How to be ambitious without stressing out all the time?
Do you feel that burning desire in your pit to achieve a revolutionary goal, to attain iconic success, to create something meaningful and amazing in your life? Do you dream about your ideal life and how it could look like?
Do you fret and sweat that things are not working out as you imagined them to be or maybe they are taking longer than you anticipated?
Let’s be honest we all want greatness in life and at different levels. Some of us want a rewarding career. Some of us want an amazing looking, healthy and vibrant body. Some of us want loving and fulfilling relationships in life. And in the chase for this ever-elusive pot of gold we commit to never settling for less. Never taking no for an answer. Never stopping. Never pausing to take a breath. We worry if we pause our goals might take a hit. We worry where would our next paycheck come from? And in doing so we commit to relentless restlessness.
If you have felt what I have just mentioned. I want you to stop right now and take a breath.
Here is exactly what to do when you feel stressed while having ambitious goals in life.
“It’s all about the journey, not the outcome.”
1) Know that journey is the reward. Journey is the destination. Journey is what brings true contentment and fulfillment. Journey is where you lose yourself for a bit only to find yourself again. Journey is what builds character. Journey is what defines the trajectory of your life. Journey is forward motion. In order to truly enjoy your success, you must train yourself to feel the gratitude of present moment and the lasting fulfillment it brings.
“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.”
2) You must commit to excellence over perfection. When you commit to excellence you commit to forward motion regardless. You commit to consistency in effort. You commit to progress over perfection. You commit to an unshakable belief in yourself and in your path. And most of all you commit to growth. Here is the inevitable truth about us human beings. If we are not growing, we are dying. If you find yourself stuck in a rut or in a deep dark place, that means your life demands growth and consistent action towards a meaningful goal. The goal could be anything from having more time in the day to building an empire. Goals bring purpose and meaning in life. Pick a goal that excites you and makes you jump out of bed in the morning.
“Success makes life easier. It doesn’t make living easier””
3) You can’t bet on what is going to happen to you. But you can bet on yourself. As the cliché goes, “there are no guarantees” in life. The only thing in control is your response to a situation. And if you are a visionary leader or someone who has a scary goal, it is all the more important that you know you’re betting on nothing but yourself. Your spirit, your unshakable confidence, your hunger to do more, and create something magnificent in life is everything. Never losing sight of who you are will help build the certainty that you so desperately seek in life.
“A goal properly set is halfway reached.”
4) Pick goals that resonate with you and keep realistic expectations from them. One of the biggest mistakes I see my clients make is keeping goals based on another person’s life resolutions. We all have a unique path, a unique set of attributes, unique challenges and unique life situations. We must honor our own story and build bigger and better dreams from there. Take inspiration from others but choose to do what resonates with you the most. What brings life to you. Your only competition is you yesterday. The amount of energy you put on looking at other’s progress could be used in bettering your own life. Keep margin for flexibility, adaptation and improvement in your goals versus trying too hard to prove a point.
“If you can dream it, you can do it.”
Whether it is opening up a revolutionary business, or attracting the relationship of your dreams or flying a kite, your next goal is a stepping stone away and can be achieved by applying the universal rules of success. Proceed with confidence, enjoy the ride, find yourself and create raging success on your own terms.