Today, everyone has a different understanding of what ambition is. Someone refers to ambitious people negatively, considering them swaggering snobs, and someone is not shy about calling themselves an ambitious person and is proud of it. But what is ambitiousness really? Is it a positive or negative quality? Let's try to figure it out.
Ambition is what? Interpretation of the term in different cultures
Different dictionaries give different interpretations. For example, Ozhegov’s dictionary gives this word a negative connotation. In Russian culture, modesty was always valued above all, so the meaning of the word "ambitiousness" is sharply negative. These are overstated claims, and swagger, as well as arrogance and unhealthy pride. Russian culture did not honor ambitious people and designated them as tyrants who should be ridiculed in every possible way.
In Western society, a completely different attitude to the concept of "ambitiousness" has formed. The meaning of this word has a positive connotation. Such people are appreciated by employers because they always strive for more, set high goals and achieve them.
Today, when Russia, too, began to strive for a capitalistic future, the attitude towards ambitious people began to change. Shy, insecure personalities are not valued in business. Employers began to be interested in ambitious people who could lead the company to success.
Ambition: Definition
In a general sense, the term can be described as the desire to achieve success at any cost, to get more than what you have at the moment, to change life for the better, to set high goals and get what you want. Very often, ambitious people have no idea how they will be able to achieve the task, but still they hope for a positive outcome and strive for the goal, even without any means to achieve it. Most often, ideas come already in the process of moving to the desired. An ordinary goal differs from an ambitious one in that at first glance it seems unrealizable, it is like a dream looming in the immensely distant future, it seems risky and dangerous, and it is precisely such ambitiousness that makes it. The synonyms of this concept can be summarized as follows: ambition, pride, pretentiousness, conceit, arrogance, arrogance. An ambitious person can never be content with his current situation and will always find what to strive for next. Such people usually become politicians, sports stars, successful businessmen.
Ambitious character
Let's try to draw an approximate portrait of a person who is characterized by the quality we are considering. What is ambitiousness in character? First of all, this is a constant desire for self-development and self-improvement. An ambitious person attends various trainings and seminars, reads professional literature, as he understands that without development there will be no movement to the goal. He realizes the need to adapt to a changing environment and at the same time tries not to lose his own personality. He will always try to learn something new, as new knowledge contributes to his advancement.
Secondly, an ambitious person will never allow others to treat him badly, disrespectfully. He has a pronounced self -esteem.
Thirdly, such a person will always be easier than others to climb up the career ladder. Often, ambitious people are more successful than more talented, but not so vain.
And finally, such a person always tries to set himself up for a positive outcome, even if he has doubts about the reality of achieving what he wants. He likes to set goals a little higher than what he really can achieve. And only achieving heights, he feels genuine satisfaction.
Now you probably understand what ambition in character is. A person endowed with this quality has great chances to achieve success in all areas of his life.
How to develop?
Since the quality in question is in fashion today, many are wondering how to develop their own ambition. And is this even possible? It must be said right away that they are not born with ambition. This quality is acquired in the process of personality development and laid down since childhood. A large role in the formation of ambition in a person is played by his own parents. If they encourage all the successes of a child, rejoice for him and praise him, then such a person grows more confident in himself, and with age he has ambitions.
But if parents mostly scold the child and do not pay due attention to his achievements, then most likely he will grow up deprived of ambition, clogged and unsure of himself.
Situations are also possible when children whose parents do not give them proper support, grow up and seek to prove to them, to themselves and to the whole world, that they too are worthy of something. Such people are trying to challenge society, and their ambitions are often painful.
Thus, it can be said that ambitiousness cannot be developed - this trait is laid down in a person from childhood.
Unhealthy quality
Now that we have determined what ambition is, let’s try to find out in which cases it is useful and in which it can cause significant harm to a person and his environment.
What kind of people can be said that their ambitions went beyond and became unhealthy? First of all, claims must be supported by something. If a person really has any abilities, it is natural that he has certain ambitions. But when they are from scratch, with a complete lack of abilities in a certain field of activity, it looks ridiculous and stupid.
A person with unhealthy ambitiousness can set impossible goals, as he overestimates his abilities. He cannot even admit to himself that he is unable to cope with any task, is ready to work on it day and night, in order to prove to himself and others that he can achieve this.
In addition, an overly ambitious person is demanding not only to himself, but also to others. He does not respect people with low ambitions and poses difficult tasks for others. He can even act arrogantly, as if he had already achieved a lot. That's what ambition in an unhealthy and ugly way means.
Healthy claims
A person who adequately assesses his abilities will never set unrealistic tasks for himself. He will strive for lofty, but achievable goals. Having reached them, he will continue his movement towards new ones. A person with healthy ambitions strives for self-improvement, to ensure that his every day is better than the previous one.
It is always pleasant and interesting to communicate with such a person. A person will not behave arrogantly, on the contrary, by his own example, by his successes, he knows how to inspire other people. Moreover, such a person is able to correlate the complexity of the task with the timing of its implementation, will not set for itself too complex goals that must be achieved in a short time.
This is what ambitiousness is in the positive sense of the word.
Good or bad?
Undoubtedly, healthy ambition is a useful quality of character. She helps him move forward and improve his life. The main thing is that in his quest for success, a person does not go too far and does not become a victim of his own claims.
If people with unhealthy ambitions work in the team, this can lead to conflict situations, which, of course, will worsen not only relations, but also affect the quality of work. An overly ambitious person will never seek help from another, more competent person, because it will strike at his painful vanity. Therefore, the work may generally remain unfulfilled or its result will be unsatisfactory.
Thus, ambitiousness is a good quality only if the claims are not overstated, and a person can really assess their capabilities.
What professions are suitable for such people?
Almost any profession is suitable for individuals with healthy ambitions, because everywhere they can achieve certain success.
They feel best in leadership positions - they can be excellent middle and senior managers. They can also achieve great success in the field of sales, where the final result of the work matters. Professionals in which there is an element of competition are suitable for ambitious people - this constantly spurs their interest and makes them strive for more.
Professions for people with low ambitions
If, after reading this article, you ranked yourself among people with a low level of claims, do not be upset. There are also many good professions for such a person. Since he values ​​professional stability first of all and does not put career growth at the forefront, he can try himself as an engineer, clerk, economist or accountant.
In addition, people with low ambitions can work in the administrative sphere, where there is a high staff turnover. There is always a shortage of administrative personnel in the labor market, because employees who have ambitions usually do not stay long in such positions, for them it is just a springboard for further career advancement.
So what is ambitiousness? In a broad sense, this is a person’s desire for success. If he sets himself high goals and strives to achieve them, if he tries to improve the quality of his life and is engaged in self-improvement and self-development, then he can be called ambitious. This quality of character can be either good or bad, depending on whether a person has healthy or inflated ambitions.
We hope that after reading this article you will understand what ambition means.