Do you feel like everyone except you is moving forward, experiencing life, and it looks like they have figured out what to do with their life? You, on the other hand, nothing really excites you anymore, you had big plans for the future, but somehow you are just delaying and waiting for ambition to kick in.

Feeling like you don’t have any ambition is normal, it happens to everyone. Even the most successful people today had a period of failure and stagnation. They overcome that, and so can everyone else.

What are the signs of “I have no ambition for anything”

I feel lazy aka I will start doing it tomorrow.

Does this sound familiar, you get excited about mastering a new skill, language, or new project. The first day working you are full of motivation, you don’t mind the mindless work. After a few days, you have to force yourself to even start working at it again. So after a few months, you feel bad and start again with the same result.

If you wait for the motivation to come, you will wait for a long time. When was the last time you felt motivated to start doing new stuff, and then suddenly the next day it was gone?

Instead of waiting for tomorrow, just do it today, even if it’s for 5 minutes. The book you wanted to read, just read for 5 minutes. For the run you wanted to skip today, just go out for 5 minutes. What you do everyday matters, even for 5 minutes.

What do you think happens after a while, when we do a repetitive task over and over again? We get used to it, and soon it becomes a part of our identity. And something that we identify with we try to become better at it. And we get more motivated and ambitious with it. And all it takes to start is just 5 minutes a day.

Fixed mindset aka Stuck in the past

Being stuck in the past or the good old days makes our present and future life full of fear and stagnation. If we don’t change anything, the next 5-10 years of our life will be the same as the last 5-10 years.

Just a new hobby or a weekly activity can open our eyes to new possibilities and make our minds open to new ideas. Variety is the spice of life, if we don’t experience new ideas and make our brains work in a creative thing we become dead inside.

Imagine watching the same movie over and over again. It is boring and we can predict the actions and are not surprised anymore. Similar to life your brain just goes on autopilot and suddenly you wake up in your later years, regretting playing it safe.

Don’t be afraid to try new things and experience life, one day we all grow old and the only thing we will have are our stories. Try to make your interesting.

Negative self-talk or how to live miserably

You are your own best cheerleader, and if all you hear is “I can’t”, “I won’t”, “I am too old/young”, “I am not ready yet”, how can you possibly then achieve anything if you are defeated before you start.

Fear of failure and rejection keeps us safe, but most of the time it leads to staying still. And staying still leads to nothing and of course everything remains unchanged. Our fear kept us alive in the time when we lived in caves, but now it is the only thing that is in our way of living our best life.

True not all fears are bad, but before you back off again because you are afraid, rationalize it first. What is the worst thing that can happen? Is it worth it? Try to look at it from a positive standpoint.

Expect good things, and be grateful for what you have. If you fail, you can try it again until it works out. Good things are not easy to achieve, prepare to work and cheer yourself along the way.

What are the Causes of Lack of ambition?

Social media or how do I compare to others

Social media gives us a window into people’s lives, but on the other hand, it also gives us an inferiority complex. Comparing our lives to a celebrity or even to a successful friend leaves us depressed and drained of motivation to do anything.

It is all an illusion, what people post is just the highlight of their days, and it’s not always sincere. Some of these people are spending their whole day just to post the perfect picture, just to sell you how successful they are. But realizing this is nothing more than an ad for your attention.

Disconnect yourself from these kinds of people, and unfollow what makes you feel bad. Live your own life, we are all living in different environments, with different struggles. You cannot compare your life to someone else’s if they were raised in a completely different way. We all can get to the finish line but for some, the story of how we got there can be much more interesting

Spreading to thin

Having a lot of projects makes you busy, but not productive, and you will feel stressed and not motivated enough to continue. A jack of all trades is a master of none, so prioritize your most important task, and delegate or let go of others.

Not committed

This is similar to the last one, you are motivated to start a new project and after a while, you lose all motivation and see it as a chore. We need the motivation to start and the discipline to continue when we don’t feel like doing it. But the funny part is, when we become efficient at the task, we become more motivated to continue. So persevere, sooner or later you will start to enjoy the task you wish to master. Time will pass anyway, might as well do something you will reap the benefits in the long term.

Not specific

Be specific about what you want, wanting to have your own business and also relax on the beach is not going to work. Having to want too much stuff that is in conflict with each other will cause you to stress, choose what you really want, and be prepared to sacrifice other things.

What to do if I have ambition, but no drive

Having ambition but no drive to start is normal for a lot of people. We all fantasize to be more successful. It’s easy to daydream and desire a better life, but starting to set goals and work for it is hard. Identify your goals, implement subgoals, create a plan and work through it. Facing failures is hard so instead, we postpone it, we expect one day to be ready and achieve everything we want immediately without any discomfort.

Check your ambitions if it is really what you want and be serious to achieve them. There never will be a day when everything will just align and you will have the will and desire to start. Start small, if you have to, but just start.

Summary

In short, ambition is the desire to create something great, but not anyone has it. If you don’t feel the desire to become something great, don’t worry you are completely normal. There are many people with different ambitions some are big and others are small. Don’t compare yourself with others and just focus on living your best life.