Overcoming the Challenges of being Ambitious
Here’s something you may or may not know about me: I’m ambitious AF (as f***)! I have big goals, and to support those comes a constant list of items on my to do list. There’s ALWAYS something for me to be doing. Working full-time in my career job, plus being a dog mom, a homeowner, and single (ie. I have to do everything myself) is a lot on its own, but then add creating content for my blog and personal finance education business (my creative outlets and passions), daily exercise and meditation (for my mental and physical health and weight loss), being on my condo board, and downtime (ie. watching reality tv), it can be challenging and exhausting to get it all done. Can you relate?
I love everything I’m doing and having projects on the go is fulfilling to me. So what’s an ambitious person to do? How do we get it all done?
We don’t get it all done, or at least not immediately. For example, today my list has:
write this blog post
complete strength and cardio workouts, plus pre-bed yoga (I’m working on big weight loss goals right now)
go shopping for an outfit for an event I’m attending over the next two days
visit with a friend who’s in town briefly
watch the Big Brother premiere
pack for two nights in a hotel
These alone could take up most of my day but I need to fit it all in before or after work and during lunch.
So how do we manage our time and all of the tasks related to our ambitions? Check out the following list for my strategies:
Accept - it won’t all get done when you’d like it to but that doesn’t mean it won’t get done.
Prioritize - what is the most important goal you’re working on right now? What’s the second? And third? Go through the list of your projects and prioritize them based on the goals you’re working on.
Schedule - sort out what needs to be done right away (urgent) and what can wait until later. Prioritizing will come into play here as well. For example, it’s more important to me that I have a new outfit I feel good in for this event than to watch Big Brother tonight or get in another workout.
Ask for help - what can you outsource to others? Along with being ambitious AF, I'm also frugal AF and have a hard time asking for help (I need some therapy around that I’m sure), so hiring or even asking people to help is a challenge for me. Think about where you can enlist the help of others and how the financial cost will create a bigger reward for you. If you have kids, put them to work doing chores!
Multi-task - I know, multi-tasking has been proved to be ineffective but I have found a few ways to make it work and I’m sure you can too. This typically only works when you’re doing tasks that require less focus. For example, I listen to audiobooks and podcasts while walking my dog and doing the dishes. I’ve also watched tv while doing Peloton rides.
Consider your health - sleep, meditation, movement, hydration, eating nourishing foods, connection. Burnout is an awful experience. It will set you back because you’ll get to the point where you can’t do much, if anything. It’s so easy to forgo taking care of your mental and physical health when you’re ambitious but when you’re healthy, you will be able to accomplish more. Sleep is one of my priorities because I know I can’t function without enough of it and my day becomes inefficient. Staying hydrated and eating foods that nourish you can easily fit into your day. Making time for connecting with others and exercising may take a bit more effort but they’ll likely leave you energized. Meditation is simple and can be done in 5 minutes if you’re short on time. I listen to sleep meditations every night when I go to bed.
What do you think? Can you do it all (eventually) while still enjoying life? What are some strategies that you’re going to incorporate into your routine? Share in the comments as I’d love to connect with you!
~ Jenny