HOW TO BE AUTHENTICALLY AMBITIOUS
Being Authentically Ambitious
How to be authentically ambitious and ambitiously authentic!
1. Are you ambitious about being authentic?
2. Are your ambitions authentic?
3. Does being authentic affect your ambitions?
For the last topic in My Velvet Evolution year of FUN (2013) – Finding Fun for Free, I have focussed on ambition, and how / if it interacts with fun.
Does ambition stub out fun, and does fun fuel ambition?
My experience this month has taught me that ambition and fun are influenced by each other, both for better and for worse.
Ambition can be what drives us, it can be a key ingredient in our fuel, our ‘get up and go’. However it can also tap into our ‘ego’, which means that we are in danger of losing our authenticity, and therefore lose sight of the real reasons we set out to do, or achieve something. Ambition is hugely positive and therefore a good thing, but it can take over, and so needs to be kept in check. It’s a bit like a 3 year old, its okay in the other room for a few minutes on its own, but then you need to go in a check it isn’t drawing on the walls, or putting glue in the iPad!
The challenge a strong ego presents is that it can overrule authenticity. Authenticity is about being, doing and living your own truth. A truth that is defined by you. It is a truth that comes from within, and only you can know when it feels right. I believe that authenticity is critical in our ability to succeed in happiness.
Ambition can be business and corporate, it can be about material possessions or status, and many other things besides, but ultimately all of these things are about trying to achieve a desired level of happiness. So whether your authenticity tells you that level of happiness will be achieved through altruism, lifestyle or both, you cannot risk losing touch with your authenticity. Ego’s are powerful things, and they can creep on you, distract you, and try to convince you of an alternative truth or reality. As long as an ego is charge, you will never achieve your true happiness no matter what riches you accumulate in life.
So by all means be ambitious, but beware of the ego!
Fun is a great antidote for a slightly heightened ego. It brings us back in check with ourselves. It lightens a mood and reduces stress levels both psychologically and physiologically. Fun can mean laughter, silliness (which is often preceded by or followed with laughter), creativity, originality, doing something meaningless, and so the list goes on! Whatever it is that you find fun, you will find that coupling this with your ambitions will make your journey towards achieving your ambitions much more enjoyable for both the journey and the destination.
It is with great delight that I conclude by inviting you to review your current ambitions, and goals, check where your ego is at, and think creatively about how the journey would feel more enjoyable by throwing some fun into the mix. If you would like some help with setting your goals, reducing your ego or suggestions for how to make things more fun, please feel free to add a comment below or email me at info@yourvelvetevolution.com
I wish you all and happy, confident and fun day!
Lydia x