U.S. President Calvin Coolidge was very skillful at turning away any questions he didn’t like. However, in 1928, after Coolidge issued his famous “I do not choose to run” statement, a persistent reporter looking for more details followed Coolidge to the door of his library.

The reporter asked for more details about why the president was opting not to run for a second term.

Coolidge looked the reporter squarely in the eyes and replied, “Because there is no chance for advancement.”

Does that mean that Coolidge had no ambition? Hardly. He was just a man of few words, and he wasn’t about to waste any on an overly ambitious reporter.

Ambition was once condemned as unnatural or even immoral in much of the world.

However, in the modern world and particularly in America, we have come to idealize self-made figures. People like steel magnate Andrew Carnegie and oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller who, without education or status, transformed the scale of business corporations. Or Frederick Douglass, the ex-slave who became a learned and articulate advocate for his people. And Elizabeth Arden, the cosmetics icon who built an empire on beauty.

America was settled by generations of immigrants who came here with a burning ambition to make something of themselves and their families. These men and women had the broadest range of opportunity in the world, so it’s logical that ambition should flourish in America. This ambition is essentially what the Declaration of Independence described as “the pursuit of happiness.”

Let’s face it, ambition requires hard work. Most people want to improve themselves, but not too many want to work at it.

I’m a proud member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, named for the renowned author whose tales of overcoming adversity through unyielding perseverance and basic moral principles captivated the public in the late 19th century. His writings were characterized by a “rags-to-riches” narrative.

If you are looking for a job, part of the process is to show your prospective new employers that you are ambitious. You can’t just say you have ambition; you have to demonstrate it. You’ve accepted challenges. You’ve made things happen. You have a lot to be proud of. And you can make a contribution to the company.

But having ambition alone is not enough. You have to know what you want, if not specifically, at least generally. You need to know what you value. The best place to start is to identify times when you were happy, proud and fulfilled, according to advice from the Mission website. Look for common denominators to determine what your true values are.

Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. Everyone has weaknesses, and those can’t always be overcome. But they are only a problem if you let them become an excuse for not pushing forward. When you look at your strengths, you can form goals that allow you to maximize your best points.

Ambitious people usually know how to ask for help to keep growing. Maybe someone can offset your weaknesses and help you develop your strengths.

Follow your dreams. Once you have decided what your ultimate goal is -- for now -- make a plan and get started. It may not happen overnight, but it won’t happen at all unless you take the first step. And then set even higher goals.

Here's a story that illustrates what I'm talking about. A man picked up a hitchhiker, a young fellow who looked like he’d been traveling for a while. The two started a conversation, and the driver asked his passenger about his plans for the future.

The hitchhiker explained he was traveling around the country, camping and taking in the sights. Then, when he returned home, he planned to make a fortune in the tech industry. He had an idea that was going to make him a millionaire.

“Do people really do that?” asked the driver.

“Make money in the tech world? Sure,” came the reply.

“No,” the driver said. “I mean, do they take the time out from life instead of getting to work on making their dreams a reality?”

There is no time like the present to put your ambition to work.

Mackay’s Moral: Everyone should take some time daily to look at the road map of their ambition.

Even after playing together for more than 50 years, the Rolling Stones still understand the value of practicing together. The band commits to two months of rehearsal before every tour, according to the Scoro website.

The routine helps them reconnect with each other’s rhythm until they can communicate and perform almost telepathically. Keith Richards knows what’s going on just by watching Charlie Watts’ left hand, for example. If the tempo of the show starts to sag, a single quick glance between the two sparks a pickup in the pace.

The group understands each member’s distinctive roles: Richards is the band’s spiritual leader, Watts is the backbone, Ronnie Wood is the mediator and lead singer Mick Jagger is the CEO, in charge of everything.

With that understanding, contrary to the famous song lyrics, they can always get what they want. And then they share it with the rest of us.

The Stones understand what it takes to be a successful team. Coming together is the beginning. Staying together is the development and working together is the key to success. If we all are moving forward together, then success is guaranteed.

There are so many parts of teamwork. One is unselfishness. Business author Joe Griffith shares a story about bees that live through the winter by mutual aid. They form into a ball and keep up a dance. Then they change places. Those on the outside move to the center, and those in the center move to the outside. If the bees in the center insist on staying in the center and keeping the others on the edges, all the bees would die.

True cooperation means working together for everyone’s benefit. For example, when Lionel Richie assembled a group of music legends in Los Angeles in 1985 to record the song “We Are the World,” he posted a sign at the entrance of the music studio saying, “Please check your ego at the door.” Not everyone had a solo in the song, even though every singer was a star. The result of this incredible team effort was a whopping $63 million raised for hunger relief in Africa and other parts of the world.

