A Poverty of Ambition

“Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself.”

–Barack Obama, Knox College Commencement Address 2005

Even after hearing the phrase “dream big” 3,297,391 times (or more) over the course of their life, most people still don’t get it.

“Don’t rock the boat.”

“Better safe than sorry.”

“A bird in the hand beats two in the bush.”

These timeless maxims are sage advice. When taken to the extreme, however, they create a certain poverty of ambition.

Of course, something tangible that is actually working or in your “hand”, is better than a wish or pipe dream. But here’s the real question: Are those birds in the bush actually attainable?

If you had a rock-solid plan and the wherewithal to execute it, is it possible for you to get those two birds? Is it probable?

“I’m going to get a degree in engineering or accounting.” If you love either of those two great professions then by all means…go for it. But choosing a profession because it’s the proverbial bird in the hand is the epitome of a poverty of ambition.

A choice like that is why too many people wake up sick to their stomachs about going to work. They wake up with a bad case of would’ve-could’ve-should’ve syndrome.

I would’ve been a great writer…

I could’ve started my own company or non-profit organization…

I should’ve never married this guy. He’s not a bird in the hand; he’s a bird brain in the hand!

Could you have the business, the family, and the philanthropy? Yes. People do it all the time, but not enough people.

According to the 2007 Just Start™ survey conducted by Intuit, Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) 72% of Americans aspire to start their own business. That’s almost three out of four people, but how many actually do it?

There are over 300 million people living in the U.S. An estimated 23 million of them are entrepreneurs. That’s around 7%. So, less than one in ten people actually have enough ambition to make it happen. And that’s after years of record breaking entrepreneurial growth.

Whether it’s starting a business (for profit or non-profit), looking for a promotion, or making a living doing something that you REALLY love to do, there seems to be a paucity of calculated risk-takers.

So, what’s fueling this poverty of ambition? This lack of go-getters boils down to complacency and fear of the unknown.

“Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.”

–W. Clement Stone

COMPLACENCY

Complacency is the ugly side of success. It’s a momentum killer and a dream slayer.

“Why can’t you just be satisfied with what you already have?”

“That’s good enough.”

Garbage.

I’ve got two words for you to live by:

Get better.

Everyday you want to work on getting better—better health, better relationships, better finances, better marketing, being a better servant to a worthwhile cause, and the list goes on.

(I guess the 1.6 billion dollars people spend on cosmetic surgery per year is proof that there’s no poverty of ambition when it comes to being better looking!)

Greatness and complacency cannot exist in the same mind.

Think about that. What if Mother Teresa or Gandhi had a poverty of ambition?

What if Cesar Estrada Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Harriet Tubman, or Frederick Douglass had a poverty of ambition?

Scary thought, isn’t it. A poverty of ambition can change the world in ways I don’t even want to imagine. To be complacent is to stop striving and to stop striving is to waste to your most precious gift—life.

“I have learned over the years that once one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”

–Rosa Parks

FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN

I was stunned.

I looked at the students in disbelief and thought to myself, “They must not know what a CEO is.”

“How many of you all know what the CEO of a company does?”

A lot of them raised their hands and someone yelled, “A CEO is the boss.”

“They are the leaders”, another student added.

My next question was: “Do you all know that sometimes the CEO is also the person who owns—maybe even started—the company?”

There was a wave of nodding heads as a chorus of yeses filled the air.

“Do you all understand that the CEO makes the most money?”

More head nodding and more yeses.

By then I was flabbergasted. These were some of the best students I know—students of the historic Butler Street YMCA’s Multicultural Achievers Program of which I’m am the Steering Committee Chair and the Life Skills Coach.

The students were in the middle of a project that involved creating a company. As a part of the project, they were applying and interviewing for positions in the company. Out of a few dozen high school students not one of them had applied to be the CEO.

When I started to investigate why no one wanted to be CEO I got all kinds of answers.

They didn’t know what to expect. (Fear of the unknown.) They didn’t know if it would be too much work for them to handle or if it would be too much responsibility. (Fear of success.)

