NEVER LIMIT YOUR AMBITIONS

Find your WHY! What is your WHY? All starts with WHY! It is all over LinkedIn feeds by users.

Start with WHY by Simon Sinek is a best-seller for a good reason. It is a must – It is the core of WHY you do something – It is your purpose.

What happens once you have found your WHY? My mindset from there is: Go for it!

A LinkedIn user recently shared in a post the importance of finding your WHY. I have commented the following: “Once you have found your WHY, you can see the treasure chest to the other side of the rainbow. Go get it and face positively all obstacles on your way”. For many who have played Mario Kart, sometimes you drive into things or it is other people throwing obstacles at you to slow you down.

From volume 1 of The Pineapple Theory book: “Never limit your ambitions”. This quote took birth in my mind for the following reason:

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You find your WHY – It triggers your ambitions – If you really believe in your WHY – you will hustle thru all obstacles on your path – Some of those obstacles may require you to push yourself and trigger even bigger ambitions – Never limit them – Got for it!

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I manage Loss Prevention & Safety for 20 years in corporate companies. What I see today being opportunities for many companies is because of what I have experience and learn into these same opportunities. I have a passion for what I do - and because I care for a company’s success - ideas and innovations comes in my mind to support a continuous improvement. It is taking care of someone’s else company like if it was mine. It is a high engagement level.

Is it wrong?

Some may say yes – Some may say no. My opinion is – it is based on the company’s leadership team – Do they value Culture and Values as the company’s top asset? If yes – then yes, it is a good thing. If not, it is not a good thing and the company may likely have a “Culture Washing” approach.

I have heard for the first time the term “Culture Washing” from the group Go Pyrate!  (https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/gopyrate/) Great guys with the mission to coach people and create a list of companies considered as progressive. They do an awesome work.

Employees in a “Culture Washing” company likely experience a toxic Culture because of poor Corporate Politic behaviors and if you are a nail who stands out, you will likely be hammer down. It is the type of company who likes their people to be in line – obedient - because the Senior Leadership team have decided/agreed on a 5-10-year plan – money is invested/founded – programs are already build or ongoing. It becomes hard for anyone below them to influence changes that are for the best. Challenging the status-quo may likely trigger negative emotions in them and they will identify it as “disruptive.” It does sound rough, but it is a reality that many storytellers are holding back. They have a lot to share about their experience.

“You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.” – Bob Marley

Let me use an easy example from the movie Captain Marvel by Marvel’s Studios:

The main character – Carol Danvers alias Captain Marvel – possess a powerful strength being mentally suppress by a “Culture Washing” organization. In the path of discovering herself, she finds her WHY – meaning her purpose – and she unleashes the full potential of her ambitions to help others against what is wrong.

April 1st, 2020 – I was announced a furlough status because of COVID-19. It was heart braking because I really enjoyed the field I was supporting. Even than – I felt since too long something was missing. I felt since too long I could do more – I felt since too long I could accomplish bigger things. A morning of September while jogging on a treadmill at the gym – it hit me: I want to provide everyone, a quick – easy - and efficient tool to help any leader improve more positive interactions in the workplace and help them value a company’s Culture and Core Values as the most important asset. It was my WHY … mix with a few drops of sweat on my forehead!

My WHY scope was more than everyone – it was also intended for Companies.

English is secondary for me – I’m not an author – What if I make spelling mistakes? - What will people say? – How much would it cost? – It will be hard – It is not my comfort zone – and more. All mental obstacles on the rainbow to reach the treasure. Obstacles that I only was mentally putting in my own path!  I knew my WHY and it was hand-by-hand with ambitions as serious as a heart attack.

Two months later – I had written both volumes of The Pineapple Theory and self-published them. And yes, they are not perfect because of some spelling mistakes but, it makes them authentic – like this article. My books are now available worldwide on Amazon. Later in December/January, a third book was written and pending to be release for January 2021.

What I thought was the treasure was not the big treasure. It was a milestone. Bigger ambitions were triggered. After all, I am a little fish in a big ocean. It requires a lot of creativity and self-marketing on social media to reach it – meaning more obstacles. COVID-19 is another large obstacle, limiting my books visibility because Expos are canceled. But again, I have my WHY and it is hand-by-hand with big ambitions. I have said this many times: “There's always a solution.”

People have recently asked me: “Steve – How did you did this? Three books in 3 months! For many years I have thought of writing a book and have not yet started. How did you do it?” My answer is limited to a few words:

Never limit your ambitions – Go for it!