Ambition
What is it anyway?
Over the past few years, I've consistently asked myself some variant of the question: what do I want from my work? My first blog post was about whether I was expecting too much from work, and similar questions have danced in my mind since then.
Any answer to these questions is tied up with the idea of ambition. Deciding what I want is contingent on deciding how high I want to aim in my work and life. But I'm uncomfortable with something about how we use the word ambition. Although I wouldn’t like to think of myself as unambitious, the idea of ambition implies too much chasing after the wrong things.
So, when we talk about ambition, what do we mean?
Traditional ambition
The Cambridge British dictionary has two different definitions of ambition:
A strong wish to achieve something
A strong wish to be successful, powerful, rich etc.
Most other dictionaries have two similar definitions: one related to achievement quite broadly and another related to markers of success, like wealth and power.
To me though, the way we use the term suggests that you’re only ambitious if you’re chasing certain types of achievement. We don’t apply the term to someone who wants to be a great friend or create a brilliant stamp collection. In this way, when we say someone is ambitious, we’re really blending the two definitions. We mean to say that they’re determined to be ‘successful’. Traditional ambition, then, is about a pursuit of the things that mark you as a success - job titles and the like - rather than things that might hold more personal meaning.
Over the last few years, I’ve noticed that this pursuit is really unambitious. It involves setting your sights low. Because the exemplar of ambition can’t be the bleary-eyed workaholic, spending their days gazing at numbers on a screen, trying to get a promotion. The periods when I was supposedly at my most ‘ambitious’ was when I spent the least time doing things I cared about. Looking back, it’s obvious that chasing fancy job titles (as I was doing then) is one of the least ambitious things I could do.
A better definition
To be more useful, I think the concept of ambition needs to be more personal. It should be rooted in your values, not the pursuit of external markers of success. A person shouldn’t be described as ambitious if they’re focused on clearing the low bar of appearing successful. Instead, the word should imply that someone is optimistically pursuing things they care about. It should denote a determination to do things that have serious personal meaning.
This sounds pretty straightforward, but applying it isn’t a once-off thing. For example, quitting my last corporate job was an ambitious decision. But the nature of my ambition is regularly called into question again. Every day, I’m subtly asked what I’m ambitious for. Is it my social life, hobbies or health? If so, maybe I should take on that lucrative work contract that promises a better work-life balance. Or am I ambitious for the enjoyment or impact of my work? In that case, different decisions are needed.
These aren’t easy questions to answer. Ambition is multi-dimensional and the dimensions are often competing. The reality is that I’m simultaneously ambitious for all of these things: my relationships, my work, my ability to get out and see the world. And to protect these ambitions, particularly when they aren’t things the world sees or notices, takes a kind of meta-ambition – a broader ambition for my whole life.
Maintaining this broader ambition requires vigilance against the part of me that would love more recognition. It also involves regularly checking in with what I desire when I’m at my best. But I think that’s what a better concept of ambition is about: a determination to stay connected to and live out my own complicated definition of success.
I am a coach who helps young people do more fulfilling work. You can learn more on my website or book a quick chat here.