Women entrepreneurs are naturally more ambitious and are often criticized for it, due to a negative connotation that society has given to female ambition. However, without ambition there is no growth or progress. How do you unleash a healthy dose of ambition to run a successful business, without losing your integrity with yourself?
If you are an enterprising woman at heart, it is very likely that:
- You are setting high goals that force you to continually grow. You want to generate more and more income. You want to be the best in your field.
These are all qualities that fall under the term "ambition." And it is very likely that you have received criticism and disdain from your environment for being this way.
Because ambition is an attribute that is not always well seen by our society, especially when it comes from a woman.
And this is not surprising, since, historically, ambition has a negative connotation. The Royal Spanish Academy defines it as a “burning desire to achieve power, wealth, dignity or fame”.
Oops! I don't think any woman would want to be identified that way. Only by reading it do I come up with images of the classic movie villain who is able to sell to her own mother in order to satisfy her insatiable appetite for power and wealth.
Women are naturally compassionate, helpful and supportive. That is why this concept of ambition causes us so much conflict. The downside is that this villainous image has stopped, and continues to stop, thousands of women entrepreneurs from bravely taking their place, so that they can display their gifts of entrepreneurship and leadership without feeling guilty about it.
That is why ambition is a complex issue that brings a lot of confusion, since it seems to be good at times and, other times, not so much.
As a mentor to female entrepreneurs, I have seen this confusion manifest itself in different ways:
- Very low fees, because it is assumed that aid should be almost free A bad relationship with money, because it is bad to want to get rich Exhaustion, for giving too much time and valuable content Stagnation, for living with this internal conflict Lack of focus and scatter with other activities, for not giving yourself permission to fully embrace your mission.
If this describes you, then it is time to confront the issue of this ambition that is within you and that, even unconsciously, you do not want to accept and, much less, give it free rein.
The truth is that ambition in itself is neither good nor bad. What can harm you is the motivation behind it.
So that you understand me well: our motivations are born in our hearts. They are the engine of our actions, but they are not always obvious, not even to ourselves. For example, sometimes a woman may believe that she wants something, but it is a wish acquired - or copied - from others. You can even live up to other people's expectations, not your own.
This means that our actions, which could be classified as “ambitious”, can be born from a good or bad motivation. On the outside it looks the same, but on the inside it is very different. And it bears diametrically opposite fruits.
How can you measure whether your ambition is good or bad?
Self-centeredness versus spirit of service:
Ambition can consume a person if it comes from a place of self-centeredness.
I love the concept of purposeful prosperity as it approaches your business as a mission that is no longer about you, but about something much bigger. It is born of a desire to help others and to have the certainty that you will be generously rewarded for it.
On the other hand, if everything you do revolves around you, it is very likely that you are measuring yourself with your achievements. That will cause you a lot of frustration, because you will have a low tolerance for failure, you will be impatient and you will live unhappy.
God does not measure you by your achievements. He loves you as you are, regardless of whether you manage to excel at something or not. Perhaps other people have certain expectations of you and value your value according to what you have achieved, but God does not do it and you do not have to do it either.
Dear enterprising woman, put your eyes on those people who need your help. When your services come from a place of compassion and love for your clients, within a business framework that will allow you to grow and reach more and more people with your message, you will prosper and feel full and satisfied.
