One day, about a year after launching my book, I looked at myself in the mirror and said, “I am ambitious.” My voice faded as I said the word. I still couldn’t fully say it. Some part of me was still afraid that I was casting a spell that might instantly transform me into a hustle bro, ready to abandon my family in pursuit of shareholder value. 

So I said it again, “I am ambitious.”

And I realized: I was okay.

I’ve come to understand that one of the most ambitious things we can do, following our own true path, does not feel like we might expect ambition to feel. It does not come with pain, or contraction, or endless suffering. Instead, it feels light. It feels natural, as if everything you are meant to be doing is obvious. And all you need to do to “be ambitious” is simply to follow this feeling and stay connected to it.

Our culture will attempt to steal your inner ambition and convince you to use it to do what organizations, your parents, or your manager might want. But this is not your ambition. Your ambition desires more than a job title, a salary, or a brand-name company. It is a fire that burns inside of you—not for a bigger paycheck, but for a bigger life.

Your mission is to make sure that this flame never dies.