My recent post about ambition got numerous views and several helpful comments. Thanks for that. Perhaps the most valuable was from my friend Bob Lowry about turning my ambition inward. Bob and I have been friends for more than a decade now, and he has given my invaluable advice over the years. Thanks to my Arizona visit last year, we are no longer just “virtual” friends, as we have finally shared space together.
I am still trying to wrap my mind around the concept of inward ambition, as it is something that, for the most part, has been foreign to me.
Here is a copy of the comment that got me going on this path:
Here I am twenty-three years since I left the corporate world, and you would think that I could change my “Mr Fix-it” external ambition long before now. But, it still clings to me as an integral part of who I am. Part of that “clinging” is wanting to make a difference in my world, no matter what size of those differences might be. In the last years of my corporate life it was about making things easier for the 300+ engineers that I built tools for.
Currently, my external ambition has been about finding ways to make the lives of my fellow retirement community residents a little easier and maybe more enjoyable. These attempts have mostly met with failure, and that is a very discouraging thing for me. So, it’s time to move inward to what makes ME happy.
What I get from Bob’s comments is that inward ambitions are primarily things that I enjoy doing. They are things that focus on “me”.
I have always thought that my external ambitions and internal ambitions have co-existed within me for all these years, but I seem to be learning that that is not actually the case. It is just difficult for me to focus on myself and what I get pleasure from. I don’t understand why I have so much trouble with that, but it’s time to concentrate on turning inward at least to a greater degree than I have to date. Part of that process is to determine just what turning inward means to me. I will attempt to do that this Wednesday.
I embrace change, at least most of the time, so this will be a valuable lesson for me. Concentrating on myself just doesn’t come naturally to me.
RJ's Corner 
Your Arizona friend is apparently too polite to tell you that you have been spelling his last name incorrectly. As you can see in his comment on your post today, it’s “Lowry,” not “Lowery.” I”m sensitive to this sort of spelling error because most people spell my last name with a double “b.”
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Oh how embarrassing 🫢. I have changed it on this post. Yeah, I have been doing that for years. Even my spell checker wants to add the “e” now. Thanks for letting me know, Rick. I will also make sure your name doesn’t include an extra “b”. 😎
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No worries, my friend. The name with an “e” is the more common spelling.
More importantly, I hope you find the inward focus on ambition to be energizing and fruitful.
Obviously this doesn’t mean turning your back on others when you can render aid and support.
It does mean finding validation from pursuits that please and satisfy you.
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