Nursing the System

43: When your Ambition becomes the Problem


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🎧 Episode Overview:

If you’re a high-achieving, impact-driven nurse who’s juggling ten different projects and wondering why you still feel stuck or overwhelmed, this episode is for you.


Today I’m talking about how ambition (yes, even the well-meaning kind) can quietly sabotage our impact. I’m walking you through the concept of leverage points from systems thinking and how applying this lens to your career, leadership, and daily work can help you stop spinning your wheels and start creating real change.


If you’re tired of doing all the things and ready to do the right things, let’s go.


🔑 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
  • What systems thinking can teach you about working with less effort, more impact
  • Why over-functioning is often a sign of misaligned ambition—not a lack of skill or discipline
  • How to spot high-leverage activities in your day-to-day work (and what to cut)
  • Why narrowing your focus actually builds your influence, visibility, and opportunities
  • What happens when ambition becomes a bottleneck—for you and your team


🧠 Key Ideas to Take With You:
  • You don’t need to do everything—you need to do the right things.
  • Leverage isn’t lazy. It’s strategy.
  • When people don’t know what you’re about, they can’t connect you to the right opportunities.
  • Most change doesn’t require more energy—it requires better direction.


🎧 How to Get the Most Out of This Episode:

Listen with a recent “overwhelm moment” in mind. Maybe it’s a career decision, a leadership role, or a plate that’s feeling way too full. As I talk through over-functioning, leverage points, and strategic ambition, notice what hits close to home—and what might need to shift.


🛠️ Practical Actions You Can Take:
  • Reflect: Where are you putting in more energy than the outcome is worth?
  • Identify one high-leverage activity that could replace 2–3 low-return ones.
  • Ask yourself: What do I want to be known for professionally? Is it clear to others?
  • Take the Map Your Impact mini-course to clarify your position and determine your best next move


📣 Special Announcements:

💡 Map Your Impact is a 90-minute CEU-accredited course helps you assess your social power, your workplace expertise, and your best leverage points for creating meaningful change, without burning out.


🎁 Use code MYI10OFF to save $10 at checkout.


📩 Got questions or feedback? I’d love to hear from you. If something’s holding you back from joining MYI—or you want help thinking through your strategy—DM me anytime.


📲 Call to Action:
  • Enroll in Map Your Impact (just $27 with the code)
  • DM me @nursing.the.system to share where you’re over-functioning or stuck
  • Share this episode with a nurse leader who’s overwhelmed and needs strategy
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Nursing the SystemBy Claire Phillips, DNP RN