Sustainable Ambition Forum - 11.13.24
Hello there!
First, I want to say welcome to those of you who are new here. đź‘‹ Thanks for joining!
And now some truth telling—I sometimes need to be reminded of my own philosophies and practices. Can you relate? We can all at times have our thinking get clouded, or we can fall out of practice. So when a coach asked me, “What would you do if you followed your energy?,” I was surprised at how I lit up, smiled, and said I’d pursue the other idea I was considering vs. what I thought I “should” to best align with my goals.
Below are three Conscious Ambition Tips that are practices I lean into and need to be reminded of periodically to keep me on track. They are anchored in the idea of what we might need NOW, at this moment. I thought I’d share these as we look to enjoy this holiday season over the next several weeks with a focus on both fueling positive energy, focusing that energy, and managing our energy for more sustainable living and working at the close of the year.
Cheers!
Kathy
Founder of Sustainable Ambition
Conscious Ambition Tips
To help become more consciously ambitious and thrive in life and work.
⛰️ Right Ambition: Follow your energy. What does your energy tell you about what you want now? Where is it pulling you? Where do you want to be wholehearted and all in?
The exchange I shared above reminded me of a central point around identifying our ambitions and what we want for ourselves—how we feel, our sense of energy, is a clue. As Ayelet Fishbach writes about in her book, Get It Done, where we put our energy and effort is evidence of our personal motivation.
🗓️ Right Time: Find your focus. What matters most as you close the year? What can you put off until next year?
I often balance two rhythms: 1) having a genuine desire to experience and do more, and 2) constant reprioritization of where to put my attention. My current dancing around this reminded me of my practice of pacing. While I have a new ambition brewing, I have to pace it out and put it off on the horizon. I’m needing to utilize some of the tools I write about in my forthcoming book—to put some things on the backburner, while planting seeds now and nurturing ideas that will help me determine exactly what I want to do next.
You may find yourself in a similar position as you close the year—with a desire to still do a lot before 2024 wraps up and maybe eager for what might come in the new year. And, if you want things to be sustainable as you close the year, can you get clear on what really needs your focus this season. Where do you really want to put your attention and what can you safely put off?
🔋 Right Effort: Fuel yourself. What do you need at this moment—literally right now in the present moment, in this week, in this month, in this final season of this year? We often don’t ask this question: What do I need? But pausing to check-in and inquire can do wonders. Do you need a deep breath, a break, a hug, food, a joyful moment, a walk outside? The answers are endless. Think about this moment and the final weeks of this year and what you need to create the kind of experience you’d like to have. What will support your end-of-year sustainability?
Don’t think these have to be big activities. In her book, Everyday Vitality: Turning Stress into Strength, Samantha Boardman writes: “Today there is increasing evidence that positive everyday experiences and activities that engage, connect, and fortify us are critical sources of vitality. By generating positive emotions, such activities have been shown to strengthen resistance to everyday challenges and also to promote recovery from them when they do occur. I think of positive activities as emotional armor.” Small, day-to-day activities can support you.
I also like how in Ali Abdaal’s book, Feel Good Productivity, he writes about “energizing distractions.” This is a perfect time of year to invest in energizing activities that can shift your attention and distract you from whatever it is you need distraction from so you can truly take a break.
“Effort is the one thing that gives meaning to life.... Effort means you care about something.”
— Carol Dweck
“In my whole life I’ve never been good at something I wasn’t very interested in. It just doesn’t work. There’s no substitute for strong interest.”
— Charlie Munger, former vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway