Women urged to find their ‘enlightened ambition’

A Toronto-based career coach shared her tools for enlightened ambition Wednesday at an International Women’s Day event.

Sarah Vermunt was the second guest speaker at the Women’s Business Network conference at the Ashburnham Reception Centre.

Along with career coaching, Vermunt recently authored of

Careergasm, a book designed to help people who are unhappy at work but don’t know what to do next.

Tools for achieving enlightened ambition are highlighted in her book and in her work with clients.

So what is enlightened ambition?

“It is choosing goals that actually feel good and giving yourself permission to drop the goals that feel crappy, which is actually really hard for women to do because we want to do everything,” she said.

Vermunt, 37, said people often hold onto goals because of societal pressure or because it was something they once wanted.

In relation to careers, Vermunt said there are often two things holding people back from leaving a job they hate: They don’t know what they want or they’re scared to go after it.

Setting that new goal is intimidating when you’re unsure, she said.

“A lot of people feel lost and ashamed that they feel lost, because we’re supposed to know what we want... society says to follow your dreams and your passion, but what do you do if you don’t know what that is,” Vermunt said.

The fear of leaving a stable, steady-paying job is also a key factor is staying put.

“We’re all afraid that if we quit our job and pursue something else we’ll end up living in a van down by the river.”

To find out what goals really matter to you, Vermunt suggests asking yourself how the goal makes you feel, why you want to achieve it and if it aligns with what you really want.

And when you figure that out, it’s time to decide which goals to work towards and which to say goodbye to.

“Until you drop the things that feel bad, you won’t have the time and space and energy in your life to invite in the things that feel good.”

We’re all afraid that if we quit our job and pursue something else we’ll end up living in a van down by the river.” Sarah Vermunt