Ambition is not a dirty word, and here is why.
Ambition for a lot of women in business is still a dirty word. They see going after a dream or striving for success and fulfilment as a thing of selfishness. Women are not making the money they deserve or achieving their ultimate goals through lack of adhering to their ambition, and most are not really giving themselves the chance to.
Like many successful businesswomen, your personal goals and career ambition can work in harmony and you don’t need to fear being seen as selfish, greedy, or as a bad parent. These factors are much the problem for a lack of highly-ranked women in business today.
Women often believe they need to prioritise everything other than themselves and forgo their dreams, and their talents to showcase someone using only half of their potential. How you go about maximising your talents is a different scenario for everyone, however, let’s take a look at some of the more common ways to go about reaching your potential.
Don’t be afraid to be ambitious; you can’t move forward if you are holding yourself back.
Ambition can manifest in many ways. Some of the more common ways to recognise your ambition are;
- Understand your strengths, weaknesses, and talents
- Capitalise on the above
- Don’t hold back from feathering your own nest
- Build your own support group and don’t be afraid to reach out for help
- Keep your eye on the prize with a balanced mindset
Ambition is an essential part of everyday living. We use ambition to compile our daily chores and task list; some people get ambitious in trying a new a la carte dinner menu for the kids and the other half; and during the silly season of the year I’m always ambitious about finding a car park at my local shopping centre when I leave it too late to fill my Christmas list!
Take a look at the below tips on how to overcome any fear for capitalising on your ambition.
#1 Know your strengths, where you fall down, and what you excel at
Ambition will get you part of the way, but you need to back it up with talent and a little know-how. If you are having trouble with minor detail, check out ways you can better yourself with some leadership development training, mentoring, or perhaps just a practice run to test the waters. Don’t let a minor blockage stop you from moving forward.
2 Feather your own nest
When you are exceptional at something or have delivered a great service or item, don’t hold back from letting the world know about it. Advertise your efforts on social media, tell your peers and network about it. This will promote valuable feedback you can use to work on anything that needs improving to give you a boost of confidence that you could really do with.
#3 Gather a support network
Just because you are running for that prize or setting your sights on the sky, you do not need to do it alone. More often than not you will not be credited any more than you would by doing it solo and doing everything yourself is only an invitation for a burnout. Gather yourself a network of people who are at the same point in their career or who have ‘been there and done that’. It is not uncommon to call for help or a little advice from a support network from time to time. Even Sir Richard Branson still credits a mentor who he worked with in his early days of aviation and says he’d be nowhere today without his help.
Ambition will only be fully appreciated and executed when you allow yourself the opportunity to be the person who you were born to be.
Ambition is not a dirty word and it is not only for the bold and the brave. We are all ambitious in our unique way, it just depends on which of the stars in the hemisphere, you reach for.
If you need help finding your ambition mojo or could do with some mentoring, take a look at our extraordinary mentors and book a session with one of our amazing mentors today.
