Unleashing Your Ambition: Defining, Clarifying, and Achieving Your Goals"m

Well, what's up, everybody? Welcome to Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. I'm so glad you guys are tuned in with us today as we embark on a journey for the next few weeks about ambition and returning to school. And we're going to spend the next couple of weeks talking about ambition, talking to educators, to parents, to students, as well as administrators as we navigate through what it means to own your ambition as you go back to school to no matter when you go. So wherever you are across the country, I'm so glad that you were tuned in with us, even those of you who are listening around the world, welcome to Made for Mondays. You own your Mondays. Mondays don't own you. And let's jump into today how to own your ambition. Well, let's jump into it today we're going to talk about what ambition is and how to clarify your ambition. So we're going to talk about what it is and how you can use your ambition to achieve your goals and then how to clarify your ambition. Are you ready? Let's start with a joke. I think we got to find something funny. So what do you call an ambitious cat? A pursuiter. You smiled a little bit. Okay, keep that smile. Let's. Let's talk about ambition. So Peter Drucker once said this. The best way to predict the future is to create it. You hold in your hands what Terry Tippis Williams called wild mercy. You have something so unique, so. So special in your hand. You, as the embodiment of God's creativity and imagination, have an opportunity to do something absolutely wonderful with your life and in the world. Let's talk about your ambition, what you can do to create the future. What is ambition? Ambition is a strong desire to achieve something. It's the drive that pushes us to reach our goals. Ambition can be healthy or unhealthy. See, healthy ambition is motivated by a desire to do good or to make a difference in the world. Whereas unhealthy ambition is motivated by a desire for power or for possessions. Think about the people in your life that you know have healthy ambition. That the drive inside of them to do something to change the world. And those who have unhealthy ambition, a drive inside of them to use you as a stepping stone to get to where they need to be. I want you to lean more into the healthy than you do the unhealthy. See, this is the difference between the two. Healthy ambition is focused on achieving goals that align with your values. It's about doing something that you're passionate about to make a difference in the world. Whereas unhealthy ambition is achieving goals that are only for you. It's all about you getting ahead at any cost, even if it means hurting others or sacrificing your values in the process. See, this is the importance of setting goals and having values. See, goals give you something to strive for. They help you stay motivated and focus on your path to success. And when you set goals, be sure they are smart goals. In the book 7 Habits for Highly Effective People covey talks about the importance of setting goals that are smart. Smart goals are. If you never heard this before, I really want you to grab a hold of this. Smart goals are specific S, measurable M achievable, a relevant R and time bound. The specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound goals. Because remember, the best way to predict the future is, well, you create it. So how do we clarify our smart goals? How do we clarify our ambition? I can tell you to have ambition, but let's unpack it. See, the first time, first thing to do is to take time to reflect on your values. Answer a couple questions to yourself as you're driving this morning or going to work. First of all, what is important to you? If you want to figure out what you find most important, take a look at where you spend most of your money. When you begin to take bills away, and the essential things you have to do week in and week out or month in to month out. Where does most of your money go? That's what you value. Take a look at your schedule for the week. Look at who or what has access to your time. That is important to you. What do you believe in? What guides you? For me, I'm a Christian. That's Jesus. Some of you who listen, I know that aren't, and that's absolutely fine. Think about spirituality. What is driving you? What is holding you accountable? What do you believe in? For me, I told my wife a couple of days ago, I said, my whole life is lived to do one thing. I can't wait to see Jesus. I can wait, but I can't wait to see Jesus. I believe in the truth of forgiveness of sins, the reconciliation of my mind, my body and soul to Jesus, and that for eternity I'll be with him that drives my decisions. Because once you know your values, you can identify your ambition. Then, because you know what you value, your foundation, you begin to think about the dressing, the ambition, what you're passionate about and what you want to achieve. So I want to ask you those questions. What are you passionate about? See Dreams are not the things that then put you to sleep. Dreams are the things that wake you up. What are you passionate about and what do you really want to achieve? Your ambition is bigger than some bottom line for a business you don't run. Like your dreams are bigger than making sure that your boss makes budget. What do you really want to achieve? And for every what, there's a who, who, There's a who behind the what, who, who is the person, the picture, the audience that's behind what you believe God has called you achieve. See, once you have a list of what you're passionate about and what you're going to achieve, it's probably not going to be very long. Probably four or five things and begin to prioritize them. Which ones are most important to you and which ones are more most achievable? When you take a look at what you have right now, you have everything you need in this moment to be successful. So what is most important to you and what can you do right now? Utilize the gift of today before you get consumed about being successful tomorrow. And then that's where you create a plan and work the plan. You create a plan to achieve your ambitions. What steps do you need to take, what resources do you need and who can help you and who can't be with you. Consider the words of J.P. morgan, the first step to getting somewhere is to decide you're not going to stay where you are. That doesn't get you. What do you call an ambitious elephant? An aspirant. Got it. Paul Quhello in the book El Via Chamish talks about the importance of following your dreams. He says that if you really want to achieve something, the universe will co conspire with you to help you achieve it. See, all I want you to do is to name and clarify your ambitions. I want you to reflect upon your values, identify your ambitions, pursue them and then create a plan to get there. Because if you're ready to do it, I encourage you to take time to reflect on your own goals. To answer some questions that we asked you earlier. What do you want to achieve and what are you most passionate about? And what you know, what you want to get to and what God is calling you to. You make the steps and take the steps to make it happen. So I encourage you to name it, I encourage you to own it, and I encourage you to create a plan to run forward to it. Next week we're going to dive into intentionally talking to those of you going back to school and we're going to talk to educators on next week on being an ambitious educator. As you go back to school, you're not just going to serve others, you're going to bloom and blossom to God has called you to be. This stage of your journey is the stage of your journey. Now go be successful. You were made for Mondays. Mondays don't own you. You own your Mondays. Now go and win today. The day is waiting for you. Have a great day.