Dlaczego ambitni ludzie najczęściej stoją w miejscu? Jacek Walkiewicz w Biznes Klasie

Summary

Psychologist and motivational speaker Jacek Walkiewicz argues that ambitious people can remain stuck when they overthink, fear risk, or wait for ideal conditions. Progress usually starts with a decision and a step into an uncertain future. If an attempt fails, it can still provide useful experience.

Key strategies and ideas

• Act before every uncertainty is resolved. Opportunities can be missed through prolonged analysis. Make a considered decision and move forward; inaction guarantees that nothing changes.
• Build skills for an unpredictable world. Walkiewicz highlights critical thinking, willingness to take risks, adapting to changing circumstances, and finding creative alternatives.
• Learn about yourself through varied experiences. Travel and exposure to different ways of living can reveal what suits you and challenge assumptions. Small routine changes—such as taking a different route or using your other hand to brush your teeth—can help you practise adapting.
• Be patient, but keep choosing. Progress may take time, and the process of waiting and reconsidering ideas can itself be worthwhile. At the same time, listening and analysing cannot replace taking action.
• Use perspective to manage setbacks. Ask, “What does this matter in the context of my whole life?” Walkiewicz says this can help reduce the grip of everyday frustrations and fear. After a fall, it may be useful to pause and reflect before getting back up.
• Don’t let grades or status define success. Academic results do not necessarily measure creativity, ingenuity, or the ability to cope with stress. Walkiewicz also cautions against treating money, possessions, or business achievement as the sole measure of a good life.
• Cultivate supportive relationships. Authenticity, kindness, listening, and mutual help matter in both work and personal life. A trusted person who offers support can help someone recover after a major setback.
• Recognize harmful behaviour. Shouting, ridicule, exclusion, and other forms of aggression can create anxiety and prevent people from making decisions or developing. Walkiewicz says change should begin in close relationships and at home.
• Balance work with life beyond work. He contrasts his generation’s tendency to work extremely long hours with younger people’s desire to finish work and live. He sees fulfillment as appreciating what you have and being with the right people, doing meaningful things.
• Meet illness with focus and support. After receiving a Parkinson’s diagnosis, Walkiewicz describes an emotionally difficult period, then chose to continue doing what mattered to him. He suggests that illness does not define a person; what they do does. He also emphasizes accepting help and looking for meaning in difficult experiences.

Presenters and sources mentioned

• Łukasz Kijek — host and interviewer.
• Jacek Walkiewicz — guest; psychologist and motivational speaker.
• Professor Ryszard Szubartowski — cited in a discussion of education and learning through challenges.
• Miłosz Brzoziński — cited regarding how aggressive managers can harm employees and company performance.
• Human Concept and Solution — named as the source of a 2025 study of business leaders’ experiences with toxic relationships.
• The Stoics — referenced for their ideas about perspective and responding to events.
• The book Dying with Zero (title given in the subtitles) — mentioned in a discussion about sharing resources with children while they can use them.
• PKO Bank Polski — programme sponsor.