Redefining ambition doesn’t mean losing drive. Here’s how evolving your goals can shift your business and life for the better.
Recently I came across a video from a woman I used to know. She was sharing all about a big financial milestone she was working towards and the steps she’s taking to get there.
I stumble across videos like this all the time but this one struck me because, in many ways, it felt like I was watching a younger version of myself; not just in the pursuit of this particular milestone, but also in the energy behind it – the urgency, the striving, the need to prove something to myself and the feeling I felt would come from hitting it.
Looking back, I know there’s nothing anyone could have said to remove the wounded need I felt to constantly “be” and “achieve” more. Because in true line 3 fashion, I needed to hit those big numbers for myself and still feel “off” in order to push me to go deeper and get clarity on what I wanted beyond more money.
More than anything, it allowed me to have so much compassion for that younger version of me, who felt like she had to push.
Back then, I didn’t know any other way. So much of the deep energetic work I’ve done has revolved around building internal safety and making shifts to ensure that the way my business operates is providing me with more of what I want from my life holistically.
Another thing that was interesting, is that for a split second after watching, I found myself wondering—have I lost my ambition?
Did I hit those milestones and just… stop caring?
But the more I sat with it, I realized that it wasn’t that I’d lost my ambition. It’s that I’ve redefined it.
And that’s not small at all. It’s actually quite revolutionary.
Because here’s what I now know is true: ambition doesn’t always look like striving.
Sometimes it looks like deep contentment.
Like shifting from, “what’s next?” to savouring all that feels good and nourishing right now.
Like choosing to say no when you could say yes.
Or enjoying and wanting the life you have versus pining for something different.
That’s not a regression; but rather a deep recalibration.
Most of us have been conditioned to believe that growth has to mean more, and when that’s the lens you’re seeing things, you can see that business no longer becomes a means to support what you want from your life, but the epicentre of your life instead.
Quickly, striving becomes a virtue.
Busyness becomes a badge.
And contentment feels foreign because we no longer know who we are when we’re not reaching for something.
I can now see that the fact that the tinge of guilt I felt for not wanting more was simply the residue of a culture we’re all trying to survive in.
And it gave me the opportunity to honour just how far I’ve come and sit with what it would feel like to stop trying to want more just because the old version of me would have.
I created Life-First Business to give you the tools to create a business that, yes, allows you to create meaningful income from the work you do, but beyond that, I want to help you do that in a way that allows you to live and truly be in your life, rather than constantly preparing or building towards that vision.
In my eyes, that’s a woman who’s won.
Not in a flashy, curated, let-me -document-it-for-social-media kind of way.
But in a deeply aligned, life-on-purpose-kind of way.
In the program, all of the strategy is there to support you in making it happen. But then the work shifts to regulating your nervous system to allow things to be as good as they are, and learning how to exist there. I can’t tell you how many conversations have come up this month inside our group around shedding the habits of over-functioning and constant output that once led to burn out.
We’re growth-oriented people. That’s not going away.
But you want to get to a place where growth isn’t being chased anymore from that hustle-y place.
Where more reach, money and impact is coming from a place of wholeness and because you want to.
That’s what I mean when I say that the evolution of your relationship with ambition in this way is not regression—it’s recalibration.
And if you take anything away from this note, let it be this: you get to decide not to climb ladders that don’t lead back to you.
Let me know if this brought up anything for you; I always love hearing your experiences and reflections.
In the meantime, here’s a little peek at what’s been filling my days and thoughts lately—business, life, and everything in between:
- Earlier this week, I went in for what I thought would be a routine appointment about some ear pressure and wisdom tooth discomfort. By Friday, I was having an emergency procedure. The choice was either: pay $2,500 there and then to resolve the issue—or walk away still in pain, shopping around for a specialist and potentially waiting weeks. I paid it. And I was grateful I could.
Because here’s the thing: having access to resources matters. It’s what allows you to make decisions based on what’s best for you, not just what’s affordable in the moment. Understanding how to run our businesses profitably gives us the ability to pay ourselves properly so we can handle unexpected expenses without stress—and without having to compromise elsewhere.
