Each year, International Men's Day comes around to remind you to celebrate the contribution, hopes and challenges that being a man brings in your life. But beyond the themes prescribed for this day, such as health, roles, responsibilities and the like, a further concept presents itself and one which invites you to rethink your long held ideas about ambition. Since time immemorial, ambition has been defined externally by known quantities: promotions, salary scales, material milestones, the additional need for more, ever more etc! Today, there is however, a growing number of men who are realizing that ambition, as such, without alignment is just a race without direction. The life of man today is beset between pressure and potential.
Society lauds the hustler, the provider, the achiever but does not take into consideration the emotional travails behind the applause. The burnout, the loneliness, the invisibility-identity stress, the tortured mental health which is in so many instances unseen behind the facade of being “strong”. International Men's Day 2025 brings with it however, a shift, an invitation to rethink what ambition might mean when in alignment with the self, well-being, purpose and authenticity. The Burden of Traditional Success. For many decades, men were taught that there was only one definition of success i.e. be the best, earn the most, climb the fastest. While this may be an effective formula to embrace, it also fosters a culture of silent pressure.
Rise of alignment-based ambition
Success, it seems, is experiencing a quiet revolution. The masculine definition of ambition revises itself, not as a relentless chase but as a conscious process. Alignment is acting out of intention, not expectation. It’s matching your daily actions with your inner values instead of following a script that has been over-written. We are seeing more men choosing careers with meaning in them, selecting mental well-being instead of doing, speaking emotionally instead of verbally, and defining financial independence in healthier ways. Success is evolving from the external to the internal, from making money to living well.
Work-life integration
One of the big lessons from this evolving vision of mind is that balance is not a “nice to have” it’s a “need to have.” International Men’s Day throws a spotlight on the necessity of men being present not only at their places of employment but also in relationships, in family life and in personal passions. More men today choose flexibility over rigidity, health over hustle, and self-development over performative masculinity. They are learning to set boundaries, asking for assistance, saying “no” without guilt or feeling the need to be apologetic. Time spent with loved ones is as valuable in this alignment-driven model of masculinity as time spent in boardrooms.
Emotional strength
Perhaps the most significant shift is a redefining of masculinity itself. Aligned ambition urges men to speak fluently of emotion, not sticking to the “don’t show emotion” routine, allowing for expressed vulnerability, speaking of problems, having honest thoughts and ideas about mental health. Strength includes softness; ambition includes empathy.
Fresh perspective
From International Men’s Day, we have learned that the contemporary definition of success is not a choice between ambition or alignment, but both working together. True satisfaction is found where passion meets purpose, where goals reflect values and where achievement supports well-being rather than forsaking it. As we celebrate men today, the message is clear: rethink success. Allow ambition to expand, allow alignment to direct it, and allow each man to define success by what is true for him rather than by what the world may expect.
(Vinayak Burman, Founder and Managing Partner, VERTICES PARTNERS
Creator and Host, The Lifeboat)
