Dream Big: The Ambition Guide

This article will be a bit different from my usual ones. My standard writing process is to research a topic that piqued my interest, then write based on my own thoughts and information I gathered, making sure I provide as rounded discussion as possible. Nevertheless, this time, I wish to write a more personal article, less grounded in research and external information, but deeper in feelings and experiences. Please keep it in mind when reading it.

I often reflect upon ambition, its meaning and importance in one’s life. In many cultures, being ambitious is seen as a negative trait, something that should be controlled and appeased. Several of us were taught to be realistic, avoid daydreaming and to work towards an achievable goal. It is understandable that parents and families do so to save the young ones from disappointment and guarantee survival. However, in doing so, we starve creativity and lessen the chances of success and happiness.

By definition, ambition is a powerful desire to do or achieve something, the desire and determination to achieve success. It is your mind’s natural response to your dreams and creativity. As children, we dream freely and have no limitations to what we can achieve. The moon and the stars are upon reach. We talk to ghosts, we fight dragons, we fly like birds. Our mind is limitless and fearless. We get hurt, but we do not mind. The adventure is never ending, and our hearts are open and unafraid.

As we grow and societal rules pull us towards a communal reality, we become oppressed by expectations and third-party’s concepts of what success should mean to us. It becomes all about stability, material possession, building a family. It is a predefined form we are all expected to adapt to, similar to a conveyor belt production system, a factory of reality. In this process, we supress and extinct our childish desires, replacing it with a more achievable set of goals. And we are expected to fit and conform. Accept reality and work hard. But our previous aspirations do not die or disappear, lingering inside us and, at least for some of us, constantly reminding us of what we should be aiming for, despite the financial, professional, or personal successes we might have gathered over the years.

As we navigate treacherous waters in the games industry, with many colleagues facing unemployment, I started reflecting on the opportunities that it might present to creativity and the games business and how it can open unimaginable doors for innovation. But for that, I believe we would need to bring back to life our childlike imagination and fearlessness. It is a chance to dream big again, to break down the walls built by safety and large corporations and build different lives, listening to our deeper desires and unlimited imagination.

I am a firm believer that challenging times are tools for greatness. They are kicks on our behinds, pushing us out of the door and into the unimaginable. It is not an easy task, as we have been programmed all our lives to see our value based on what we provide to society and our families. Nevertheless, being brave and thinking creatively, paired with positive action and attitude, certainly pays off.

I want to share tips and insights to boost your creative juices:

1.      Bring the dreams back: Make lists of things you dreamt of in various phases of your life. It does not matter how crazy or unrealistic it is: this is a collection of ideas, not a plan yet. It might be too late to become an astronaut, a ballet dancer, or a cowboy, but there are ways to deconstruct these dreams into achievable ideas.

2.      Be bold and aim to the stars: Aiming high is important to achieve success. Your mind if your only limitation. My favourite saying is ‘she didn’t know it was impossible, so she did it.’

3.      Keep learning: Acquiring new knowledge should be a default in our lives. We should never stop learning. I believe our obligations in life are to continuously improve ourselves and to share knowledge with others.

4.      Let them: You are responsible for yourself and for your growth as a person. What other people think of you is not your issue. Let them think. Let them talk. You focus on yourself and your actions, while you keep growing as a person.

5.      Stop worrying: I know this is a tough one. But be honest: does worrying about anything help solve the issue? It is important to have priorities, the sense of urgency and act accordingly, but worrying and panicking about things will not take you anywhere.

6.      Focus on what YOU can do: This is connected to the point above. If something is beyond your reach, it is not your decision, you cannot influence or change it, why become anxious about it? Let it go. Focus on the things you can do, and you can change. Everything else is a waste of time and energy.

7.      Do your best: This is a key one. Always do your best. The feeling of knowing you went that extra mile for yourself is indescribable.

8.      Know your value: Knowing your worth has nothing to do with being full of yourself. It is all about loving yourself, respecting yourself and your boundaries, and setting these boundaries clearly to others. Additionally, remember to respect others and their worth.

9.      Walk it off: When you feel stuck, go for a walk. Fresh air, exercise and light are great medicines to reset body and mind.

10.  Turn it into a challenge: When you feel negative feelings and thoughts lurking, turn them into challenges. Do not accept them as truths, but as things you need to learn and improve. Not being good at something or being unable of achieving something is not a definitive state, but an invitation to learn more and break these barriers.

11.  Pluck them off: Sometimes negativity does not come in a ‘learnable’ format but are shaped as self-hatred and other vicious things. In these cases, pluck them off. They have no place there. If they are not constructive, they have no place in your mind.

Trying new things in life may be adventurous and exciting, but it is also nerve-racking and overwhelming. However, did you know that the odds of you being born were 1 in 400 trillion, according to research? Nothing short of a miracle, right? If you were able to beat these odds and be born, you can do anything you put your mind and efforts into. So be ambitious. I am looking forward to seeing what you will achieve next.