Unexpected expenses will always come up—medical bills, home repairs, life things. But money is a renewable resource. Health, time, peace of mind? Not so much. So I want you to keep that in mind when you’re afraid to make decisions in your business that could afford you more autonomy.
- Just a reminder that the U.S. tax deadline is Tuesday. Beyond filing your return, this is also a chance to make sure you’re maxing out any tax-advantaged accounts while you still can. If you’ve been here a while, you know I’m a big advocate for financial independence and long-term investing. I hit Coast FIRE a few years ago—which means I’ve already invested enough that, even if I never contributed another cent, my portfolio would grow to fund a traditional retirement. Now, I’m investing aggressively to retire in my early 40s. This is a core part of what I teach inside the Scale phase of Life-First Business: how to use your business as the vehicle for wealth accumulation. It’s been such a joy to celebrate students who’ve set up business retirement plans for the first time, maxed out their Roth IRAs, or hit new investment and net-worth milestones. If you haven’t taken advantage of those tools yet, this is your sign to get started.
- One thing that’s been coming up again and again in coaching lately is how often we try to think our way through emotions—especially the harder ones. Disappointment. Shame. Frustration. Instead of letting ourselves feel them, we go into over-intellectualizing. I read something recently that really landed: “Overthinking is an underfeeling problem.” And it’s true—so often, the spinning thoughts are just a distraction from what’s actually going on in our bodies. It makes sense—we’re not always taught how to sit with our feelings, especially the ones that make us feel out of control. But growing a business will surface real emotion. And your ability to hold more clients, more revenue, more visibility… it’s directly connected to your capacity to feel more without shutting down. So here’s something to sit with: when you feel disappointment or sadness, do you allow yourself to just feel it—or do you default to analyzing and planning as a way to bypass it?
- Something I’ve been loving lately is Yoga Nidra—a guided meditation practice that supports deep rest and nervous system regulation. I first got into it after listening to an episode of the Huberman Lab podcast, where he talked about NSDR (non-sleep deep rest)—a technique that helps your body and brain reset without actually falling asleep. It’s been a powerful part of my wellness practice, especially as I’ve been tracking things like HRV (heart rate variability) as a marker for how my nervous system is doing. Where I used to regularly get ‘overload’ warnings, I’m now consistently in the ‘good’ and ‘great’ range. I typically do a session in the afternoon when I know my cortisol tends to spike, and another before bed—and the impact it’s had on my deep and REM sleep has been huge. If you’ve been navigating insomnia, anxiety, or just low energy in general, I can’t recommend it enough. Just search on YouTube and start with a 10–20 minute practice. This is my favourite channel.
- One thing that’s come up a lot in coaching recently goes back to a foundational Life-First Business principle: doing fewer things, better. A mistake I made for a long time—and I see so many of my clients doing too—is spending hours on one-off sales activities that don’t create leverage. Like selling all day on Instagram Stories… only for those stories to disappear 24 hours later. Because those efforts can work, we often don’t question whether they’re truly the best use of our time or whether they’re moving the business forward long-term. So here’s the reframe I’ve been offering: what if, instead of spending hours creating something with a 24-hour shelf life, you used that same time to build an asset that can sell for you over and over again? That could be a low-ticket product, a recorded live experience, or even a lead magnet that does the heavy lifting of warming up leads. Where can you do less—but do it better? Where can you start creating things that continue working for you long after you’ve logged off so that you’re not required to constantly show up live for sales to come in?
- I promised to report back on our Sunday brunch—and it was such a joy. Pure chaos (eight kids will do that to a New York apartment), but honestly the best kind. I kept the spread super simple: pancakes, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, donuts for the kids, and mimosas for the adults. It was one of the warmest days we’ve had so far, and it just felt good. So much so that it’s now a standing monthly date. We also just got a new grill, so hosting and grilling out is absolutely about to become my entire personality this summer.
