How to Live with Ambition

Elvis Presley once said, “Aspiration is a V8 dream”. ^{[1] X Research Source} Having a dream is essential to achieving success, but you won’t achieve success by just dreaming. Living with ambition is a skill that you will develop over time and requires hard work, perseverance and most importantly, a strategy. Take some of the following steps to pursue your dreams of success.

Table of Contents

Have the Right Mindset

Think about what motivates you. Each person will have different reasons to motivate themselves, such as fear, love or responsibility. Find out what motivates you and focus your energy on those values.

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Tell yourself positive affirmations. Positive affirmations are statements that are quite similar to self-praise. Those words don’t just boost confidence; but they actually increase problem-solving skills under stress.

Think about your most valuable personality trait. Do you think you are creative? Are you smart? Got talent? Come up with some positive affirmations around the trait that most define your personality.
Say to yourself 10 times a day, “I’m smart. I can use my intelligence to achieve my goals. I’m creative. I can use my creativity as a problem-solving tool. I’m a talented person.”
Make sure you always say positive affirmations that are realistic and revolve around you. Don’t say things like “I’m good at focusing on the task at hand” if you’re really having trouble staying focused on the task at hand. This can have a negative impact and can actually lower your self-esteem. ^{[2] X Research Sources} Instead, saying something like “I can try to focus” or making some affirmations will do like “I can improve my ability to concentrate better”.

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Focus on what you can gain instead of what you can lose. Obsessing over every mistake only increases anxiety and makes you focus on what not to do, instead of what to do. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Think to yourself, “If I work hard, I’ll look great”. You will find yourself always upbeat and eager to go to work every day. If you constantly think to yourself, “If I don’t go for a run today, I’ll get fat and unattractive,” and then you’ll be so worried about it that you won’t be able to complete your tasks on time. service and performed in a hurry and unprofessional.
Working in a place where there is always doubt and anxiety can keep you from doing well. Because you’re afraid of messing things up and you might do nothing just to be “safe”. Inaction will not get you where you need to be.

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Remove the statement “I don’t like it” from your vocabulary. The idea that you can only do something when you “feel like it” is dangerous, damaging to success. Sure, inspiration often comes to you at some random moment, but don’t rely on inspiration to get everything done.

When we say to ourselves, “I just can’t get out of bed to exercise,” we are actually saying, “I don’t feel like exercising myself.” Nothing ties you to the bed, and stops your body from going for a morning jog. The real barrier is the idea that motivation only comes from within you, rather than from daily physical exertion.
There are many artists and writers who are very active because they have depended on work habits that force them to spend many hours in a day, no matter how tedious it may be. ^{[4] X Research Sources}
Think of motivation as a verb, not a noun. Motivation is something you have to do consistently, not something you expect it to happen.

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Use an “if-then” plan to think about what you need to do. Give yourself some specific standards and principles that go hand in hand with the task at hand, or else you’ll find yourself always pushing to the last minute.

Don’t say, “I’ll take the time to write an English essay later”. Let’s say this, If it’s 2pm, then I’ll start writing my English essay. By deciding in advance what you are going to do and when, you won’t have to think twice about when the time is right. ^{[5] X Research Sources}
Because you’ve already made the decision, at 2 p.m. you’re less likely to ask yourself, “Do I really have to do it now?” or, “Can this be done for a while?”
The if-then plan has proven to increase the target by 200-300 percent above average. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

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Think of failure as an elimination process. Don’t think of failure as the end result of your efforts, but rather as an elimination method to help you strive to achieve your goals.

When Thomas Edison finally created the light bulb, he famously said, “I’ve never failed; I’ve only found 2,000 ways not to make a lightbulb.” ^{[7] X Research Sources}
Both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have set many scoring records in basketball. What you may not know, however, is that both are talented leaders for their memorable contributions to the National Basketball Association (NBA). ^{[8] X Source of Research} When you try to do many things, you will naturally fail. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes or fail to reach your goals. Failure is only permanent when you stop trying, trying.

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Enjoy success, but don’t rest on your laurels. This is known as “sleeping on your laurels,” and it can leave you feeling complacent about what you’ve accomplished rather than focusing on the next achievement. ^{[9] X Trusted Source PubMed Central Go to Source}

It’s important to enjoy what you’ve done well, but know that basking in the glory of achievement can limit your ability to pursue other goals. Because success is certain, exciting, and worthwhile, we may find ourselves taking a risk again and may take on failure again.
Indulging in success is often helpful if you haven’t set a specific goal. However, when you are working towards a goal, enjoying success for too long can block progress and cause you to stagnate. ^{[10] X Trusted Source PubMed Central Go to Source}

Set Goals

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Set specific goals in measurable terms. Similar to the “If-Then” plan, setting goals that are physically measurable gives the brain a specific point to start striving.

