Ambition or Admission: A Series of Self-Reflecting Questions
Are you ambitious?
Did you grow up with a fire in your tummy to achieve?
Were you told growing up how responsible, organized, and impressive you were when you did reach your goals?
Did that make you feel loved and valued?
Were you acknowledged by your peers, teachers, and parents when you did?
Did you for one minute feel like you had someone’s undivided attention, that you impressed them and genuinely felt their admiration?
Me, too.
Do you still have that same strong desire for achievement or distinction as an adult?
Have you ever asked yourself why?
Have you ever wondered what influenced this trait to thrive within you so fiercely?
Do you sometimes question your ambition now?
Have you ever celebrated your own achievements?
Not with anyone else. Alone. Quietly. With genuine pride and excitement.
Me neither. And it got me thinking…
Who am I truly doing this all for?
If I don’t even take the time to celebrate my accomplishments, am I really doing them for me?
Am I doing them for you? For who?
And that’s when I realized, I was doing them for her.
I was doing them for a young girl in me that just wanted to feel loved and acknowledged.
I was doing them as a price of admission; Admission to feel loved, prioritized, and seen.
Over the years, I have learned that for the majority of my life, my ambition was much less about achievement and much more about distinguishing myself from others because that is when I received the most attention.
That is when I was recognised, acknowledged, and respected.
Today, I am proud to say that I no longer feel that I will be barred entry; I no longer pay an admission price for love from anyone.
There is no ambition required as a fee; no validated pass needed before you’re worthy of feeling loved, prioritized, or seen.
I once read that “people are not truly ambitious unless they are willing to make sacrifices in the name of their ambition…” The sacrifice that I am making is the lie I’ve told myself that I require external validation and admission from others.
What are you sacrificing?