Many ambitious people didn't necessarily start out that way. If you’re wondering how to be more ambitious in your personal life or career — or you’re just trying to find a semblance of ambition to get you going, use these habits of ambitious people to motivate yourself:
1. Set goals
The first thing (and probably one of the most vital things) you need to do is set some SMART goals for yourself. Otherwise, how will you know when you’ve achieved something to be proud of? Maybe you want to get a book published. Set an ambitious goal for yourself to get there. Give yourself targets to hit — writing X amount of words a day, or sitting down for an hour just to get the creative juices flowing.
Maybe you want to slowly but surely start expanding your professional network. You could set a goal for yourself where you attend one networking event a month, and at each event talk to at least one person. These goals don’t have to be extravagant or grand. They just have to motivate you to keep moving forward, which is exactly what ambition is all about.
2. Take risks
Another important step—one that may seem daunting—is taking risks. And no, we’re not talking about skydiving, unless that’s where your ambition lies. But an ambitious person isn’t afraid to take risks and make mistakes. At the end of the day, they might really pay off. Being ambitious means pursuing your desires and reaching your goals. It’s pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and doing what you weren’t doing before.
Being ambitious isn’t necessarily easy, and neither is taking risks — and that’s the point. But the more you push yourself, the happier you will be, and the closer you will be to achieving your ambitious goals.
3. Invest in yourself
You are your most valuable investment, and it’s important that you know that you are, in fact, worth it. Buy yourself that new video editing software. Give yourself a wardrobe makeover. Pay for those photography courses. And investing in yourself isn’t just about spending money. Take time for yourself. Get eight hours of sleep. Work out five times a week. Make yourself a priority, and others will see you as one.
4. Eliminate negativity
Negativity is your enemy — both from the outside world and from within. Negativity only holds you back; it only keeps you from seeing the positivity and the prospects on the horizon. Negativity casts a big, dark cloud on your ambitious goals. Expel it. Don’t tear yourself or your work apart. Don’t compare yourself to others. Work on yourself and your goals and what you want to accomplish, and keep that end in sight. Your biggest competitor is yourself and no one else. You should only strive to be better than you were yesterday.
5. Don’t wait
If you keep waiting, you’ll never accomplish your goals. If you keep saying tomorrow, tomorrow will never really come. You can’t expect great things to happen when you’ve done nothing to work for them. Being ambitious means pushing yourself, fighting for what you want, and not taking no for an answer. You have your whole life ahead of you, and there’s no use waiting for it to happen. You have to make things happen. You can’t climb that corporate ladder if you never get in the game.
6. Surround yourself with ambitious people
This doesn’t mean you have to drop your friends, so don’t worry. But it is important to surround yourself with people who will lift you up, people who will push you like they push themselves, and people who know what they want and are willing to fight for it. We often surround ourselves with people who share similar qualities and habits, and if you want to keep working towards your goals, you need people around you who are doing the same.