If anything went wrong they would be the first ones blamed and the first ones fired. (Fear of failure.) They were worried about what might happen. (Fear of success or failure: the unknown.)

They were afraid of the unknown and it was killing their ambition.

Why?

For many people fear of the unknown is a debilitating phenomenon that fuels a poverty of ambition. Here are five questions, however, to help you deal with fear of the unknown:

1. What could happen as a result of doing (whatever the action or decision maybe)?
2. What probably won’t happen as a result of doing ______?
3. What could happen as a result of not doing _______?
4. What probably won’t happen as a result of not doing _______?
5. How will I deal with each of the four answers from those questions?

If you don’t know the answers to those questions then do some more research, get some more guidance or advice, and make the best educated answer you can.

(The students couldn’t answer those questions at first, so the Program Director and I asked the CEO of the Butler Street YMCA to come in and talk to them.)

It’s that simple and, at times, that hard. But the unknown and your fear will be minimized—not necessarily gone, but minimized by answering these questions.

Let’s get back to those birds in the bush…

Here’s the interesting thing. None of this means that you have to necessarily let go of the bird in your hand.

While you are looking at the two birds in the bush and squeezing that bird in your hand to death, here’s a something to ask yourself.

The Million Dollar Question: Who ever said you couldn’t have all three?

And no…that’s not being greedy. That’s called abundance.

Stop asking too little of yourself.

Lose the poverty of ambition.

Get the know-how, a good plan, and put them to use because you deserve a life of abundance, don’t you? A life overflowing with achievement and fulfillment is waiting for you if you will simply…

Get better.

Al "The Inspiration" Duncan is America's Leading Youth Empowerment Advocate, a world-class professional speaker, college speaker, and youth speaker. Visit him at www.alduncan.net

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Top Ten Quotes: Maya Angelou

(In honor of Women’s History Month)

A legendary poet, one of the great voices of contemporary literature, civil rights activist, author of twelve best-selling books including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, actress, playwright, producer, director, historian, educator, outstanding orator, and Grammy Award winner, Dr. Maya Angelou is the quintessential Renaissance woman.

The recipient of more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees, Dr. Angelou has captivated and inspired millions of people across the globe. There is no doubt that world could never get enough of Dr. Maya Angelou.

Here are my favorite quotes by this extraordinary woman.

10. A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

9. I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.

8. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

7. You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don't make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you.

6. If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don't be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning 'Good morning' at total strangers.

5. There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.

4. Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.

3. Nothing will work unless you do.

2. If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.

1. You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Honorable mention:

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.

One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.

Achievement brings its own anticlimax.

Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.

Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently.

I believe the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity, is daring to dare.

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it destination full of hope.

Al "The Inspiration" Duncan is America's Leading Youth Empowerment Advocate, a world-class professional speaker, college speaker, and youth speaker. Visit him at www.alduncan.net

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Women's History Month: March 2007

Urban Bush Women and Compagnie Jant-Bi Dance!

Urban Bush Women and Compagnie Jant-Bi (Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, artistic director of Urban Bush Women; Germaine Acogny, artistic director of Compagnie Jant-Bi) will be performing at Power Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 28 and 29, 2008, sponsored by University Musical Society.

This unique project is setting the performance world abuzz for bringing together two African and African-American dance companies — one all-male and one all-female — and two powerhouse female choreographers. Germaine Acogny, hailed as the "mother of contemporary African dance," explores the role of identity within a community in this transcontinental collaboration with Brooklyn-based choreographer and Urban Bush Women founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. Urban Bush Women weaves the cultural and spiritual traditions of African Americans and the African Diaspora into life-affirming works that explore the transformation of struggle and suffering. This new work, which receives its premiere in January, 2008, is rich with West African movements, rhythms, and styles.

"The Urban Bush Women are unabashedly unapologetic about what they are: fierce, feminine, militant, agressive, sassy, funny and proud."
(The Herald Sun, Durham)

"Compagnie Jant-Bi dances with a mind-blowing intensity."
(The New York Times)

For more information and tickets, check out University Musical Society.