Sustainable Ambition Forum - 04.12.22
Hi everyone!
In this first April newsletter, I’m sharing some updates on Sustainable Ambition after a couple of years of research and reaching the Episode #50 milestone of the podcast.
Below you’ll find an article that shares my take on the “Great Resignation,” or whatever “Re-” term you prefer, and provide an update on how I’m starting to frame The Sustainable Ambition Method.
And ICYMI, I’m featuring Episode #50 with a great round-up of the lessons we’ve learned from all our fabulous guests.
Then to round things out, I’m also sharing Episode #53, On A More Sustainable+Ambitious Year: Q1 Assess & Adapt. You might recall that Sustainable Ambition has two parts: the first is managing a career over time; and the second is managing life+work in the current moment. The series I did at the beginning of the year focuses on the second part, and this episode brings us back to do a quarter assessment and plan how we’ll adapt in Q2.
I hope you find this helpful in your own Sustainable Ambition journey.
Thanks for being here!
Kathy
P.S. And for a bit of fun… Name that tune. 😄
The life+work algorithm has shifted.
The collective move from should to could.
Have you found yourself saying, “The current make-up of my life+work isn’t working anymore.”
You aren’t the only one. I hear it in my coaching practice, and, of course, there’s been the abundance of discussion about the Great Resignation, Great Rethink, Great Re-Shuffle or Great Re-[fill in with your favorite].
What I would say is that as a society the algorithm around life+work has shifted. Our former model no longer computes. The factors that define life and work fulfillment have changed. And we are looking inward vs. outward to define those factors.
I see this as a collective moving forward in an adult stage of development, moving from should to could. According to Robert Kegan’s adult development model, over time adults move from operating from a socialized mind to a self-authoring mind. Keegan’s research has shown that the majority of adults (58%), operate from a socialized mind, while fewer at 35% operate from a self-authoring mind. Most people ask themselves, “What should I do?” rather than ask, “What would I do if I could?” I believe more of us are moving towards “could” vs. “should” and that the percentages will shift.
It’s important to note that we go through all stages of adulthood as we age. Thus, it is normal to attune to the world around us until we better know ourselves and move to the next stages. We use outside cues and societal norms to guide us, but at some point for some of us it stops working. There is a call to attune to ourselves and our lives instead.
The pandemic has been that call. We are asking:
What do I want?
What work is satisfying to me and what is my ambition now?
How do I support my life and life stage?
People are a bit unnerved by this shift, because society tells us to find a path rather than embrace continual life+work exploration and growth. But the truth is, we evolve. We age, we change, our lives change.
That’s why to have sustainable, fulfilling, ambitious work from decade to decade, we need to embrace a proactive practice to grow and learn about ourselves over time, while considering our life+work together.
And that’s what Sustainable Ambition is about: crafting fulfilling work, while also living a fulfilling life, from decade to decade. With the end goal—experience more joy in your professional and personal lives with more ease and less angst and guilt, while still being ambitious.
Sustainable Ambition lives at the intersection of: You+Life+Work. It pulls you forward into defining what you want for your life and your work and considers how your life needs to integrate with your work.
It means defining success on your terms, crafting work to align to your satisfaction and ambition at your current stage, and adapting life and work structures to be supportive and create more ease.
Based on research over the last year and learning from the podcast over the course of 50 episodes, I've been re-thinking the Sustainable Ambition Model and how to articulate it aligned with the above.
Many tenets remain, but the way I'd articulate the model now is:
1. Attune to you. Attune to your definition of success to make life+work personally rewarding.
2. Align your work. Align your work to what’s satisfying to you and your ambition now to make it regenerative.
3. Adapt to your life. Adapt life+work structures to support sustainability and make life+work responsive.
I’ll share more in the coming weeks, but for now I’ll leave you with 3 evaluative and exploratory questions to consider if you’re feeling like your algorithm has shifted, too:
Evaluative Questions:
Rewarding: On a scale of 1-10 (1=low, 10=high) how would you rate how rewarding your life+work is? Are you feeling successful and fulfilled with where you are putting your attention in your life?
Regenerative: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your energy and excitement about your current work adventure? Are you satisfied with your work and aligned with your ambition now?
Responsive: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the sustainability of your life+work? How much ease are you experiencing in your life+work integration?
Exploratory Questions:
Attune to you: How would you define success and life fulfillment for you now on your terms? What will make your life and work rewarding? What will make it feel fulfilling and joyful?
Align your work: What would make your work satisfying now? What is your current ambition? What is calling to you as your next adventure or growth arc?
Adapt to your life: What smart life and work structures can you put in place to support making it all more sustainable?
As you play with the model, know that Sustainable Ambition as a practice is aspirational. And that admittedly means it isn’t easy! Nonetheless, I believe we can find more fulfillment and joy and peace and ease if we proactively embrace an approach when we’re standing at life+work inflection points that call us to ask what we want now, what will be satisfying to us in the moment, honors our desired ambition and adapts to our life given our current stage.
There’s more to come on Sustainable Ambition’s evolution and how it can apply to managing one’s work over time, in the moment, and on a specific project or task.
In the meantime, a final inspiring question: what would you do if you could?
P.S. What does Sustainable Ambition mean to you? Please reach out and share your thoughts. I’d love to know if what I’ve written here resonates with you and if other guidance would be helpful. Thank you, in advance!
Join me for conversations with experts, authors, and friends
on what it means to live with Sustainable Ambition.
Episode #50: On Celebrating #50 🎉 and 10 Guest Wisdom Themes for Sustainable Ambition
I can’t believe I’m already at Episode 50. It’s really been such a joy to be in conversation with experts, authors, and friends over the last 15 months. I’m so grateful for all my guests who have been on and shared their knowledge, insights, and experiences. In honor of my guests and all of you, in this solo episode I share 10 themes and common wisdom insights heard from all these wonderful guests and what I’ve learned over the last year about living and working with Sustainable Ambition.
Listen on Apple here or on our website here
You can also find the podcast, subscribe, and listen on Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Overcast.
In Episode #53 of the podcast, I pick up the series that kicked off the year on planning and living a more sustainable+ambitious year.
This episode is about checking in on your Q1 progress. How have things gone? What worked? What didn’t work? What do you want to practice next?
It’s time to Assess and Adapt to help you both stretch and sustain yourself in your life+work in the months ahead. Join me!
Listen on Apple here or on our website here
Interested in the accompanying Sustainable Ambition 12-Month Workbook+Planner? Now available in 3 colors!
Learn more here >
“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.”
— Henri Bergson, French Philosopher
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SUSTAINABLE AMBITION™ IS ABOUT CRAFTING A FULFILLING CAREER TO SUPPORT YOUR LIFE FROM DECADE TO DECADE.
It is centered around articulating your personal definition of success and achieving that without burnout while honoring your personal aspirations and ambitions as they ebb and flow over time. The end game—more fulfillment and ease in your professional and personal life, while still being ambitious.
We offer 1:1 Executive Coaching, Leadership Coaching, or Career Strategy Coaching, as well as VIP Leadership Brand Sessions and Workshops on a range of Sustainable Ambition topics. We also provide tips and inspiration, advice on career management over the decades, guides on key Sustainable Ambition topics of interest, and coverage of tools and inspiration.