THE FIT FOR PURPOSE WEEKLY
Thursday 27th August, 2026
Growing up should give ambition structure—not silence it.
Most adults do not lose their ambitions because they become incapable. They learn to dismiss them before giving them proper consideration.
This week’s edition is about using the experience and judgement you have gained as an adult to organise your ambitions rather than deny them.
By the end, you will have a practical way to distinguish between something being impossible, badly timed, or simply in need of a better plan.
THE BIG IDEA
A common mistake is judging whether a goal is possible by comparing its endpoint with our ability today.
If you are untrained, a marathon looks impossible. But that is like saying you should not go to university unless you already have a degree.
Your ability should be measured against the process, not the payoff. You only need to be ready for the first step.
That does not mean every ambition belongs in your life now. Your time, effort, energy and attention are finite. Sometimes the honest answer is not yet.
But “not now” is a decision about timing and priority—not proof that you are incapable.
Let imagination define what you want. Let experience test your circumstances. Then use your adult wisdom to sequence your priorities and build a plan that can coexist with your real life.
Growing up should make your ambitions better organised—not smaller.
TRY THIS THIS WEEK
Choose one ambition you have dismissed as unrealistic and answer:
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What would achieving it give me?
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What is the first meaningful step?
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Am I objectively incapable of that step, or am I judging the beginning against the finish?
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If it does not fit now, what would need to change, finish or become less important before it could?
You are not forcing the answer to be yes.
You are replacing an automatic no with an honest answer.
WORTH YOUR TIME
GROWING UP SHOULDN’T MEAN GIVING UP
In my latest essay, I consider why imagination and ambition seem to fade as experience grows—and whether becoming more “realistic” is always as wise as it sounds.
It is an argument for allowing yourself to want something ambitious, then using what adulthood has taught you to decide when it belongs and how to make it real.
PROOF IN PRACTICE
Linda had spent years building businesses and working seven days a week. By the time we began, she could not run from one lamppost to the next.
We started with one manageable attempt. As Linda said, “Charlie somehow inspired me to give it a try and so began the couch to 5k.” She went on to complete parkruns and a 10-mile run.
GIVE YOUR AMBITION A PLAN
Running With Purpose is personalised 12-week coaching for people with an ambition that needs a realistic route forward.
We start with what you want running to make possible, then assess your current fitness, experience, time, recovery and competing priorities.
I build the programme around your real life and help you adapt it as circumstances change—without abandoning the goal.
SEE HOW RUNNING WITH PURPOSE WORKS
A FINAL QUESTION
What ambition have you been dismissing because you are not ready for the finished version of it?