot.

When you get to know the parents of your significant other in the USA, they‘ll probably ask you about your career path and your plans for the future, maybe they’ll even ask you what your parents are doing for a living and other career/success-oriented questions - sometimes to an extend that it feels more like a job interview. Generally, when people get to know each other, it‘s very normal to tell (and ask) each other about their jobs and careers in the US. In Germany, that‘s not very common outside of your work context. I am generalising, of course, but it definitely is one of the most drastic differences between the two countries that I have experienced. I think if you get asked about your career path and future plans that often, you automatically feel quite a bit of pressure to improve. In the USA, your career is seen as a very important part of your identity. In Germany, it‘s just how you earn your money. It does not define you that much as a person.

As a Belgian I have the feeling that the German feeling is more a (West-)European feeling: there is some ambition, but not too much. I think there are two big reasons for this difference between the US and Europe: First, in Europe, Money is written with a capital. In the States, MONEY is written with 5 capitals. Secondly, the social system plays a part. In Europe, if you are not ambitious at all, the risk of ending up really bad is very limited. In my feeling, if you have a bit of bad luck in the States this can become reality very quickly.

I think there is a little more to this discussion. In Germany there is a comparetly big safty net, there is social security, especially when it comes to healthcare. In the US if you want to be "save" you need to be ambitus to reach a certain financial status, to feel save. Beeing in a more secure inviroment makes it easier to have a relaxed attitude and be content with less. If you have come to a point, where you have everithing you really need in live, you can make a decision to relax more, in Germany you need less to reach this state because of the build in security. On the topic of housing, germans that reached a certain age and employment level tend to move around less and Germany beeing much smaller allows you to change employment without changing location much easier, I think this informed German house owner culture significantly. Another point is that Germany has a strong renting culture, so people tend to rent until they found the place they want to stay permanently, I think, on everage, we buy houses at a much higher age. Another factor is debt, Germans are much more dept averse than Americans and German houses tend to be significantly more expensive, so you think carefully what you invest your money in and how you can get out of the debt.

Success in live and success/Karriere in job are not the same

Hallo lieber Nick, ich schau mir deine Videos sehr gerne an und finde deine Sicht der Unterschiede zwischen USA und Deutschland sehr spannend. In jedem Video fand ich deine Fähigkeit die Dinge zu Beobachten und die richtigen Rückschlüsse zu ziehen bemerkenswert! Auch mag ich die Herzlichkeit in deiner Familie und deine Freundin sehr. Viele Gegebenheiten die du beschreibst sehe ich aus der gegenseitigen Perspektive. Unser Sohn lebt schon seit mehreren Jahren in Stanford und arbeitet dort an der Universität als Forscher, so dass wir oft und manchmal über Monate bei ihm waren. Deswegen können wir deine Vergleiche sehr gut nachvollziehen. Zu deinem heutigen Video möchte ich dir empfehlen dir die Geschichte des Fischers aus dem kleinen Buch Das Cafe am Rande der Welt von John Strelecki. Ich finde die Begegnung des Fischers mit dem Amerikaner genau das was du beschreiben willst. Wir in Deutschland machen es eher wie der Fischer, nicht immer, nicht alle aber so gut es geht 😂😂😂❤

First of all: Quiver is great! I enjoy it very much This video was very interesting. I can understand both approaches. But being German I would feel very stressed out by the thought of always wanting something better. It seems like you are never happy with what you have a find time to enjoy and celebrate this success. But as I said, both is fine.

I think it is not only contentment that distinguishes us from US Americans. It is also the need to enjoy what you are doing. I rather have a job with lower pay that I enjoy to do than a higher paid one that bores me stiff. And if you are lucky you have both !😁

the key question is: what does it mean to "better" ones life, how do you define "better life"? a bigger house? a bigger car? more pay? a step up in a job hierarchy? I got a nice house, almost too big for myself - why should I struggle to buy a bigger one? my 15 y o Astra does everything for me that I expect and want from a car and which I will replace with a similar one once it is beyond repair - what to buy a bigger/newer/faster one for? I got a good job I love, with sufficient pay - why put myself on a career ladder which most of the time only turns out to be a treadmill leading nowhere, anyway, when every "advancement" and "promotion" in case I do succeed can only take me away from what I love doing and into more administrative tasks, which I hate? all I want and work for in my job is ever more competence - I could not care less about my position in a hierarchy! (wenn ich will, dass jemand Chef zu mir sagt, geh ich mir einen Döner kaufen!)