Ian M Rountree

Copywriter, Project Manager, Digital Marketing

  • Copywriting
    • Content Marketing
    • SEO
  • About
  • Contact

Aspiration and Being In Love With Something

July 8, 2010 by Ian Leave a Comment

If you’re aspiring to something – you aren’t that something yet, are you?

Aspiration isn’t a bad thing on its own. We all have things we want to do with our lives. However, I’m finding I have a problem with anyone declaring they are an aspiring anything. “Aspiring marketer” or “aspiring author” – you’re basically claiming an adjunct to something that you aren’t. I could say I’m an aspiring fighter pilot, never do anything about it, and never be forced to lose the title associating me with airplanes. It’s misleading, not just to people I tell, but to myself as well.

Aspiration is not the same as enthusiasm.

Being an enthusiast is different, and it’s worth mentioning because people so often misuse the idea of aspiration to describe their status as an enthusiast. Being a media enthusiast covers a very different set of expectations, for the claimant and for their audience, than does a claim to being an aspiring media professional. Yet, we misinterpret the use of aspiration as being simply an extension of enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm is a good thing – until it goes too far.

Fanatics and stalkers aren’t limited to sports teams and people. Stalking an aspiration happens more often than I think we’d like to admit; our ambitions usually push us to action, but in some cases, can become the cart before the horse, causing us to be led by our perceived calling.

Being In Love with a concept, position or personal trajectory, without recognizing the phenomenon, can be dangerous.

It’s off-putting. You’ve seen this happen – some of us have had it happen to ourselves, even. The pattern is always the same; someone begins to insinuate themselves in a situation, and eventually instigates some form of change. The aim, naturally, is to fix the problem, or arrive Just In Time to be the hero, and end up as a de facto thought leader.

Have you done this? I’ve done this. But I’ve stopped. You should too.

Being In Love with an idea – a process, a position, a job – is not a bad thing on its face, but to a certain extent, it’s limiting. This level of enthusiasm can be off-putting in some cases, or at least can serve to distract you from the real goal of producing meaningful work.

An aspiring novelist In Love with writing will never think anything’s good enough to ship out the door and call finished. An aspiring life coach who buys so thoroughly into their own message of personal worth that they can’t stand to be slighted in any way will never land prominent speaking gigs.

To a certain degree, falling out of love with your aspirations, and continuing to strive for them, is one of the major signs of real maturation and personal progress.

Love is good. Blinded love, not so much.

Image by Lawraa.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: development, growth, personal development

Categories

  • Announcements
    • Event Notices
  • Blog
  • Communication
  • Content Strategy
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Personal
  • Reviews
  • Social Media
  • Technology

Archive

  • January 2016
  • June 2015
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • July 2008
  • February 2004
  • Copywriting
  • Blog
  • Reading Lists
  • Colophon

© Copyright 2023 Ian M Rountree · All Rights Reserved