Ambition

I always look forward to reading Lisa Barone’s bi-weekly newsletter from OverIt. I have been reading her for over 15 years. (Yes, I had to go snoop on her LinkedIn and remember that she started at Bruce Clay in 2006!)

I could go on and on about her writing but you should just go subscribe.

Rather than talk about her latest article which goes into details on why you shouldn’t let AI take over your brand voice… she often shares interesting links at the bottom.

One of them was from Alisha Ramos titled, “Who Am I Without My Ambition”. The article was free on substack for the month of June so I was able to read it on the last day.

Lisa described it as, “An honest look at how one woman got through a mild career panic this year. Possibly relatable content.”

After I read it, I immediately forwarded it to three people. Absolutely relatable.

A few of my favorite quotes

“Ambition often gets a bad reputation, but for me, it felt purposeful, even necessary.”

“Embracing seasons of ambition means knowing that there may be periods in our lives when we feel motivated, inspired, and eager to strive and other periods that will feel slower, perhaps even stagnant. And that’s okay!”

“It was helpful for me to sit down and literally write down what I most wanted out of work: some sense of financial security (…), up-leveling my skills, working with others I respect, and contributing towards specific and measurable outcomes.”

“That we can be ambitious outside of our jobs has been by far the most beautiful and hopeful realization of all.”

“As writer and author Rainesford Stauffer and writer Anne Helen Petersen discuss in this podcast episode (and in Stauffer’s new book!), it’s possible to be ambitious in other ways: in our communities, in our marriages and partnerships, in our parenting, in our creative practice, in our hobbies, and so on. “

It was a great read. It’s not something I completely resonate with at this stage of my life. But I am absolutely ambitious, competitive, enjoy achieving goals and being self-sufficient. So I recognized certain feelings for me that have popped up in the past.

Ambition has been my saving grace. It keeps me occupied, my brain busy, and gives me purpose. But I have found that my ambitions will flow from work, to friends, volunteer work, and to hobbies.

I tend to be all-or-nothing and obsessively focused on achieving objectives I set for myself. It may be a character trait I should work on slightly modifying but it’s gotten me this far in life.

I don’t think I ever connected using ambition for our communities, marriage, creative practices, and other things but it struck a chord in me. It makes complete sense.

Ambition for me might not be about wanting to be the very best but simply pursuing my own version of success. Sometimes I slow down in my pursuit of what that version might look like and other times, game on.