Preparing for the New Year: Become More Ambitious
5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
Happy New Year!
As you counted down the seconds, what was going through your mind?
Were you excited? Were you dreading it?
I feel like there are two types of people during the New Year --The "New Year, new me" person, and the "anti-New Year, new me" person.
I probably fall into the latter.
Don't get me wrong; I love the New Year! It's an excellent opportunity for fresh starts and resolutions if that's your thing.
Personally, I don't make resolutions because they don't work for me.
Instead, I choose to rest, reset and return -- I return to what matters most and clean up the mind and heart clutter that has built up over that past year.
We all start the New Year in different seasons. Many are bursting with anticipation, while others are burnt out and exhausted from trying to keep up with the world's expectations of success.
Have you lost hope? Are you stepping into 2022 empty of ambition and excitement because you are dragging disappointments, fears, failures, and grief into this New Year? Listen, I've been THERE. You are not alone.
I am dragging some discouragement into 2022, and that's why I want to talk about it. I want us to get excited about what God is planning behind the scenes.
First, let's get honest about how hard it is to maintain a level of healthy ambition, and then let me give you a roadmap to become more ambitious.
Let’s Talk Ambition
If we have ambition, how can we keep it in check and if we don’t have it, how can we become more ambitious?
MY EXPERIENCE WITH AMBITION
Being ambitious and dreaming go hand-in-hand. Unfortunately, I’ve never been good at dreaming.
I attended an invite-only event hosted by THE Tory Burch a few years ago. I was excited because I knew the purpose of this gathering was to inspire and empower. But you know what? Instead of feeling empowered and inspired, I felt confused and weighed down.
Mingling at the post-event networking party felt like a chore because anxiety was brewing beneath my cute outfit and fake smile. I was questioning the value of ambition and, more so, my ability to embrace ambition.
The questions running through my mind went something like this:
Is ambition really that important?
How do I become more ambitious?
Why do dreaming and ambition make me so anxious?
Why am I so uncomfortable with thinking BIG for myself?
“I believed that God had forgotten about me and my dreams. I resigned myself to think that my impact, joy, blessings, and success would be less than others’.”
— VANESSA JOY WALKER
CRISIS STOLE MY AMBITION
I realize now that the countless crises I'd endured were directly linked to my discomfort with embracing ambition. Crises had stolen my ambition and robbed me of my ability to dream.
I was in a full embrace with a 'less than' mentality. I believed that God had forgotten about me and my dreams. I resigned myself to think that my impact, joy, blessings, and success would be less than others'.
Apathy settled into my soul. Growing within me was a destructive indifference to the wonder and greatness of God. Why was this happening?
Well, I have experienced many heartbreaking disappointments in my life (if you would like to learn more, I write about it in my book "Make Room for Joy”).
Self-loathing fueled my mindset instead of self-love. I expected suffering and disappointment, not abundant blessings. I convinced myself that settling for mediocre was better than hoping for something that probably wouldn't ever happen.
When we are discouraged, distracted, or overwhelmed by disappointment, suffering, unexpected crises, failure, we can slowly let our perspectives shift toward what's happening around us and fully engage in the art comparison.
Our dreams are then shaped by what we see in others, what we can't see in ourselves. It's like we have momentary amnesia. We forget our awesomeness (I think that's a word!)! We forget that we were created in the image of a great and mighty God.
So, how can we become more ambitious when life is messy?
Let me tell you how!
What is Ambition?
Ambition is often directed by what we observe in the media or by what people tell us success should look like.
But when the world’s perspective, the desire to be known, the fear of not being remembered, or not having enough drives our ambition, we are routinely dissatisfied. With that kind of ambition, you might increase your net worth, notoriety, and power, but you will not fill the voids and the needs of your heart and your soul.
You will always need more. You will not have the necessary peace to live freely and experience a joyful life. Worldly ambition isn’t steady and certain. And it certainly doesn’t satiate our desire to make a difference in this world.
