Sustainable Ambition Forum - 4.25.23
Shift your beliefs and intentions, shift your behaviors.
Research has shown that if we can shift our beliefs and our intentions, we can change how we behave and the choices we make.
I’ve been playing with this concept as it relates to managing my to-do list and my time.
Just like many of you, I can be ambitious about all I want to do, leading to a full life.
When I find myself fretting about where I’m spending my time, I’m practicing being intentional about shifting my belief in the moment. Instead of thinking, “I really should be getting things done,” or “I must get this done now,” I instead say, “I trust there will be the right time for this. It doesn’t need to be done now.”
With this shift in belief and intention from should do now to will do when it’s the right time, I can change my behavior: stop the mental swirl and stay present in the moment. I can say to myself, “This time is not for that. It’s for this now.”
In that space, I can give myself permission to put things aside and down. I can acknowledge that I’ve reached my mental and physical limit for the day. I can see that pushing more will be both inefficient and an over-extension. I can allow myself to settle into turning off and taking a break.
What if you were to practice with this? To trust that there will be the right time to get to that next to do? It’s not time for that right now. The time for it is later. There will be the right time to get it done with focused attention, more energy, and less effort.
I’ve experienced this time and again. Honestly, just last week and with regard to this newsletter. I had to practice with this mantra and strike the newsletter from the list as I took time away from work. It required me renegotiating with myself to push the newsletter out and reconfigure what it was now going to look like.
And what did I find myself saying as I returned to the task, “Ah, yes. It was okay to not focus on this last week. There is time for this now.”
And voilà! Here’s your end-of-April exchange of ideas on ambition, time, work, money, and sustainability.
Cheers!
Kathy Oneto
Founder of Sustainable Ambition
The Round-Up: On Time
Questions to inspire Right Ambitions: A list of the inquiries to explore what might make you feel more fulfilled in life and work now.
The value of knowing what it’s time for in your life+work. Some of these Life Management theories overlap well with Sustainable Ambition.
1. Intergoal facilitation - How can you reduce the number of activities and tension across your goals by crafting them to achieve multiple things at once?
2. Considering life stage - Accept that life stage can impact what we value now, what it’s time for now, and the ebbing, flowing, and shifting of ambitions over time.
Where does your time go? While this data is a bit dated, playing with the tools in this piece can give you insight into how you spend your time relative to others. What insights show up for you by exploring how you spend your time?
Plan your time on Friday’s. Wisdom from Laura Vanderkam, the time management and productivity expert, on creating a designated weekly pause for planning and why to do it on Friday: get it out of your mind, free up your weekend, and start cleanly and with focus on Monday.
Why we really experience time pressure. It’s partly in our minds. This article offers scientific ways to help us narrow the gap between how we wish we were spending our time and where we put our attention with the time we have. Tips like:
1) add or look for the enjoyment in what you do,
2) create mental alignment, reducing friction, across your goals and activities,
3) find small ways to feel like you can take back control of your time (e.g., time block your day), and
4) shift your thinking of how you value your time.
On the Reading List! “Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock,” by Jenny Odell. For those who have been following me for a while, you know I’ve had my own explorations with time and pacing. So, I’m excited to dig into Jenny Odell’s new book on the topic. I’ll admit that in my reading and listening so far, I don’t know that I agree with all her perspectives (e.g., our current calendar and time system of 24 hours is tied to nature, too), but I LOVE her push to get us to think about time differently to help shift our beliefs so we can shift our behaviors. Here are a few resources to learn more:
Wired article
Book report by Jenny Blake on her Free Time Podcast
Learn more about the book
Reading the Greg McKeown Classics: I re-read both of McKeown’s books at the beginning of the year. When we think about how we spend our time, Essentialism and Effortless are great to shift our beliefs and get tips on new behaviors to try out.
Listening! Inspiration for claiming your life and work arc. I loved this interview with Hillary Clinton and Frances McDormand. First, it features two women over 50 who have navigated multiple life and work arcs and are proof that no one is past their prime after 50. McDormand is an example of someone who was clear on her ambitions and what it was time for, making a choice to focus on her family and raising her son, dialing back her career for a time, and then stepping more fully into acting at an older age as he left home. Finally, I love how at the end they talk about rarely having a clear horizon of what’s next and learning to trust in not knowing.
The Sustainable Ambition Podcast Digest
Join me for conversations with experts, authors, and friends on what it means to live with Sustainable Ambition.
🎙️ E102: Money Mindset: Understanding Your Relationship with Money, Work, and Ambition with Dana Miranda
“Tending to your relationship with money is a key step in tending to your relationship with work, achievement, ambition, and vice versa.”
Learn how getting comfortable with your view of money and financial management can help you find peace and support your Sustainable Ambition.
Listen on your favorite player here or on our website here
🎙️ E103: New Models for Playing Big Without Sacrifice with Jessica Marati Radparvar
“What would it look like to be ambitious, to have big dreams, to bring those dreams into the world, but also allow enough space for the other important parts of our life?”
Jessica serves as inspiration as someone who is practicing Sustainable Ambition, crafting a life with work that works for her. Hear her current practices and about the work she does to support change-makers in the world.
Listen on your favorite player here or on our website here
You can also find the podcast, subscribe, and listen on your favorite podcast player.
I’m thrilled to share that The Sustainable Ambition Podcast has been featured by @Mac’s List in the 2023 Top Career Podcast guide! You can check out the full list of top career podcasts for great career advice and job search tips here.
“Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.”
— Leonardo da Vinci