Sustainable Ambition Forum - 7.25.24
Tension naturally exists in the pursuit of our ambitions, especially if we want to live fully while maintaining our well-being.
We want, yet wonder, “What do I really need, and what is enough?”
We put in effort, yet question, “Can I rest?”
I explore these tensions in the last podcast episode of my summer book series, inspired by the two-book series by Becky Chambers called Monk & Robot. I don’t usually read science fiction, but I devoured these books for the topics they explore and the questions they ask, questions worth pondering. As Chambers introduces in each, the books are for “anybody who doesn’t know where they’re going…” and “for anybody who could use a break….”
The books made me think about how we view success. They reminded me that success is a construct and we’ve defined it differently throughout history and across cultures, as demonstrated on this fictitious planet in the book that is governed by different dominant and societal narratives than we live in today. And yet, even in the utopian society, a character sets off on a journey longing for more.
We can choose to do the same—to create our own definition of success and align to what we believe we need and what is enough.
This isn’t just about consumption and owning things. This is about what makes us feel whole, content, satisfied. As Chambers writes, “We have wants and ambitions beyond physical needs. That’s human nature as much as anything else.”
We can have longings. But for what?
That’s what happens in the book. The protagonist finds themself dissatisfied despite having purpose in their work and a good life. We may find ourselves in a similar situation. And yet, we too long for more which can pull us into a quest, just like the characters in the book, looking for more. There’s no judgment around this. Often there can be, and yet we’re better served looking at it with curiosity.
So if we are feeling this longing, it can be helpful to pause and inquire:
What is it that I’m truly longing for?
What would be satisfying to me at this time?
What do I need at this moment?
How can I be content?
Do I truly need something or am I creating my own suffering?
Make note that what you may be feeling is a call to rest. The books explore what it is to sustain ourselves and if it’s acceptable to do so. Do we have to earn a pause, a respite? The character Dax says:
“You don’t have to have a reason to be tired. You don’t have to earn rest or comfort. You’re allowed to just be. I say that wherever I go. … But I don’t feel like it’s true, for me. I feel like it’s true for everyone else but not me. I feel like I have to do more than that. Like I have a responsibility to do more than that.”
The books don’t provide the answers, and rightly so. These are lifelong questions, best answered individually. We live them. We find our own way.
You might ask now and again in the future: What is success for me? What is my ambition at this time? What will satisfy and fulfill me now? What will sustain me?
We will continually question our own needs to know what is enough for each of us.
Kathy
Founder of Sustainable Ambition
The Monthly Round-Up
Ideas on becoming consciously ambitious and thriving in life and work
What is worthy work? This is a longer read, but one that is well-written by someone exploring what is worth our effort and what is success. A hint: we can find happiness and contentment in defining it for ourselves.
Should your hobby become your job? It's complicated. If this happens to you, remember that it takes intentionality to stay sustained so that something you love doesn’t turn into something you hate.
Be sincere vs. serious. I tend to be a more serious-type, so I appreciated this point of view around shifting to a lens of sincerity to create more ease. Even I can agree that we don’t have to take ourselves so seriously all the time, to try so hard always. The shift toward sincerity is a way to remain thoughtful and earnest, yet approach our lives with more play and joy.
When you care about your work, you need to care for yourself, too. I have found this to be true for myself and others. All in, purpose-centered professionals need to be careful about overdoing it to avoid “purpose-driven burnout,” as this article talks about.
I champion that ambitions are more sustainable if they are meaningful and matter to us such that they motivate and focus our effort. While true, we also need to make their pursuit manageable. When we overdo it and our work becomes exhausting and stressful, our well-being suffers. It’s not easy, but it’s helpful to learn to set boundaries for ourselves and invest in resilience-building activities.
🎙️ Listening: Finding recovery and calm.
On Being recently resurfaced this podcast episode from the pandemic, a conversation with Christine Runyan on Healing Our Distressed Nervous Systems. I think it’s a good time to feature it, as well, given news events and the desire for calm during the summer. I found it to offer grounding and useful reminders to help create more ease.
“Sufficiency isn’t two steps up from poverty or one step short of abundance. It isn’t a measure of barely enough or more than enough. Sufficiency isn’t an amount at all. It is an experience, a context we generate, a declaration, a knowing that there is enough, and that we are enough.”
— Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection