The Ambition Trap: How to Stop Chasing and Start Living
Amina AlTai
May 2025 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Amina AlTai and Maria Shriver
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6 hr 38 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
The anti-hustle guide to getting what you really want
AN OPEN FIELD PUBLICATION FROM MARIA SHRIVER
Most of us think ambition means doing everything in our power to get what we want. But this approach costs us our health and wellbeing, and ultimately upholds oppressive systems. In The Ambition Trap, leadership coach Amina AlTai shows you how to break the cycle of overwork once and for all—and finally create the greatest, most joy-filled work of your life.
The thing is, what most of us really want isn’t money or accolades, but acceptance, security, and belonging. When we use external metrics to fulfill these internal wounds and desires nothing ends up being enough, so we work harder and longer in a never-ending cycle—and therein lies the ambition trap. It turns out, we get to have more of what we want when we anchor our ambition to our purpose and not our pain.
Drawing on her work with Fortune 500 leaders, Olympic gold medalists, start-up founders, and former “girlbosses,” AlTai guides you through the process of reconciling your ambition, starting with healing the core wounds and insecurities currently driving you. Along the way, she introduces actionable strategies for aligning your work with your deepest “why,” leaning into your most natural gifts, nourishing yourself in the long-term pursuit of your goals, setting a sustainable pace, and allowing contentment to guide the way.
It turns out, ambition isn’t a dirty word but an invitation to design your life with even greater purpose, meaning, and joy.
* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of charts and graphs from the book.
AN OPEN FIELD PUBLICATION FROM MARIA SHRIVER
Most of us think ambition means doing everything in our power to get what we want. But this approach costs us our health and wellbeing, and ultimately upholds oppressive systems. In The Ambition Trap, leadership coach Amina AlTai shows you how to break the cycle of overwork once and for all—and finally create the greatest, most joy-filled work of your life.
The thing is, what most of us really want isn’t money or accolades, but acceptance, security, and belonging. When we use external metrics to fulfill these internal wounds and desires nothing ends up being enough, so we work harder and longer in a never-ending cycle—and therein lies the ambition trap. It turns out, we get to have more of what we want when we anchor our ambition to our purpose and not our pain.
Drawing on her work with Fortune 500 leaders, Olympic gold medalists, start-up founders, and former “girlbosses,” AlTai guides you through the process of reconciling your ambition, starting with healing the core wounds and insecurities currently driving you. Along the way, she introduces actionable strategies for aligning your work with your deepest “why,” leaning into your most natural gifts, nourishing yourself in the long-term pursuit of your goals, setting a sustainable pace, and allowing contentment to guide the way.
It turns out, ambition isn’t a dirty word but an invitation to design your life with even greater purpose, meaning, and joy.
* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of charts and graphs from the book.
About the author
Amina AlTai is an executive coach, leadership trainer, and chronic illness advocate. She has partnered with companies such as Google, Snap, Outdoor Voices, Chief, and Roku, and been featured in goop, Forbes, Well+Good, NBC, CBS, The New York Times, and more. She's an Entrepreneur Magazine expert-in-residence, a Forbes contributor, and was named one of Success Magazine’s Women of Influence.
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