Learn how to be ambitious: 5 tips to focus on the goals that matter

1. Find your motivation

Why do you want to be more ambitious? This is the fundamental question. Your answer will set the foundation for the rest of your decisions going forward.

Clearly define why you want to focus on your goal, no matter what it is. You may want to buy a house because you want to raise a family, become a leader in your community to improve the lives around you, or increase your salary to be comfortable when you retire.

Write down your goals and why they’re important to you, then post them where you can see them. When you start to falter, they’ll remind you why you embarked on this journey in the first place.

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2. Set goals

Ambitious people use the SMART method to set their goals, which helps them succeed. SMART stands for:

Specific: You know what your end result will look like.

Measurable: You can easily quantify your results so you know when you’ve crossed the finish line.

Achievable: You can reach your goal with your current skills and resources.

Relevant: Your goal serves your wider life ambitions.

Time-bound. You have a clear deadline for your goal.

You can use this method for your personal goals, career goals, and short, medium, and long-term goals.

The trick is to organize your targets like a trail of breadcrumbs: smaller milestones you need to achieve on your way to your larger goal. Setting a series of small goals will provide you with manageable steps you can take to achieve your larger goals. Each of these should build on the last until you reach your desired endpoint.

3. Get to work

Identifying your motivators and setting ambitious goals can take time. But try to be wary of falling into analysis paralysis. You might find yourself in an existential crisis, unable to make any decisions about your life.

To exit this rut, it helps to try things. Say “Yes” to that job you’ve been on the fence about, go out with that friend, and take that vacation. Your path will become clearer as you try new things.

4. Invest in yourself

Take a course, read a book, listen to a podcast, find a mentor — investing in your personal and professional development is rarely a bad move. Even if your learnings aren’t directly related to your current situation, they might be useful in the future.

5. Improve your focus and concentration

Take care of your body, eat well, sleep more, and perform mentally stimulating activities like meditating or reading. These actions can improve your focus and concentration. In the long run, this will help you complete the work required to realize your ambitions.

Ambition in the workplace: finding the right balance

The qualities of an ambitious person can help you in the workplace, too. Being a motivated and goal-oriented employee will help your career while benefiting the rest of the organization.

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But it’s important to strike a balance. Too much ambition at work can make you unpopular with your colleagues. You might appear selfish and arrogant, unafraid of putting your needs ahead of others. If you’ve ever had a toxic boss, you might already be familiar with this behavior. This kind of ambition can hold your career back in the long run.

On the flip side, too little ambition can make you appear lazy and unmotivated. More than that, you risk falling into a rut of mediocre performance, boredom, and a sense of futility in your work.

Having a clear sense of your goals, motivators, and ambitions will help you avoid these two extremes. You’ll know how to collaborate effectively while staying focused on where you want to go.

Ambition vs. greed

In a culture that often defines success in terms of money and power, it’s easy for ambition to transform into excess and greed. People with this affliction are willing to bulldoze over others to reach their goals.

But being ambitious is different from being greedy. Healthy ambition is about motivating yourself to pursue your own meaning in life. Extreme ambition is about acquiring as much money and power as possible, regardless of the cost

Psychologist Sheri Johnson explains that extreme ambition could indicate underlying mental illness. In a study of more than 600 young men and women at Berkeley, she found that one’s perceived social status was at the heart of various conditions.

For example, the people most at risk for mania — a condition defined by extreme mood swings — cited the pursuit of power as an important part of their identity.

If you find that power and excess are important parts of your identity, it’s worth questioning why. A mental health professional can help you work through any complex emotions.