Also important is putting team members in the proper place to ensure that the team will be successful. Everyone has their strengths. That’s why Yankee great Billy Martin said you can’t let every baseball player choose their own position. Otherwise, you would have nine pitchers.

Too many people see business as a dog-eat-dog, or what I like to call shark-eat-shark, world in which the most important thing is looking out for No. 1. Don’t make that mistake. Support your team, department and organization.

Understand that sometimes you will be the star, and other times you will be part of the supporting cast or even the water carrier. Remember that every member of the team is important and contributes to the overall success of the project. Bring whatever talents you have and be grateful that others have different skill sets that complement each other.

I remember when I was a kid; one of the assessments on my report card was “plays well with others.” That description is just as important for adults.

Leonard Bernstein, the famous composer and conductor, was asked, “What is the hardest instrument to play?” He replied without hesitation: “Second fiddle. I can always get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second French horn or second flute, now that's a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony.”

That pretty much sums up the importance of teamwork.

Mackay’s Moral: For championship results, be a team player.

I am often asked to name the single most important quality of a great salesperson. I usually say it’s three things:

1. Hungry fighter.

2. Hungry fighter.

3. Hungry fighter.

Bottom line: All great salespeople must have enthusiasm. It’s the one critical trait that you cannot teach. You can learn sales skills, product knowledge, how to plan, networking and pretty much everything else.

Enthusiasm is about passion, gusto, excitement and infectious energy to light up any sales call. But it’s hardly limited to sales. Even though I like to remind people that all of life is sales -- as in, you are always selling something, whether it’s a product, a project, an idea or yourself -- unless you project enthusiasm, you might as well give up and take a nap.

Enthusiasm is crucial in every profession. Major League Baseball star Pete Rose once was asked which goes first on a baseball player -- his eyes, legs or arm. He said: “None of these things. It’s when his enthusiasm goes that he’s through as a player.”

Here are a few examples of enthusiasm worth noting.

Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi said: “If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm (to play for the Green Bay Packers), you will be fired with enthusiasm.”

Kemmons Wilson, founder of Holiday Inn, said, “If you don’t have enthusiasm, you don’t have anything.”

Motivational author Tom Peters said, “Nothing good or great can be done in the absence of enthusiasm.”

Walter Chrysler, the founder of the automotive company that bears his name, said, “The real secret of success is enthusiasm.”

Mark Twain was once asked the secret to his success. He said, “I was born excited.”

Enthusiasm is a commodity more important than all other commodities. It will find solutions where there appear to be none, and it will achieve success when success was thought impossible.

Enthusiastic people never give up. They understand that the hardest sale they'll ever make is to themselves. But once they're convinced they can do it, they get the job done.

Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet many people don’t believe in themselves as they should, and they find it difficult to become successful. Confidence enables you to perform to the best of your abilities, without the fear of failure holding you back. It starts with believing in yourself, even when no one else does.

That attitude is absolutely essential. Stay upbeat no matter what happens. A can-do attitude is the mind’s paintbrush. Enthusiasm can color any situation.

What can you do to boost your enthusiasm? It all depends on how much you want to succeed. Take control of your own destiny. Success comes from knowing what you want, not wanting what you know.

It helps to have a little bulldog in you to achieve your dreams. The pioneering pilot Amelia Earhart said, “The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity.”

Find something that makes you happy. If you love what you do, you will work harder. Having a purpose is the best motivation, better than money or fame. To me, happiness is the key to success. Only you can draw the map of the route to your happiness.

Here’s the best part: You can take any detour on your roadmap where your enthusiasm leads you. Therein lies the beauty of living an enthusiastic life, that you can see possibilities beyond your original plan. There are many paths to achieve your ultimate happiness and success. Don’t let your fear of following them get in the way.

Consider the story of a 94-year-old woman in Arizona. Her friends always described her as charming, delightful and always positive. When asked her secret of living, she responded: “It’s my enthusiasm for life. Because I think positive, I am positive.”

Pausing for a moment, she continued: “Even at 94, I have four boyfriends. I begin each day with Will Power. Then I go for a walk with Arthur Ritis. I usually return home with Charlie Horse, and spend the evening with Ben Gay. Need I say any more?”

If she can have that kind of enthusiasm at 94, there’s no excuse for you not to have it at 24, 44 or 74. The choice is yours: Are you living with enthusiasm?

Mackay’s Moral: The world’s work is done every day by people who could have stayed in bed ... but didn’t.