Hello everyone!

I’ve been delving even more into research on ambition at the start of the year, and one of the learnings is how much of what we might want to stretch or strive for (what I would call our right ambitions that are aligned to what we want, not society or family should’s) is often unconscious and that it’s important to connect our conscious selves to what’s inside. We need to get to know who we are and what we want paying close attention to the clues we receive from ourselves.

I also believe we don’t think about our ambitions enough, asking ourselves that very question—for what do we really want to stretch or strive? How good do we want to be? How much effort do we want to put in?

What if we made these choices more consciously? What if we became consciously ambitious?

I’m starting to sharpen how I think about managing Sustainable Ambition in the short-term vs. career management over time. If we want to be ambitious but not at all costs and better integrate life and work and make it all more sustainable, I point to aligning the Right Ambition at the Right Time with the Right Effort.

When I use “right,” I mean right for you, claiming what’s right and shifting it to internal guidance vs. external guides.

What that can look like is:

Right Ambition: Align to your personal definition of success and success metrics. How can you make your ambitions meaningful and motivating for you so you have the energy for them? What will be fulfilling and satisfying to you? Hint: Look to your vision for your life and work and how you want to contribute and give. Align your work to your values and activities you love.
Right Time: Align to what’s personally important across your life and work now. Are you clear on what needs your attention across both? Start life first. What is important in your life now? What are your life non-negotiables? What is it time to do now and what courageous choice are you making to focus your attention?
Right Effort: Align your effort and energy to the ambition. Ambitions aren’t created equal—which ambitions are worth the hard work? Where can you dial in your effort across ambitions? How will you sustain your energy by restoring, protecting, and supporting it?

I encourage you to play with these questions, and if you want to learn more join me for my free workshop on Friday(more details below!).

I’ve also been doing some short episodes on the podcast at the start of this year. This is my approach to applying Sustainable Ambition principles to my work: I’m committed to the podcast (it is a Right Ambition for me), but I thought about how I could dial down my effort at the beginning of the year and still deliver value. One episode is out now and a two more are coming.

E93: On Dialing in Your Ambitions 🎛️
E95: On What It Is Time for Now 🗓️ (coming this Wednesday!)
E96: On the Power of Pause ⏸️ (coming next week!)

Then below I offer a round-up of articles on the theme, including a podcast interview with Jennie Blumenthal author ofCorporate Rehab: ditch the hustle culture and thrive again, and a practice to try out if you so choose.

I hope your year has started off just as you wanted it. ✨ Be well, all!

Cheers,
Kathy Oneto
Founder of Sustainable Ambition

The Round-Up

Step into goals differently this year. While from 2021, this guidance is still relevant and helps guide us to ease the “fix me” mindset and shift towards progress, how you want to feel, and self-compassion.

Ambition is good when you make it yours. Align the target of your ambitions with what motivates you and create personal reward.

Navigating work choices with a partner?A brilliant, engaging, heartfelt yet humorous piece written by Shanti Bright Brien on understanding “when is it my turn?”

Tips for better life+work alignment. A great article with ten tips from a doctor to help create better life-work integration. Read how someone else has put work into their sustainability strategy.

Reading: The Practice of Groundedness.I appreciate Brad Stulberg’swork that is complementary to Sustainable Ambition. This is a good read for getting introduced to practices that can help you experience more sustainability through what he calls the practice of groundedness.

Listening: Calm Time Chaos with Laura Vanderkam. I always love listening to Jenny Blake’s podcasts (both Free Timeand Pivot). And I’ve appreciated Laura Vanderkam’s work for some time. She’s a time management and productivity guru, and I love her real talk approach to open our eyes and get more conscious about what’s real in how we use our time (i.e., work from good data) so we can be more mindful about how we choose to use it. Listen in!

The Sustainable Ambition Podcast - Episode 85

Join me for conversations with experts, authors, and friends on
what it means to live with Sustainable Ambition.

How do you put more life into your life? That’s what Jennie Blumenthal has done for herself and is showing others how to do. Jennie is CEO and Founder of Corporate Rehab and author of the new book with the same title. She shares why she made the decision to pursue a pandemic career pivot after 20 years as an executive in Corporate America.

In this episode, she spoke to the importance of what I’m starting to call being consciously ambitious: “I think as long as you’re in touch with what you're directing your ambition towards, you'd have a much better sense of making sure you're checking yourself that you're applying it towards the things that are most valuable to you.”

And being conscious about what work is calling you now for this work arc: “The first step is to understand what’s your job’s job. What is it giving you, and what are you there for? Because that’s one thing we don’t really ask ourselves.”

Find it on your favorite podcast player here or on our website here

A Practice: Making Space for Your Brain to Make Ideas Conscious

Research has shown the benefits of taking breaks and how breaks can improve creativity.

It's helpful to allow our unconscious brain to wander so ideas can form and become conscious. And when your brain starts to make connections, give it the space it needs.

That's what I’ve been practicing of late, because I have a tendency to continue listening to a podcast that’s sparked an insight and not allow enough space for ideas to take shape.

Now when my brain starts to fire and wire together ideas, I stop whatever I’m listening to and tune in. I let my brain do its thing. I capture the ideas that have come to me as a voice note or a note on my phone, and then I continue. What I’m finding is exactly what the research shows—that ideas lock into place... clink, clink, clink... connecting to formulate a more cohesive thought.

You can even apply this to practice tapping into your ambitions, as discussed in this podcast interview. Plant a seed of an inquiry around your ambitions, and then let your brain play with it as you give it space.

Try the practice yourself (very simply):

Take yourself away from your problem.
Consider getting into nature.
If you’re exploring an ambition, plant a seed for exploration.
Let your mind wander, listen to music, or listen to inspiration like a podcast.
If ideas start to come to you, if you are listening to something, press pause to allow your brain to do its thing.
Capture your ideas in a way that works for you.

Find Your Guide:

Find the perfect guide to match your journey.

“A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.”

— Liberty Hyde Bailey

Sustainable Ambition Forum - 1.31.23