I individually asked my three sisters to send me one word that describes me best. Two immediately responded, the third responded a few days later. One questioned whether her hyphenated word fit the parameter of one word. Another texted me THREE words – which I made her choose one. JUST ONE. GAWD.
I love my sisters, and their responses typify their personalities and made me feel proud in a unique way on how they viewed me. Their selection provoked me to consider my relationship in context of their chosen word, too. I am trying to reflect on the word as seen through their lens. For this post, I’m starting with my Second-in-Command – the sister just below me in the “I was born first” hierarchy.
Her word is: Impossible. Just kidding, it was AMBITIOUS.
I would be remiss in not posting her initial reply: Passionate… ??? Cultured… ambitious… [JUST ONE!]. She responds Impossible!!! It’s perfect. (She genuinely responds Ambitious in a later text; however, this was a fun experiment.)
She is the first in our family to get a graduate degree, and here she is calling me ambitious. The nerve.
When image searching “ambitious” this picture was in the results and I cannot stop laughing:
The first bite is always the hardest, kid.
The definition of ambitious is the belief in oneself that they will achieve what they desire and determination to satisfy high aspirations. Yeah, that is certainly me!
The thesaurus tells me that I am also aggressive, determined, earnest, energetic, enthusiastic, and resourceful. All of these I would argue define how my ambition bolsters my will to succeed. Sure, I get lazy and bore quickly, but this is where looking towards my next challenge reignites my goal focus. And yes, my sister was also spot-in in saying “impossible.” I have a tendency to be too self-focused, single-minded, and stubborn, and is the source of much of the reflection and personal development that I’ve been working on this year.
Related: I love this idea of writing an Ambition Letter related to high goals (despite only anecdotal evidence). The first rule of goal-setting is writing it down! {via Fast Company}
Extra reading: Why ambitious goals may help {via Headspace}
What is the One Word Project? I asked some people in my life to describe me/sum me up in one word to explore areas of strengths and for personal/professional development. I plan to make this part of a regular (and evolving) series and will continue to ask those around me to participate.
Post note: What I love right now about this exercise, is that when someone responds, I simply tell them “thank you.” And I haven’t yet had anyone ask me why. No one has asked me to give them a word in return. This is a really fun experiment!