The Key to Consistent Ambition
Is it external recognition or soul-based?
I am tasked to write an essay about ambition for a contest. Although I do not often enter contests, I find this to be an opportunity to publish my post for the daily blog challenge. With distraction looming in the form of the iPhone, I place it in a locked drawer and set the timer. At this moment, I commit to the transparent self-expression of my deepest self. A strong avoidance of this topic pulls at my stomach.
Maybe this avoidance comes from the strange relationship with ambition. Since this is the case, I suppose I should write about that, eh? Better than getting caught in an endless scroll on Instagram. Most would say that I possess a great deal of ambition. I’ve strived towards goals my entire life and enjoy the process of accomplishment. However, I find that ambition often burns out as quickly as a goal is completed. Why is this?
Let’s begin with the word ‘ambition’. According to good ol’ Webster, ambition is “to achieve a particular end” and “an ardent desire for rank, fame or power”.
Although I agree with both definitions, there is a key component that I believe is missing — intention. The type of ambition that calls me to strive for popularity is ego-driven. Although I believe the ego and external validation is a necessary part of individual personality and confidence within society, it doesn’t last.
I have discovered, in myself, that when I strive for popularity I am never satisfied — even if I meet my goals. If we consider the use of social media, our goal may be to gain a certain amount of likes, but what happens when the likes end? We crave more. We post more. We desire more. In essence, power, in an external sense, is a lie. I suppose this is a beneficial way to ensure we continue striving for goals, but what is at stake?
When the external recognition subsides what do we do? We beg for more of it. That fleeting feeling of fame and fortune is not one that promotes long-term stability. Instead, the fiery desire for accomplishment burns out with the slightest whisper of the wind. I’ve learned that true ambition, in my experience, derives from an internal sense of Self.
This ambition does not rely on the admiration of others, but rather, the call towards inner strength and prosperity. For me, I began to recognize this call when I was at my weakest. As an Intimate Partner Violence survivor, I find my greatest ambition comes from my desire for liberation — to discover solace in my own identity.
Five years ago, I made a promise to myself. The promise remains to never give my power away again. This goal fuels the fire of ambition. In moments of depression and the countless times I fall flat on my face, this is the goal I hold onto. Fame, fortune, glory, and recognition are nice and, like most of us, I want those things too. However, their superficiality is unable to hold the attention of the soul.
My desire to liberate myself and my world community is one that fuels my ambition more than the possibility of a compliment or a like or a page. This is a goal of a lifetime. There is no end to this ambition. There infinite new beginning and isn’t this more exciting?
Maybe the key to everlasting ambition is to strive for the ultimate life we desire. My mission to complete my Ph.D., to make films that focus on liberation, and to sacrifice my comfort for the greater good is rooted in the ambition of liberation. These smaller goals simply fall under this larger umbrella, but they are only pieces to the puzzle.
With this consideration, I ask you — where does your ambition stem from? What keeps you moving when the world is burning? Is it a call to action or a desire for fame?