Alternatively, a Spirit-driven ambition enables us to embrace a new perspective with fewer requirements and limitations. This ambition is both strong and kind. Spirit-driven ambition is alive -- constantly growing, adapting, and transforming to guarantee the maximum impact.
Who doesn’t want that?
Ambition is necessary if we are to have an impact in this world.
God has called us to become more ambitious.
Are you not convinced?
Here's some proof from scripture:
Great Commission: He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." Mark 16:15 NIV
Believe in a God that you cannot see - "You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with glorious, inexpressible joy." 1 Peter 1:8 (NLT)
· Believe in a God that will ALWAYS exceed your expectations: "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us" Ephesians 3:20
These commands sound pretty ambitious to me.
So, how do we answer God's calling and become more ambitious?
How to Become More Ambitious
First, I want to clarify that NO ONE is immune to crisis, failure, or disappointment. But, these experiences don't have to hinder your ambitions! Even the most successful, positive, and grounded individuals will eventually find themselves in a state of crisis.
Becoming more ambitious requires considering a final destination, a goal, and the desired outcome.
Embracing an ambition that helps us isn't defined by the world but instead driven by the Spirit of God within us.
How is this possible?
We must stay still and get to know God.
To embrace a spirit-driven ambition, we have to know God. We have to pursue stillness to cultivate an intimate relationship with God.
“To embrace a spirit-driven ambition, we have to know God. We have to pursue stillness to cultivate an intimate relationship with God.”
— VANESSA JOY WALKER
Why is this important?
The only way to get to know God intimately is to spend time listening.
When we get still, we create the required space to hear God.
Stillness is a sign of true surrender. It says to God, I trust you. I trust and understand that you are the way maker. I trust that your timing is perfect and that it is not by my might that things will happen. I trust that I can slow down and rest because you've got this.
To become more ambitious in a spirit-driven way, we must seek God first.
Seeking God – A Way of Life
Seeking is a lifestyle, not a one-time event.
Seeking leads to waiting. Waiting for direction, instructions, answers. This might be the hardest part - the waiting.
Waiting on the Lord requires you to TRUST his word and HOPE for that which you do not see.
The more room you make for God to pour into you the more you can pour into others, Every area of your life is now primed for maximum impact. Each moment comes with an opportunity instead of an obligation – this mindset shift is life changing.
Becoming ambitious is easy when our vertical connection to God is intact because we can embrace who God created us to be – kind, powerful, impactful citizens of the world!
This year has been challenging for many of us. Personally, I'd like to curl up in a ball and let life pass me by. But if I give in to those feelings of disappointment and disillusionment, I will miss out on the incredible opportunities and blessings that God has planned for me in the coming year.
So let's join together and bring in the New Year seeking God first! And remember, there is no right or wrong way to do this. Start by getting still and opening yourself up to the voice of God.
The more we pursue God, the more likely we will pursue love. And love that is anchored to faith will fuel and sustain even the strongest, aggressive, intense, over-the-top SPIRIT-driven ambition.
The world needs more ambitious spirit-driven ambassadors! The world needs YOU.
Pursue spirit-driven ambition, and you will become more ambitious! Faith-based ambition will change how you embrace the New Year's, and you'll never need those pesky resolutions again!
Seek God, and then take life one beautifully complicated moment at a time!
Practice gratitude when it feels impossible. Stop and smell the roses, the bacon, your sweet child’s hair, or the pine needles of your fresh Christmas tree. Making space to treasure life’s simplest pleasures is guaranteed to increase your joy quotient and help you embrace every moment. When you look for things to be grateful for you will find them. And the more you look, the more you find.
Tomorrow is not promised. But today is HERE! Be curious about how God wants to use you right now, no matter what you are going through. Be on the lookout for the pockets of purpose contained in each moment. God is taking care of the larger picture so why not just focus on today?
Remember, gratitude is a miracle drug. Unlike other drugs, you cannot overdose on gratitude and its side effects are amazing -- increased peace and greater JOY.
I hope this blog post will help you to seek and practice gratitude every day! If you want to read more, I talk more about showing gratitude, finding peace, contentment and joy in my book “Make Room for Joy”.