It’s important to always do your best, but “trying your best” is not the best way to measure success. Instead of saying, “Today I will do my best to run 1.6 km,” say, “Today I will try to run 1.6 km in 10 minutes”. ^{[11] X Research Source}
Because “trying your best” is a subjective term, it’s more likely to say that you’ve “done your best” when you find it difficult to continue on a task. For example, when you find yourself doing your best to run, you might say, “Okay, I did it. That’s the best I can do.” Having a specific goal helps push yourself towards something that you actually have in mind.

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Create a strategy to accomplish specific goals. Now that you’ve set a specific goal, let’s outline some detailed guidelines for achieving it.

For example, “In order to be able to run 1.6 km in 10 minutes, I will jog 10 laps around the tennis court near my house every day for 2 weeks. After that, I will run 20 laps around the local reservoir, of course. It’s a much bigger place.”
Even people who set specific goals may not reach them in the end simply because they don’t have a specific plan to follow. If you don’t have a serious plan to achieve your goal, you won’t know if you can afford it.

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Set goals that are difficult but realistic. If you want to be healthy and have moderate running experience, running 1.6 km in 10 minutes sounds reasonable. However, trying to run 1.6 km in 10 minutes when you have asthma or are in the process of recovery does not sound very reasonable.

Goals shouldn’t be too easy because you won’t push yourself to achieve them. If you used to run 1.6 km in 10 minutes, try running for 8 minutes and 30 seconds. Setting goals that you can easily achieve can make you more confident, but it won’t increase your performance or make you a runner. ^{[12] X Research Source}
Goals should also not be too high or too difficult because there is no real possibility of achieving them. For example, trying to run 1.6 km in 4 minutes is possible for athletes pursuing the Olympic Games, but you may not be able to achieve when you are only running at an average level. Setting goals that are too difficult can make you frustrated and angry, or it can just keep you from taking your goals seriously.

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There are both short-term and long-term goals. Setting only long-term goals can distract you along the way, make you lack determination, or you simply feel unmotivated. Short-term goals will help remind you why you are doing certain things right now.

Achievements boost confidence by making you feel more competent. Setting multiple short-term goals and achieving them in turn will help you see some immediate improvement in your achievement and increase your motivation.
For example, create this month’s goal to run 1.6 km in 9 minutes, and next month’s goal to be in 8 minutes and 30 seconds. A long-term goal might be to run 1.6 km in 7 minutes by the end of the year. Success is easy to achieve when you build a good momentum.

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Make a plan for another goal as soon as you have achieved one. One notable characteristic of ambitious people is that they constantly strive to be better. ^{[13] X Research Source}

This strategy was specifically created to combat complacency (as described in the previous section). Setting another goal right away will help you focus on action rather than wallowing in success. While it’s important to rest and relax as you work toward your goals, try to plan another one as soon as possible.
As soon as you run 1.6 km in 7 minutes, plan to run a short marathon in the next 2 months. Spend the rest of the week resting your feet, but remember to use that time to come up with a new strategy to achieve your new goal.

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Reward yourself with a specific reward each time you achieve a goal. For example, enjoy a T-bone steak after each run of 1.6 km in 7 minutes. Rest and self-rewarding are as important to success as you are to always work hard and give your best at work.

Stress is healthy, in small, regular amounts because stress helps focus and stimulates the brain. However, excessive stress will detract from your achievements. This will negatively affect your self-confidence, which will then affect your momentum, and as a result, cause you to give up.
Being under constant stress is not only bad for your mental health, but it also has a serious impact on your physical health. Chronic stress can overwork the heart and lead to diabetes or asthma. It also makes you more susceptible to colds. ^{[14] X Research Source}
Rewarding yourself is different from wallowing in success. Self-rewarding is a form of reinforcement and makes you more likely to keep pursuing your goals. Instead of constantly admiring success, you acknowledge all your efforts and hard work and give yourself the motivation to keep striving. Try setting goals and taking action to strive for more, this seems simple, but it can boost your confidence and inspire you to be more motivated.

Advice

Keep everything neat and organized. The easiest way to remember a goal is when there’s nothing stopping you from getting things done, such as a mess in your room or unsorted boxes of books.
Create an ambition list. Stick the list on the bed frame or on the wall in the bathroom–anywhere you’re sure to see them!

Warning

Some might say you are a workaholic. Don’t believe them. Stay connected in your social life, but keep chasing your dreams, and put aside any trivial opinions.

Steps

Have the Right Mindset

Set Goals

Advice

Warning

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