Dear, guys – welcome back to Letters from Liz!
How was everyone’s first full week of March? Has it left you being excited for what’s to come, or have you already hit a bump on the road? Whatever your position is currently, I hope that this time next week, it’s even better!
Within the last couple of weeks, I’ve been really trying to teach myself what it really means to have the ambition or to feel ambitious. Of course, for everyone the meaning is different, but one common thing (I believe) people associate ambition with is being able to have a constant drive to success or towards something that they want.
And this day in age, I feel like many of us are afraid to act on our ambition.
Lemme explain…
We live in such a world where it’s quite easy to get ourselves heard; whether it’s us shouting our thoughts and opinions on social issues and basic human rights, sharing memes to help us express how we may be feeling, and we can get people to interact with our passion projects ar more quickly thanks to the internet and advanced technology. As much as social media and the internet could eat your social abilities away, it’s still a great place to share parts of yourself and your more professional/creative outlets in life.
With that being said, it’s also getting harder to stand out from the crowd of thousands who are also trying to stand out as well. Some get lucky, and some are yelling until their voice gives out. It could be very discouraging, especially when you want your passion project into more than just a “project”, but a career.
As a side note: I decided to change the blog name from TNTH to “Letters From Liz” because even when I didn’t think too highly of the blog at the beginning of its course, I noticed just how confused people looked when trying to pronounce the name of the blog. Although it was just “tenth without the E”, people were still not focused on the blog as much because they just couldn’t remember the name. Although changing the name of the blog two years after its launch isn’t the greatest idea, I believe that changing it would help me reach out to more people and make it more than just “a hobby.” Why not make it my side-hustle? Why not take the blog into the next level: selling merch, making business cards, collaborating with other writers and hold events to share our platform, and so much more. That’s the type of ambition I feel when I think about being successful and doing what I love best.
So, what’s holding me back? The fact that I’m too afraid to act on that ambition.
It’s the possibility of failing. It’s the “what if’s” that hold me back. It’s the thought that maybe this isn’t a realistic thing to invest in. It’s also just the thought of maybe this isn’t going to work the way I’d wanted it to work. I feel like that’s an issue many of us in life face; we’re just too afraid of putting all our eggs in one basket that we don’t put any of them in it at all. We just decide to live comfortably and keep doing the things that we are already doing, whether that be working a 9-5, going to school full-time, or just being functioning adults in this world. It takes a lot of courage to finally act on your ambitions because ambitions could lead to one of two possibilities: you score, or you shoot too high.
Even knowing that it shouldn’t stop you for going after what you want to do.
Write that book, produce that short film, make a YouTube channel, create a blog, sell your homemade jewelry/crafts; do what makes you fucking happy and always have that drive for taking it to the next level. Don’t just be comfortable and content where you’re at when you know you’ve only hit the tip of the iceberg in your potential.
So, I encourage all of you who are still conflicted whether or not to take that next step in your life in your passion projects. They’re your passion projects for a reason, now go on and put some passion into it!
Letters From Liz. 