Be Specifically Ambitious
Channel your inner American and allow yourself to be keen, to be excited about what you could achieve and to believe you can do it. Nobody else is going to have ambition for you.
What's your relationship with ambition?
The majority of the people who read this newsletter are based in the UK. And it is my experience that, as a people, we have a poor relationship with ambition.
In one study, 56% of people globally considered themselves to be ambitious, but only 42% in the UK.
It reminds me of the Mickey Flanagan joke about heading to Brighton from London. He talks about leaving the city all stressed, noisy and busy to take the train to Brighton. He gets out, breathes in the sea air deeply and says, "Ahhh ... I can feel the ambition draining out of me."
It's a good joke. But it speaks to a wider truth.
I don't know why exactly it is a problem in Britain. Perhaps it is a class issue, or maybe it is because of our history of deference to the gentry. But most people don't want to be accused of being too keen or enthusiastic.
One of the biggest put-downs I remember from my childhood was:
Don't get ideas above your station.
Which is a powerful way of keeping people in their place.
Chris Williamson, host of the Modern Wisdom podcast, has a great call to arms about this. If you have a spare 8 minutes, watch Stop Being Afraid of Your Ambition. It'll help you shrug off the fear of your own potential.
And when you have done that, take some time to actually express your ambition. Write it down. Visualise it. Describe it. Imagine it. Dream it.
Feels good doesn't it?
Channel your inner American and allow yourself to be keen, to be excited about what you could achieve and to believe you can do it. Nobody else is going to have ambition for you.
But, one last piece of advice. Be specific about your ambition. Write it as a goal or a series of goals and milestones. Because:
"Specific ambition gives direction; general ambition creates anxiety." Alex Hormozi
If you vaguely want to improve or have something better or get away from where you are, you just create dissatisfaction.
If you are specific about what you want, you create motion and action.
Good luck, Stephen
GOING LIVE TODAY
At 12pm today I'll be talking Live on LinkedIn on the topic Ambition vs Goals. Follow this link to register and be reminded, or simply to get the recording. Hope to see you there, Stephen