Ambition is fine. Just make sure the dream is yours and not something you inherited without reading the fine print.

Plenty of ambitions arrive already installed, out of a family’s expectations, a town’s idea of success, a coach who saw something at twelve. Some of them turn out to fit perfectly well. The problem is never having checked, which can mean years of effort towards something you would not have picked and cannot easily put down because other people are attached to it.

Ask who first wanted this for you, and whether you would still want it if that person never mentioned it again. If the answer holds, carry on with more conviction. If it does not, saying so now is easier than saying it later.