Who is it who "wants" to know oneself? Who is it that "doesn't want" the more "lofty" outcomes?
The ego is the compilation of all of our desires, and the ego is very contradictory.
In one moment, you want to know yourself, while some hours later you want to be distracted from any self-discovery. Similarly, you may not want to become a bodhisattva now, while some years later you do.
Either way, whatever we want is irrelevant. We are trying to be who we truly are, by eliminating ego and allowing our inner divinity to act through us. There is no desire in Being.
"If thou canst not make thine own self what thou desireth, how shalt thou be able to fashion another to thine own liking. We are ready to see others made perfect, and yet we do not amend our own shortcomings."
—Thomas à Kempis