Money Moves: Reclaiming my ambition

Hello everyone,

If you've been online (or on TikTok) over the past three years, you may have noticed that many people have fallen out of love with ambition. Articles have abounded about opting for mediocrity instead, or at least shifting our ambitions away from our work and toward living a fulfilling life outside of the 9-to-5. Women and people of color, in particular, exhausted after years of having to go above and beyond to make any traction, have started to rethink everything. 

The COVID-19 pandemic and all that ensued—a staggering death toll, social unrest, growing political divide, general uncertainty—led countless people to question what they were doing with their lives and if there wasn’t something, anything, more meaningful they could be doing instead. Ambition, in its most basic sense—striving to achieve corporate and financial success— seemed just a bit silly when thousands of people were dying each day. 

“I want to ‘just be, man,’ and won’t let concerns like success or climbing the corporate ladder stand in my way,” wrote Amil Niazi for New York, about her own struggle with ambition. “The new dream is simply no goals, just vibes.”

I've certainly felt that way. While I was seemingly busier than ever the first year or so of the pandemic—there was so, so much to write about—I later found myself questioning so many aspects of my life and what I previously valued (didn't we all). I was dissatisfied while still feeling so, so lucky for a good job and the privilege of working from home. 

I became one of who knows how many workers who fell out of love with my ambition As I wrote for Fortune today, though, I would like it back. 

This article is about as personal as I feel comfortable writing, and I wish I could have included all of the brilliant things Kara Cutruzzula and Satya Doyle Byock said when I interviewed them for the piece. 

One thing that didn't that I wanted to call out: For a lot of people, reframing ambition might look like pursuing an entirely new career path, or some other massive life change. I don't think this is necessarily the case for me, but I loved what Cutruzzula had to say about that:

There’s so much weighted emotion around these decisions of, 'okay I'm going to quit my job and start at the bottom in this new industry.' It’s really not [that big of a deal] in the grand scheme of things. You can change your mind. You can quit a job and move on. You can sideline a project that’s taking up too much of your time. Not everything has to be so loaded.

Start before you're ready. I was waiting for my ambition to return and then realized it's not going to show up until I show up. We're never going to be 100% prepared. Especially at the end of the year, hearing yourself say, 'maybe next year!' We just get sick our own narratives after a while. Sometimes you just kind of have to take that jump.

And I appreciated this reminder:

The older we get the more obligations come into our lives…the things we want to do feel overwhelming and naturally slide to the bottom of the to-do list. You’re never suddenly gong to be gifted hours and hours to do whatever you want during the day.

I love this thinking, and it's something I've struggled with for many years. Just start! Take the jump! Not everything has to be such a big deal. There will never be a "perfect" time. I'm trying to channel that this year.

Something else she suggests, to get refocused/re-centered: Write your own Wikipedia entry. "It forces you to break down the goals that you might have that might feel a little ridiculous saying out loud. It’s almost like a bullet point list of accomplishments. What do you want to be the highlights?"

And here's another nugget from Byock, on when you're feeling less-than-inspired:

Our entire economy would be well served to acknowledge there are creativity ebbs and flows, and the market ebbs and flows...the reality of being a human being is life is always going to have ups and downs, and we are healthiest when we can stay attuned to those ups and downs.

Many of us feel most fulfilled when we're busy at work or in another aspect of our lives because, she says, "it is not as accustomed in our society to talk about periods of reflection." Perhaps I've just been in an extended period of reflection, and that's okay. 

Byock also said, generally, she doesn't think a 30-year-old loses their ambition. Rather, "a lack of ambition is your soul’s boredom...You may find yourself more ambitious than ever in a month or two years or whenever bc you tap into a new well."

Anyway, that's all I have for today. I hope you read the whole piece, because there's a lot of really worthwhile advice, I think. 

Hope everyone has a great week,
A

P.S. The beautiful illustration above is by Anna Parini, and was commissioned by Fortune for the article.
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