AMBITION GUIDEBOOK Fearlessly pursue your dreams.
WHY I I am thrilled that you have decided to start your journey to #EmbraceAmbition. Empowering women (and men) to fearlessly pursue their dreams is a passion of mine, rooted in my own personal experience. In my first interview with The New York Times in 2004, when the reporter mentioned the word ambitious, I commented that the word annoyed me. A friend of mine said, You should never shy away from that word. She was right. I realized that I had bought into the stigma that women shouldn t be ambitious that it was unattractive somehow. Now more than ever it is important that we proudly articulate our ambitions, dream big and help other women to #EmbraceAmbition. The Ambition Guide will allow you to discover what it is you are truly passionate about, overcome the doubts in your head, set goals, build a community of support and most importantly, #EmbraceAmbition. All my best to you, as you embark on the path to pursuing your dreams. xx
AMBITION GUIDE STEP 1: DREAM Begin your journey to #EmbraceAmbition by taking the time to dream big! This exercise will require you to think about your life, what makes you fulfilled and what you would do if nothing was holding you back. STEP 2: DEFINE Complimenting ourselves can sometimes be difficult. This exercise will help you practice self-love, self-awareness and allow you to discover with what goals and dreams are truly important to you. STEP 3: DO Remove the roadblocks! In this exercise, you will create a plan to make your goals attainable and actionable. Plus, we suggest that you surround yourself with incredible people to hold you accountable. When we support each other, we can achieve great things. 3
STEP 1: DREAM THINK BIG Do you ever feel uncertain about what you want or what's next? Often we don t take the time to think about our goals. Close your eyes and picture all of the big dreams you have. If you had nothing holding you back, what would you do? Get rid of the voices in your head or people telling you no. Think of negativity as noise. Draw or write your dreams here. 4
STEP 2: DEFINE EMBRACE CONFIDENCE Not believing in ourselves can sometimes be our biggest roadblock. Take the time to think about all the things that make you special! Love you, first: 10 things you love about yourself. 4. 5. 6. Think about what activities that energize you and when you are your 4. 5. I m happiest when. To me, success means 7. 8. 9. 10. 5
My personal mantra is Signature Skills: What are your three signature skills? These are the skills that define your character, you ve mastered, are uniquely yours and make you - you! Stumped on what your skills are? On the next page, you will find a list of signature skills that may help get the wheels turning. YES Are you using these skills every day? NO Great you re on the right track! How could you better use your talents on a daily basis? 6
SIGNATURE SKILLS Adaptable Analytical Artistic Athletic Collaborative Communicative Conflict resolution Creative Critical thinking Dedicated Delegator Dependable Digital marketing Digital media Editing Efficiency Energetic Enthusiastic Entrepreneurial Flexible Focused Friendly Funny Humorous Independent Influential Innovative Interpersonal Leadership Listening Logical Loyal Management Marketing Motivational Mentoring Multitasking Negotiation Nurturing Open-mindedness Optimistic Organized Outgoing Persistent Persuasive Positivity Problem solving Public speaking Researching Resourceful Sales Scrappy Social Social media Solution oriented Strategic planning Story-telling Teamwork Technology Time Management Writing 7
THE BIG 3: DEFINING YOUR GOALS: During the previous exercises did any themes develop? Identify three goals that keep coming to the top of your mind. In no particular order, write them below. 8
Fearlessly pursue your dreams, embrace your ambitions TORY BURCH
STEP 3: DO THE BIG THREE Look at the goals you outlined in Step Is one goal more important than the other? Are all of your goals of equal importance to you? Use one of the two templates below to write down your goals. In order of priority: Equally important: Remove the Roadblocks What are the things in your life that hold you back from achieving the big three? What changes can you make to achieve your goals? 10
ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS Goals are best achieved when they are measureable and associated with clearly defined time frames. Write your Big Three below and brainstorm what actions you will take to accomplish these goals starting now, and over the next 5 years. Perhaps you would like to take a class, grow your network or talk to an expert leader. GOAL THIS WEEK THIS MONTH 6 MONTHS 1 YEAR 3 YEARS 5 YEARS 11
No one ever changes the world who isn't obsessed. BILLIE JEAN KING
SURROUND YOURSELF WITH INCREDIBLE PEOPLE Identify 3 people in your life to help hold you accountable to your goals and ambitions. Select a diverse group of people, from all areas of your life (E.g. coworkers, family, friends or a mentor). Share your goals and ambitions with them. PERSON PERSON PERSON 13
TRACK YOUR PROGRESS 1 WEEK Use the charts below to record and reflect on the progress you re making to achieve your goals. Check in with the people you identified to help hold you accountable and support you. GOAL Evaluate Your Progress How are you doing on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being exceptional? Celebrate Accomplishments List all the good things that happened. Reflect What s working? What s not? Next Steps What can you do differently for your 1-month check-in? 14
1 MONTH GOAL Evaluate Your Progress How are you doing on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being exceptional? Celebrate Accomplishments List all the good things that happened. Reflect What s working? What s not? Next Steps What can you do differently for your 6-month check-in? 15
6 MONTH GOAL Evaluate Your Progress How are you doing on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being exceptional? Celebrate Accomplishments List all the good things that happened. Reflect What s working? What s not? Next Steps What can you do differently for your 1 year check-in? 16
1 YEAR GOAL Evaluate Your Progress How are you doing on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being exceptional? Celebrate Accomplishments List t your wins over the period. Reflect What are your key takeaways? Next Steps What can you do differently going forward? 17
3 YEARS GOAL Evaluate Your Progress How are you doing on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being exceptional? Celebrate Accomplishments List t your wins over the period. Reflect What are your key takeaways? Next Steps What can you do differently going forward? 18
I never dreamed of success. I worked for it. ESTÉE LAUDER
5 YEARS GOAL Evaluate Your Progress How are you doing on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being exceptional? Celebrate Accomplishments List t your wins over the period. Reflect What are your key takeaways? Next Steps What can you do differently going forward? 20
Explore more resources to help you own your ambitions. ToryBurchFoundation.org