Is Your Ambition Killing You

Push through. Don’t give-up. Don’t quit. Do these words sound familiar? If you cruise the internet and social media, you have no doubt heard these words repeatedly. There is truth and value in this inspired rhetoric. However, as any good thing used in excess, these words could be the very words holding you back from your breakthrough. They could even be causing you underlying mental and physical stress. If you can figure out how to harness the power of ambition, then I believe you will live a successful and peaceful life. I just figured this out at 40 years-old so it’s never too soon to start.

With the rapid pace of today’s culture and economy, ambitious people tend to have this continual sinking feeling that someone is passing them by or if they take a break they will fall behind and become irrelevant—like last year’s smartphone model.  How do I know? Because I have lived with this feeling, all of my life, robbing me of the ability to relax, enjoy the moment and live life. The good news is that people have so much more to offer than technology. While technology expires in the blink of the eye, humans have been around for generations and our expiration progression is much slower. Phew!

So how do we use our ambition to our advantage without it being destructive?

We learn to recognize the season we are in. Sometimes we are in a sprint to a goal. Other times we are in a marathon requiring pacing and endurance. Then there is the rest stage—designed for restoration and revelation. This invigorating stage prepares you for the next sprint or marathon stage. Just as our bodies need rest every night, our minds need restful periods to generate solutions and next steps for the pursuit of our dreams. For us ambitious types, this can be REALLY hard and REALLY uncomfortable because we feel more at ease when we’re running!

If you are in your twenties, you might not be able to relate to this need for rest because you are full of energy. That’s a good thing. However, the path to achieve the goals and ambitions planted in your heart is a lifelong journey requiring you to have emotional and mental stamina coupled with good physical health.  I wish I had learned this decades ago. At 40, I am just starting the next exciting chapter of my life and having good health is so important. I found this out when I recently saw my health take a nose-dive. I experienced crazy symptoms from insomnia to insurmountable fatigue. Boom. Out of left field. Medical tests didn’t reveal any physical causes so the logical explanation was stress. The stress of ambition was finally taking a toll on my health after all these years. The symptoms were so intense I was forced to rest.  I know this because as soon as I decided to harness my ambition, the symptoms disappeared.  The positive outcome of this forced rest stage is that I got really clear, inspired and energized for the next season of my life.

If you can learn to discern when to run, jog and rest in the pursuit of your passions, you will enjoy every stage of the journey and experience a greater success rate.  Don’t let the fear of falling behind keep you from recharging. The passions, dreams and goals placed in your heart are there for a reason, so YOU can fulfill them. No one can take that away from you so live YOUR journey and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing.

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