Ambition and professional motivation: how to realise them

17 November 2023 Ambition and professional motivation: how to discover and realise them.

Posted at 10:56h in Career Coaching, HR Consulting by Elsa Ramunno

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Discovering ambition and professional motivation

Discovering and realising one's own ambition and professional motivation is a path that requires time and reflection. Ambition and motivation cannot be defined generically, because what one person is passionate about may not excite another. So where to start?

To discover one's own ambition and motivation you can start with the understanding individual potential. This means clarifying and recognising one's strengths and weaknesses, interests and passions, and goals in life.

It is indeed a demanding task, with the risk of getting tired and lost, without support and guidance in personal thoughts.

Understanding your professional ambition: 4 steps

In order to start and and find the way it is possible to follow 4 steps, and these are:

1. Do an assessment of personal skills and interests

The first step is to assess personal skills and interests. One can reflect on questions such as:

What do you do well? What are you passionate about?

How do you spend your free time?

What kind of activities make you lose track of time? (*)

What do I want to achieve with my work?

Reflecting on these questions will help clarify the areas of possible choices of career paths.

2. Explore new and different activities

One should not be afraid to try new activities and challenge oneself. In fact, in this way you might discover an ability in something you never thought of before.

There are many ways to explore new activities, such as training courses, workshops, volunteering or simply experimenting and trying out similar and related but not exactly the same fields of already accomplished knowledge.

To understand the opportunities offered by each career, it is important to research about different paths and professions, reading articles, talking to more experienced people.

3. Talk to people with the same ambition

Talking to people who have the same ambition can be a valuable way to learn more about a particular area and associated job opportunities. It is possible to find people with your same ambition in online groups, events or associations.

4. To be flexible and open

Ambition can change over time. Don't be afraid to change direction if it turns out that the current job and career is not satisfying. Fear of the unknown is a natural reaction to change.

When facing something new, it is normal to experience a series of emotionsincluding anxiety, uncertainty and fear. These emotions can be linked to a number of factors, such as the concern about failing with the skills one possesses, fear of failure or uncertainty about the future.

An important aspect of discovering one's professional ambition concerns the motivation.

Ambition and motivation are two concepts strictly relatedbut they are not exactly the same thing. Ambition is the desire to achieve high goals, while motivation is the force that drives us to act to achieve them.

Ambition and motivation are both necessary to achieve personal satisfaction and the success. Ambition provides the direction, while motivation provides the strength to achieve a goal or realise a wish.

Finding one's motivation

The force that makes us act, gives us energy and helps us overcome difficulties is therefore called motivation.

There are different types of motivation, including:

Intrinsic motivationis the motivation which derives from the pleasure of performing an activity for its own sake. It is the motivation that drives us to do something because we enjoy it, because it gives us satisfaction or because it makes us feel fulfilled. It is not a simple feeling of what we like or dislike doing but is based on the will and perseverance to pursue a personal goal.
Extrinsic motivationis the motivation which derives from external factors, such as money, prestige or social approval. It is the motivation that drives us to do something to obtain a reward or to avoid punishment.

To find one's own motivation it is necessary search within themselves and, however, there are several factors that could influence one's motivation to be active in performing specific actions, including:

the values and the personal beliefs: if one believes in something, they are more motivated to achieve it.
a growth mindset and beliefs about personal abilities: if one believes they can do it, the motivation to act grows.
An concrete definition of individual objectivesIf one's goals are clear and specific, one is more motivated to achieve them. The motivation is based on objective and clear data, in relation to specific contexts and in defined directions. All this then ends up having an impact of concreteness.
the individual progress compared to an action plan: seeing concrete progress increases motivation to evolve in small steps.

What to do in times of low motivation

At times, finding the motivation may prove complicated or more simply be an indicator of fatigue. In such cases, in addition to taking a break to recharge the batteries, it's good to consider to look for support.

Realising one's ambitions is a slow and progressive path, made up of small movements, steps, and shifts. These steps do not always proceed regularly and in the same direction, but can sometimes cause backward or sideways movements, bringing with them doubts, uncertainties and fears.

In my work as a coach, I had the chance to offer support by facilitating a change of perspective or by retracing the initial steps of a career path that needed to be rediscovered because were lost.

Conclusions and insights

Discover and also pursue personal ambition and professional motivation requires dedication and patience.

Patience means waiting without losing calm or hope.

In order to achieve one's goals, it is necessary to work hard and persevere even in the face of difficulties.

When ambition and motivation professional are based on concrete values and objectives can be a powerful drive for change and a source of personal satisfaction and it is worth the effort to pursue them.

To discover your ambition and motivation, and accelerate your professional development, you can book a consultation with me here

Tags:

career coaching, awareness, flow