Ambition: Why It's Good to Want More and How to Get It

5 Use the skills you already have

“Promise me you’ll remember: you’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

Christopher Robin to Winnie-the-Pooh, AA Milne

A few years ago the lady who ran a small annual music festival in the local church at Shoreham in Kent decided it was time to hand over the running to someone else. She asked Sarah Newman if she would take it on. Sarah, who used to work for a law firm and has two young children, had never run a festival before and was initially daunted by the idea. But she discovered she had more skills and experience than she thought.

She says: “It was scary because I hadn’t done it before. But I used to be chair of the Parent Teacher Association at my children’s ...