I’ve spent a lot of my life being told that I lack ambition, drive and passion. That I would never achieve the important things in life if I didn’t have a clear aim and develop the drive to get what I wanted. The problem was that I never knew what I wanted. I never had ambition because I never knew what I wanted to do with my life… and the truth is, I still don’t. The difference now is that I’ve decided that it’s ok to not be ambitious and it’s ok to just be happy. 

Where do you see yourself in five years time?

It’s a question that’s is powerful enough to cause my blood to run cold, to send a shiver down my spine and to turn me into a gibbering fool.

How can I possibly know what I want to be doing in five years time when I’ve been doing the same job every day for the last five years and I have no intention of changing.

Why It’s OK to Not Be Ambitious

Of course the world needs ambitious people, we would fall apart without innovative, creative, forward-thinking, leaders to guide and steer businesses and even countries, but at the same time without the “little” person to actually do the small, boring and maybe even dirty jobs these businesses and the world would surely fail. 

There’s a snobbery around certain jobs: cleaners, warehouse workers, retail and even waiting staff. Think about the jobs that you would hate to do, and now consider the fact that there people actually doing these jobs, and most likely doing them with skills, knowledge and pride. This was something I noticed a lot on my trip to Japan last year – everyone, regardless of the job, takes pride in what they do. There is no shame in going out every day to earn a living, support themselves and their families and improve the quality of the cities around them.

The priority for me has always been that I do a job I enjoy, that I get on with the people I work with and that I do each task as well as I can. I have no desire to climb the career ladder and if I’m honest the idea of having to manage people fills me with dread.

There’s been a lot of talk at my work recently about career progression for women, creating more senior roles for them to advance and closing the gender pay gap – these are all important issues in business today and I totally support any woman for smashing her way through the walls built by men. However, a email went round a while ago about “career cheerleaders” – people who would sing your praises without you asking them to and would actively encourage you to progress to the next stage in your career. 

It was a phrase that made me feel a little nauseas. I replied to the email and explained that as a more introverted person I had no need for a cheerleader, that I was happy in my role and wasn’t looking for career progression. I received an unusual response: the sender of the original email (a 21 year old graduate who had been in her role for less than a year) was surprised by my reply. Her exact words were “I’ve never met anyone with such a distinct lack of ambition, could we meet for coffee to discuss it further” – I’ll should point out that we never had that coffee. 

I’ll admit that her email made me want to run and hide. I suddenly felt ashamed by my “distinct lack of ambition” – here I was being outed by a young woman who clearly had career progression in her sights – but I also felt guilty – for potentially stamping on her views of ambition and women.

I suppose I have fallen into the trap of believing that ambition must mean hustling, working all hours, leading people, and striving for the bigger pay cheque. However, I also believe that having too much ambition, being too fixated on an end-goal can distract from enjoyment and appreciation.

However, maybe I need to rethink what ambition means. 

Maybe ambition should simply be happy, contentment, being kind and working hard. These are all achievable – and therefore success is always within reach.

Are you ambitious?

Let me know in the comments.