Jul 19, 2022Liked by Rosie Yakob | GeniusSteals.co
Really appreciate these rumination on ambition, thanks for sharing Rosie. As well as the article from Leona Godin linked at the end. As someone who works in disability inclusion, without experiencing a disability myself I feel combatting ableist language is a learning journey I am continually on
I think language is always evolving because culture is always evolving -- But it means that for any of us who care about words and their impact, we're on a forever journey too :)
Jul 19, 2022Liked by Rosie Yakob | GeniusSteals.co
With everything happening in the world, "ambition" as we've known it is likely speeding toward relic status. The US took the drug more than most and look how that's turning out.
Why can't the pursuit of perfect garden watering or learning to play piano be considered a worthy ambition? Due to the lack of external measurements and validation?
How many brilliant projects have we all delivered that didn't end up quite the way we envisioned?
There's a Bob Dylan quote that goes something like "a man (yeah, a man) is a success if he wakes up in the morning, goes to bed at night and in between does what he wanted to do."
If it's delivering a deck, great. If it's watering a garden, great.
I'm blessed to know people very broadly across the spectrum of "success." Life satisfaction does not exactly align with money and status the way we've convinced ourselves it does, but you do eat at far better restaurants.
Loved the vulnerability in your ambition post, Rosie. I resonate with that guilty feeling a lot! Also, am always calling myself lazy—but really, aren't I just busy? It's all relative I suppose. Maybe I feel busy with things I need to do to pay the bills, stroke my ego, etc and lazy with regard to the things I'd love to do that a capitalist society might judge as non-valuable (e.g. playing music, going on walks, writing poems, going to museums, and otherwise filling my soul). Are our commercial and creative pursuits always at odds? Perhaps not. But it's all about balance, which feels easier to talk about than to get.
Like others, I can relate. It sounds to me it's your rebellious nature kicking in to say "er, thanks but no thanks" to the traditional definition of ambition in modern society. Ambition is treated like a dirty word, linked to ego and excess and selfishness - and that's ridiculous because it's just a word! Perhaps your ambition velocity hasn't changed, but the goals have shifted - more connectedness and contentedness are new goals of aspiration for us Western folk, and so we feel bad for challenging the norms. Ironic for us strategists whose job is to do just that! Sometimes a lessening of ambition is a great indicator that you're coming to a new fork in the road, and the focus should be to bravely take a peek where it might go.
I feel seen! I have been questioning my wavering ambition lately...is it a pandemic aftereffect? Is it laziness? Is it the beginning of the end of my career??? Considering the finding about changes with age made me also consider how age brings perspective (so much!) and perspective can lead to a change in priorities. Hence, valuing time spent watering gardens, reading or working puzzles, etc. I now value what I call "decompression" from my work meetings and intense thoughtwork. I use this time to allow my brain to process problems subconsciously. After so many decades of intensely-driven quantity of hours worked maybe I'm finally learning a mentally healthier balance? Perhaps, but I still haven't figured out how to dismiss the guilt of not being obsessively driven to work (an artifact of my upbringing and personality type for sure.) Thank you for raising this as a topic!
Really appreciate these rumination on ambition, thanks for sharing Rosie. As well as the article from Leona Godin linked at the end. As someone who works in disability inclusion, without experiencing a disability myself I feel combatting ableist language is a learning journey I am continually on
I think language is always evolving because culture is always evolving -- But it means that for any of us who care about words and their impact, we're on a forever journey too :)
With everything happening in the world, "ambition" as we've known it is likely speeding toward relic status. The US took the drug more than most and look how that's turning out.
Why can't the pursuit of perfect garden watering or learning to play piano be considered a worthy ambition? Due to the lack of external measurements and validation?
How many brilliant projects have we all delivered that didn't end up quite the way we envisioned?
There's a Bob Dylan quote that goes something like "a man (yeah, a man) is a success if he wakes up in the morning, goes to bed at night and in between does what he wanted to do."
If it's delivering a deck, great. If it's watering a garden, great.
I'm blessed to know people very broadly across the spectrum of "success." Life satisfaction does not exactly align with money and status the way we've convinced ourselves it does, but you do eat at far better restaurants.
Loved the vulnerability in your ambition post, Rosie. I resonate with that guilty feeling a lot! Also, am always calling myself lazy—but really, aren't I just busy? It's all relative I suppose. Maybe I feel busy with things I need to do to pay the bills, stroke my ego, etc and lazy with regard to the things I'd love to do that a capitalist society might judge as non-valuable (e.g. playing music, going on walks, writing poems, going to museums, and otherwise filling my soul). Are our commercial and creative pursuits always at odds? Perhaps not. But it's all about balance, which feels easier to talk about than to get.
Like others, I can relate. It sounds to me it's your rebellious nature kicking in to say "er, thanks but no thanks" to the traditional definition of ambition in modern society. Ambition is treated like a dirty word, linked to ego and excess and selfishness - and that's ridiculous because it's just a word! Perhaps your ambition velocity hasn't changed, but the goals have shifted - more connectedness and contentedness are new goals of aspiration for us Western folk, and so we feel bad for challenging the norms. Ironic for us strategists whose job is to do just that! Sometimes a lessening of ambition is a great indicator that you're coming to a new fork in the road, and the focus should be to bravely take a peek where it might go.
I feel seen! I have been questioning my wavering ambition lately...is it a pandemic aftereffect? Is it laziness? Is it the beginning of the end of my career??? Considering the finding about changes with age made me also consider how age brings perspective (so much!) and perspective can lead to a change in priorities. Hence, valuing time spent watering gardens, reading or working puzzles, etc. I now value what I call "decompression" from my work meetings and intense thoughtwork. I use this time to allow my brain to process problems subconsciously. After so many decades of intensely-driven quantity of hours worked maybe I'm finally learning a mentally healthier balance? Perhaps, but I still haven't figured out how to dismiss the guilt of not being obsessively driven to work (an artifact of my upbringing and personality type for sure.) Thank you for raising this as a topic!