Blogging A to Z 2022 - Affirmations & Ambition

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge (2022) gets underway today. It's been a few years since I participated, so I am excited to join in this year. As a reminder, I will be discussing topics of interest to those who identify as women. The Book Connection is lucky number 78 in a list of more than 140 bloggers who are participating in 2022. I encourage you to check out the list and visit other blogs with topics of interest.

AFFIRMATIONS

The origins of affirmations dates as far back as 1500/1000 B.C., the early 20th century, or the 1980s depending on which source you use. My personal experience with affirmations began in the late 80s/early 90s when I read my first book by Og Mandino, The Greatest Miracle in the World. This book contains "The God Memorandum," which shared the four laws of happiness and success. "The God Memorandum" became so popular, it was published as a separate guide published as early as 1990.

This memorandum, a message to the reader from God, is said to offer "comfort and encouragement to anyone with faltering self-esteem or a lack of motivation." If I recall correctly, the reader was supposed to recite this memorandum once a day for 30 days. 

Do you believe in daily affirmations? What are some of your favorite affirmations?

AMBITION

Ambition is a word that seems to come with a fair amount of negativity for women. Real estate is the first industry I've been part of where women are the majority (currently 67%), which has allowed me to feel more comfortable in celebrating my success.

In this article from 2019, Forbes contributor Caroline Castrillon discussed numerous studies that indicate, culturally, ambition in men is viewed as a positive trait, but is criticized in women. Castrillion also cited a 2017 Pew Center Research survey of adults in the United States that ranked top traits or characteristics of men and women. 

Top three traits for men: honesty/morality, professional/financial success, ambition/leadership

Top three traits for women: physical attractiveness, empathy/nurturing/kindness, intelligence

So, we want men to be honest, financially successful, and ambitious, but those surveyed aren't as concerned about their intelligence (ranked 9 out of 11). However, women are supposed to be attractive (because somehow that means I'm a successful and good person), empathetic, and intelligent, but those surveyed don't see a woman's financial and professional success (ranked 7 out of 13) as important. FYI, single females are 5% more likely to own a home than single men. Oh, and as a former single parent, I can tell you my professional and financial success has always been top of mind.

Susannah Baldwin, author of Women, Language, and Power: Giving Voice to Our Ambition, wrote in this January 2022 article, "The good news is that we can challenge the false belief that to be ambitious is to be unfeminine. And we can learn how to grow comfortable, even confident, in acting on our ambitions and realizing our goals." 

Reciting daily affirmations and changing the way we talk about ambitious women helps us to achieve our goals and gives women everywhere the freedom to succeed on their own terms.