In today's world, ambition is often equated with social media validation. We wake up to influencers flaunting their follower count, seeking somewhat shallow ambitions of likes, retweets, and social clout. What if we've been seeing ambition through a distorted lens? What if, instead of measuring ambition by the double-taps on a screen, it's about the impact we create beyond it?
Instead of seeing ambition as a mountain we climb alone, what if it's actually about the company we keep during the ascent?
A Chinese proverb says, "If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody."
Maybe our ambitious pursuits shouldn’t centre on personal milestones, but rather on elevating everyone around us. We can draw inspiration from:
Wangari Maathai, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient celebrated for her environmental activism. Her mission went beyond personal ambition, focusing on communities affected by deforestation in Kenya. Through the Green Belt Movement, she rallied women to plant trees and empower marginalized communities. Her vision was collective, aiming to restore the environment and uplift those in need. Maathai's legacy highlights how transformative change often arises from collective efforts to address global challenges.
Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. Rather than patenting his creation, he made core technologies like HTML and HTTP freely accessible. His aim? To encourage global collaboration and innovation. This decision led to the diverse and dynamic internet we know today, highlighting how openness and collaboration can accelerate progress in the digital age.
Imagine the possibilities if every ambitious entrepreneur aimed not just for profit, but to bring solutions to the worlds biggest problems into the world. If every innovator didn't just aim to patent, but to share. If every business leader's goal wasn’t just about getting ahead, but about bringing everyone along.
Let's redefine ambition. Let it be not just about the accolades we amass for ourselves, but about the lives we elevate and the communities we uplift. It's not about the view from the top; it’s about the people by our side when we get there.
Because in the end, ambition isn’t about you. It's what's by you. And there's an unparalleled beauty in an ambition that's shared.
I believe amplified ambition drives global goals. Are you minimising your ambition by believing it is all about you? What happens when you shift the focus to what is by you? What global goal would you reach for?