How To Stoke Your Ambition

In the previous post we talked about how ambition can sometimes get a bad reputation. That people sometimes confuse ambition with greed. In this post let's talked about how to stoke your ambition. How do we get that fire going again? How do we fuel that fire of ambition to go after what we really want?

The first part of any action is desire or ambition. There is no action without the desire to do something. Everything we have in this world is a product of someone's ambition. Now that the world is starting to open up again, this might be a good time to think about what you want. What do you really want to go after.

Here are six things to think about when you are considering your ambition:

1. What is your ambition? What do you really want to achieve? Remember ambition is about doing something, creating something, solving a problem. How can you make it bigger? How could it impact more people? How could it solve a bigger problem? Create your own ambition, not the one that everyone tells you that you should have. The one that someone else wants you to have. Your ambition. What really lights you up. What would you love to have accomplished this year, 3 years, your lifetime. Take a few moments to think about this. 10x that ambition. This helps you think differently. Think bigger. Break the bounds of your current beliefs and behaviors. This is not the time to stay in your comfort zone.
2. Why do you want this ambition? What will that do for you? Why is that important to you. Your answers to those questions aren't as important as the emotion you feel when you talk about it. If you answered, because I really want it and you get emotionally charged when talking about it, then that is excellent. That is better then an elaborate answer that other people will understand but you don't feel that charge,
3. Identity Shift. When you make the identity shift that we are the person the does this thing, we are more likely to move in that direction or take the necessary actions. For example, if you wish to write a book, you need to adopt the identity of a writer. When you adopt the identity of a writer, you will write. When you write, you will develop the skill. The more you write the more your skill will improve. You may need a writing coach who will give you feedback on your writing and how to improve to speed up your development. Even with that, you will only improve your writing through writing.
4. Never limit your ambition based on your current circumstances, your current skillset, and your current knowledge. Also, do not limit your ambition based on your current faults and your current limitations. You can grow, you can learn, you can get better. How much have you learned in the last five years? How much more skill do you have than five years ago? You are constantly learning and growing, so don't let your future ambitions be dictated by your current abilities.
5. Don't listen to the doubters. When you tell others about your ambition, some will assess whether or not you are qualified. But they are basing their judgements of your future on your current abilities. They might say something like, "You're not qualified to go after that goal. How could you possibly be anything more than you are right now? And right now, you are not qualified." They are doing one of two things. They don't want you to be disappointed by not getting it, so they are going to spare that hurt by telling you not to go for it. Or they are operating from a fixed mindset. You don't have those skills now, so you will probably not have those skills in the future. Don't listen. Move forward anyway. 
6. Surround yourself with other ambitious people. By surrounding yourself with other ambitious people they will push you and challenge you. They will help you when you get stuck, or are just not feeling up to it today. They can help get you back on track. They can cooperative, collaborative, or maybe even a little competitive. Either way your ambitious circle of colleagues will help keep you moving forward even on those tough days.

Now that you have your playbook, pursue your ambition with everything you have. Pursue it with all your heart and passion. You deserve something extraordinary in your life, but you first have to want it.