Finding your Balance in Friendship and Ambition: Three Signs that Your Ambition is in the way.
In today's fast-paced world, where the pursuit of success often overshadows personal relationships, it's worth asking: Can you be too ambitious for friendships? With many people claiming they only have room for low-maintenance friendships due to their busy lives, are we sacrificing the benefits of deep connections for the sake of ambitious goals?
In the latest episode of our podcast, Ambition Over Friendship, host Shivawn explores this question with guests Melissa and Dominicka. They delve into whether our relentless drive for success is causing us to neglect our friendships and communities.
Melissa, a seasoned makeup artist from Hampton Roads, has been an entrepreneur for a decade. Her work has graced the faces of top women featured on platforms like Good Morning America and Women Evolve. Her business, Kabod Artistry, focuses on timeless beauty for the everyday woman. Dominica, a self-published author of Purposefully Single, a devotional for single women, also shares her passion for travel and photography.
During this episode we covered Ambition and self-celebration, [00:21:37] false comparisons on social media, [00:32:17] selfish ambition and loneliness, [00:36:18] struggle with societal expectations. I found that we lingered on the discussion about [00:25:19] friendship. Priorities and where did things fall in our list of hierarchy.
Three Signs Your Ambition Might Be Affecting Your Friendships:
1. Your Relationships Are Transactional:
It’s common to hear that "your circle is your net worth," but if you find yourself viewing friendships as mere steppingstones for success, it’s time to reassess. True friendships should be based on mutual respect and care, not just on what someone can do for you.
2. You Have No Rest in Your Drive:
While striving for financial freedom and personal success is admirable, a constant drive without rest can be detrimental. Balancing ambition with intentional time for loved ones is crucial for maintaining meaningful relationships.
3. You Don’t Leave Room to Be Inconvenienced:
Friendships aren’t always convenient or neatly scheduled. Sometimes, friends need to connect outside of normal hours or during unexpected moments. Being a true friend means showing up, even when it’s not convenient.
Our discussion highlighted how loneliness has become a significant public health issue. Over the past 30 years, the number of people reporting no friends has quadrupled, from 3% in 1990 to 12% in 2020. Today, nearly one in three people in the U.S. experience regular loneliness, with 61% of younger people and 51% of mothers with young children reporting chronic loneliness.
Join the Conversation:
Share this episode with friends or new acquaintances and explore these questions to spark meaningful discussions:
1. What’s on your priority list (friendship, career, spouse, God, etc.)?
2. Have you ever felt overly ambitious, and how did you course-correct?
3. Have you experienced loneliness, and how did you manage or engage with others?
4. Have you realized you were in a transactional friendship, and did you address it?
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