The Monthly Round-Up: September 2026
Ideas on becoming consciously ambitious and thriving in life and work
The case for urgent optimism. The stories we tell ourselves matter, and research proves it.
Jane McGonigal from the Institute for the Future coined the term “urgent optimism,” to reflect when we face a challenge but feel that the problem is hard but solvable, and the outcome isn’t predetermined. She describes it as: “that emotional state — urgency combined with optimism and agency — is what moves people to step forward in the face of uncertainty, and lean into challenges with the belief that their efforts can still change the outcome.”
She champions the idea that we need to cultivate the capacity for urgent optimism and our belief that we can still influence the future. One way to do that is to experiment with and embrace futures thinking (imagining futures) and storytelling.
As she writes, “When people practice imagining futures, they begin to see the present differently. They notice possibilities that weren’t visible before. They recognize signals of change. They become more willing to experiment,” and “Because the future needs more than forecasts. It needs people who believe their actions matter. It needs people who can hold two truths at once: that the challenges ahead are serious, and that our choices still shape what happens next.” Read more.
It’s not as bad as you think. Go do your work.
I appreciated this recent newsletter from Oliver Burkeman. He brought to my awareness that there are some out there who offer a counter view to all the negativity about the state of our world. Human negativity bias is strong, and the news we consume doesn’t help.
So instead of getting blinded by the challenges we face, Burkeman invites us to get to work, writing:
“Armed with this understanding, you might dedicate yourself to your work in the world – which could include addressing AI safety, or fighting climate change – not in hopes of one day scrambling to place of final security, but because doing good things for each other in conditions of insecurity is just what we do.”
No, younger workers aren’t necessarily opting out of work ambition.
I’ve gotten fired up by recent articles proclaiming that younger workers are opting out of work ambition.
That’s why I wanted to write something about this topic myself, and I’m grateful Fast Company gave me that opportunity.
The frustrations behind those stories are real, but the coverage quietly normalizes the very surrender it describes. And it doesn't tell the full story.
Redefining ambition is healthy. Abandoning it is not. Many younger workers aren’t rejecting ambition; they’re rejecting a script that no longer fits.
In my latest article, I offer four places for anyone to start reclaiming ambition on their own terms.
Read here and consider passing along to someone early in their career.
Cultivate your imagination.
Imagination is important for innovation, optimism, and hope. Take this science-backed quiz to learn your imagination profile.
Ask more questions.
When the future feels uncertain, curiosity can be an antidote to anxiety. In this Behavioral Scientist piece, adapted from her book “How to Fall in Love with Questions,” Elizabeth Weingarten shares research linking curiosity, asking questions, and deeper thinking with fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression. She also shares a simple practice connected to temporal distancing: asking questions of your future and younger selves.
For example, try this. Ask yourself, “Who do I want to become a year from now, and what choices could I make now to put me on that path? And, if I could talk to myself five years ago, what would I say to prepare that self for what’s to come?”
Reading: “Humankind: A Hopeful History” by Rutger Bregman
I loved finally reading this book, and it did leave me hopeful about our human nature and what’s possible when we see the good in others. Because human beings are, in fact, more resilient, kind, cooperative, and helpful than some would like us to believe.
Rutger offers 10 rules to live by at the end of his book. This Psychology Today article shares those and other rules to live by. Worth a read.
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Sustainable Ambition offers a strategic approach for pursuing our professional and personal goals in a way that is motivating, meaningful, and manageable from stage to stage, rather than be all consuming in a way that compromises other important aspects of our lives or sacrifices our well-being.