Sustainable Ambition Forum - 5.30.23
“People will say, ‘I am ambitious. I have big dreams, and I’m not willing to sacrifice. So how can I see these things as not having to be mutually exclusive. That I can be ambitious and also make it sustainable.’... If we don’t put sustainable in front of ambition, it’s almost as if we believe that ambition equals burnout. Why does it have to be that way? I don’t think it has to be that way. We can be ambitious and make it sustainable.”
I was fortunate to be on the Pivot podcast talking with my good friend, Jenny Blake, about Sustainable Ambition. Pivot has been one of my long standing favorite podcasts, so this was such a joyful and fun experience. Jenny and I go deeper on what it can look like to navigate tensions across our ambitions. (I hope you’ll listen in here!)
I decided to also do a solo episode coming out tomorrow going deeper on the definitions of these two seemingly incongruous words, sustainable and ambition. Some think they are mutually exclusive, but I disagree. It is possible to be ambitious and have life with work be sustainable.
Coming off Memorial Day here in the states and entering summer in a few weeks, I think it’s a perfect time to practice holding the polarity of these two words. How can you practice with maintaining your ambitions, while exploring how you sustain yourself?
As I ask at the end of the episode, perhaps a good mantra for all of us to ask this summer is: What’s the Sustainable Ambition way here?
I’ve been using this simple mantra of late and it’s helping me continue to stay in the practice and find a new and more sustainable path.
This month’s round-up supports this theme—how we can be ambitious with more ease, perhaps in dialing in our ambitions and in various sustaining practices.
My last two podcast guests, Christina Wallace and Olga Trusova, both line-up well with this theme, too. They speak to what’s possible and not limiting our ambitions, but figuring out ways to support us in doing our best work. I hope you’ll check out those conversations, along with their books (links below!).
I’ve been interviewing a lot of authors of late, such as Christina and Olga. What a feat to finish a book! I’m learning, as I go through the process myself, that writing a book is an endurance event. So I appreciate speaking with others who are proof you can make it to the other side. I continue to hold this ambition, while working to make it sustainable on many levels—how I define success for myself, how I fit writing in with other work, and how I keep myself energized and optimistic through the process.
As part of this, what keeps me energized is being in conversation with others, such as on the podcast and with you. To this point, below you’ll see that I’m inviting you to come behind the book and join me on this journey. I’ll be hosting free workshops over the summer and into the fall for you to learn more about Sustainable Ambition practices and practice with them yourself. Plus, you’ll get the chance to help me decide what to put into the book. Learn more below. I’d love to have you join me.
Enjoy the start to the summer season. And, here’s to embracing the possibility of Sustainable Ambition.
Cheers!
Kathy Oneto
Founder of Sustainable Ambition
Come Behind the Book!
Join FREE workshops this summer and early Fall, and put Sustainable Ambition principles into practice. Over the summer and early Fall, I’ll be hosting FREE workshops to test the content I’m developing for the book I’m writing. All I ask in return is your constructive feedback to help me ensure the book and content is usable and helpful for yourself and others. 🙏
The first workshop will be held: Friday, June 16 at 12-1:30 pm PT / 3-4:30 pm ET.
I’ll cover a summary of Sustainable Ambition and then we’ll explore Right Ambition and how to reclaim your ambitions and define success on your terms.
I’d love to have you join me! Get it on the calendar here.
Can't attend the first workshop, but want to be involved in the book journey? Join in here.
I hope to see you soon!
The Round-Up: Be ambitious with more ease.
Getting past longing for status. This article is from a particular lens that may not relate to us all, but I appreciate the author shining light on how we can sucked into seeking status and methods for getting past it.
Struggle with anxiety? You aren’t the only one. Many of us operating in the work world deal with anxiety at some point in our career or are considered what Morra Aarons-Mele calls “anxious achievers.” She’s written a book on the topic, and this article offers clues on what to look for and tips to manage and put your anxiety to more positive use.
How AI can help you. If you’re like me and still getting your arms around how you can use AI and Chat-CPT, this is a good primer on how it can become a good assistant and help you do you work with more ease.
Work smart. My summary of these tips to work less: 1) Build in a 15% buffer across your week, month, quarters, year, 2) pay attention and work to your energy, 3) cut meetings to 25 minutes, 4) simplify what you do by creating a “do not do” list.
Stop pursuing happiness. Have fun instead. I’ve long railed against setting a goal to be happy for the same reason I rail against work-life balance—it sets the wrong expectation, which can leave you continually frustrated and, well, unhappy!
I appreciate how this article points us towards having fun instead. Yes! A great reminder as we step into the summer months. I love these tips like: 1) identify your fun magnets, 2) put fun on the calendar, and 3) keep it simple. I’ll add, as a person who is wired to be serious, allow yourself to be silly. I find it’s a good counter-balance to my intensity.
Make things simpler for yourself by going for ease. Rather than waste time ruminating over your to do list, this article suggests we ask ourselves: 1) How am I making this harder? 2) How could I do it as simply and easefully as possible? 3) How would I do this if I trusted myself?
Read my guests! I really enjoyed both of these books that offer practical, accessible exercises that support being both ambitious and making our life+work sustainable.
The Portfolio Life by Christina Wallace
Calm Living by Olga Trusova
Listening! Quick tips to truly vacate while on vacation. I love the work of Dr. Art Markman who I had on the podcast last year in E66. Here he is with his partner, Dr. Bob Duke, from their Two Guys on Your Head podcast, offering smart tips in just 8 minutes on why we need to learn to disconnect and how to do it.
The Sustainable Ambition Podcast
Join me for conversations with experts, authors, and friends on what it means to live with Sustainable Ambition.
🎙️ E104: The Benefits of a Portfolio Life: Fulfillment Beyond Work with Christina Wallace
“You are more than one job or opportunity. Your identity is not what you do for money.”
Hear from author Christina Wallace on how The Portfolio Life invites you to own your agency in crafting the life you deserve. Her book is on point with what we explore on the podcast, the idea of having big ambitions and navigating the natural rhythms of our life and work, while also allowing ourselves to craft these in a way that results in more joy and less stress.
Listen on your favorite player here or on our website here
🎙️ E105: Designing for Thriving: Making Your Space Work for You with Olga Trusova
“Calm is the opportunity to be your best self, do your best work, and show up in the best possible way.”
Olga Trusova is the author of the new design book, Calm Living. She introduces us to design thinking principles and exercises that we can use to design our spaces and experiences so they work better for us and support us in doing our best work, creating calm instead of chaos.
Listen on your favorite player here or on our website here
🎙️ E106 (Coming W 5/31!): What do you get when you combine Sustainable with Ambition? (A Solo Episode)
Some people think that sustainable and ambition are mutually exclusive, but I disagree. In this episode, I dive into what I mean by each of these terms with a hope that you can better understand that these two words can live together, making you a believer in Sustainable Ambition, too.
You can also find the podcast, subscribe, and listen on your favorite player.
Stop to Smell the Roses
You do have time. I know it’s cliché, but we all still need the reminder, even a psychologist who researches time. Cassie Mogilner Holmes, who wrote The Happier Hour, shared a story on the Hidden Brain podcast of one day rushing yet being delayed because her young son was stopping to smell the roses, helping her realize that there can be time to pause. I saw this in the park recently—young kids and adults alike, including me—stopping for a moment since the roses have just started to bloom.
Pausing doesn’t have to take long, but yields significant benefits from helping us decrease the sense of urgency in our lives to creating a positive experience that can build up our resilience.
“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”
— Henry David Thoreau