I often say about the small groups I am a facilitator for and a few other communities that I'm a part of, including the folks within my Inner Sphere program: Hardly anyone here lacks ambition. If we did, we wouldn't be here.

However, many of us wish that we could be a little more ambitious. We’re ambitious enough to create a comfortable life, but we lack the ambition to create an amazing life. We gravitate toward comfort rather than embrace the change that building an amazing life requires.

We are capable of much more.

It is my contention that most of us need more direction in life than ambition, but I think it is also true that if we start analyzing it too closely, we'll get lost in the weeds.

Whether it is direction or ambition that we need, I we should always look for that catalyst to get things going.

Ambition might seem like an innate trait that can’t be developed, but that’s not true. Ambition can be created by following a few simple rules and ideas.

1. Set rewarding goals. One of the signs that you have set great goals is the amount of motivation you feel when you imagine yourself achieving them. So, setting bigger and more exciting goals will increase your motivation and ambition.

• Also, keep in mind that we rarely succeed at a level beyond our goals. If anything, we tend to fall a little short of our goals. Setting bigger goals is one way to have more ambition.

2. Get a coach or mentor. The right coach will help you to be more successful and help you to get there much faster. The world knows that you’re serious when you hire an expert to help you. You’ll also feel more motivated to do your best!

• A similar idea I read about again recently is to build yourself a personal board of advisors. It is explained in more detail in the brand-new bestseller, The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life by Sahil Bloom.

3. Use your talents and skills. Leveraging your talents and skills makes life easier. It’s hard to feel ambitious when you have to navigate through your weaknesses. Focus on utilizing your talents. You’ll feel more motivated to be highly successful.

• Make a list of your great greatest talents and skills. How can you use them to your advantage? Avoid your weaknesses and utilize your strengths.

4. Stick to your interests. Do what you like. Think about it. If your goals revolve around something that interests you, it’s not really work. The greatest guitarists in the world love to play the guitar. Those that excel at mergers and acquisitions love to make deals.

• It’s nearly impossible to be great at something you don’t like to do.

• In City Slickers (1991), Curly, played by Jack Palance says to the Billy Crystal character, Mitch, "Do you know what the secret of life is? This." Mitch asks, "Your finger?" Curly says, " One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that, and the rest don't mean sh¡t." Mitch was befuddled. "But what's the 'one thing?'" Curly smiles. "That's what YOU have to find out."

5. Remember your successes. Success breeds success. Remember all the times you’ve been successful. The emotions that arise from this simple exercise can inspire you to be successful again in the future.

• Most people gloss over their wins and focus on their failures. This is certainly an unproductive habit if you want to feel ambitious.

• Make a quick list of your 10 greatest successes and fully experience them again in your mind. Notice how you feel afterwards.

6. Enjoy making progress. Success takes time, but progress can happen quickly and regularly. If you can learn to enjoy making a little progress each week, your ambition will explode. Anything is easy if you can enjoy the journey.

• For example, it’s easy to lose 30 pounds if you feel excited when you lose two pounds.

7. Manage negative thoughts. Negative thoughts are ambition killers. They suck all the motivation right out of you and bring negative expectations. You’re paralyzed if you don’t believe you can succeed.

8. Spend time with ambitious people. It’s challenging to rise above the level of the people around you. You’ll become more ambitious when you spend time with ambitious people.

• Take a long and hard look at your social circle. What impact do you believe these people have on you and your future?

What could you accomplish if you were more ambitious? What would you attempt? Take the first step today by setting a couple of big and exciting goals.

Consider your talents, skills, and interests while setting those goals.

These simple steps will get your motivation and ambition flowing. You can become the most ambitious person you know if you choose to.

As always,

Brian

P.S. – I had a chance to briefly speak with Sahil Bloom this afternoon on a conference call. Currently, his book The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life is a #1 Best Seller on Amazon and elsewhere.

I recommend reading it. Amazon link is here: