Some people have a negative attitude towards ambitious people, considering them arrogant snobs, while others are not ashamed to call themselves an ambitious person and are proud of it. But what is ambition really? Is it a positive or negative quality? Let's try to figure this out.

Ambitiousness - what is it? 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 has always been valued above all else, so the meaning of the word “ambitiousness” is sharply negative. These include inflated claims and arrogance, as well as arrogance and unhealthy pride. Russian culture did not respect ambitious people and designated them as tyrants who should be ridiculed in every possible way.

IN Western society A completely different attitude towards the concept of “ambition” has formed. The meaning of this word has a positive connotation. Such people are valued by employers because they always strive for more, set high goals and achieve them.

Today, when Russia has also begun to strive for a capitalist future, attitudes towards ambitious people have begun to change. Timid, insecure individuals are not valued in business. Employers began to be interested in ambitious people who could lead their company to success.

Ambition: Definition

In a general sense, the term can be defined as the desire to achieve success at all costs, to get more than you have this moment, change your life for the better, set high goals and get what you want. Very often, ambitious people have no idea how they can achieve their goal, but still hope for a positive outcome and strive for the goal, even without having any means to achieve it. Most often, ideas come already in the process of moving towards what you want. An ordinary goal differs from an ambitious one in that at first glance it seems unrealistic, it is like a dream looming in the vastly distant future, it seems risky and dangerous, and it is precisely ambition that makes it so. Synonyms for this concept can be given as follows: ambition, pride, pretentiousness, vanity, arrogance, arrogance. An ambitious person can never be satisfied with his current position and will always find something to strive for next. Such people usually become politicians, sports stars, and successful businessmen.

Ambitious character

Let's try to draw an approximate portrait of a person who has the quality we are considering. What is ambitious character? First of all, it is a constant desire for self-development and self-improvement. An ambitious person attends various trainings and seminars, reads professional literature, because he understands that without development there will be no movement towards the goal. He is aware of the need to adapt to a changing environment and at the same time tries not to lose his own individuality. He will always try to learn something new, as new knowledge helps him move forward.

Secondly, an ambitious person will never allow others to treat him badly or disrespectfully. He has a strong feeling

Thirdly, such a person will always rise up the career ladder easier than others. Often, ambitious people achieve more success than people who are more talented but not as 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 can realistically achieve. And only by achieving heights does he feel true satisfaction.

Now it probably becomes clearer to you what ambition in character is. A person endowed with this quality has a great chance of achieving 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 ambition in themselves. And is this even possible? It must be said right away that you are not born with ambition. This quality is acquired in the process of personality development and is laid down from childhood. A large role in the formation of a person’s ambitions is played by his own parents. If they encourage all the child’s successes, are happy for him and praise him, then such a person grows up more self-confident, and with age he develops ambitions.

But if parents mainly scold the child and do not pay due attention to his achievements, then, most likely, he will grow up lacking ambition, downtrodden and insecure.

Situations are also possible when children, whose parents do not provide them with adequate support, grow up and strive to prove to them, to themselves and at the same time to the whole world that they are also worthy of something. Such people try to challenge society, and their ambitions are often morbid.

Thus, we can say that ambition cannot be developed - this trait is ingrained in a person from childhood.

Unhealthy quality

Now that we have defined what ambition is, let’s try to find out in which cases it can be useful, and in which it can cause significant harm to a person and his environment.

What kind of people can be said to have had their ambitions gone beyond their limits and become unhealthy? First of all, claims must be supported by something. If a person really has some abilities, it is natural that he has certain ambitions. But when they are out of nowhere, with complete absence abilities in a certain field of activity, it looks funny and stupid.

A person with unhealthy ambition may set impossible goals for himself because he overestimates his capabilities. He cannot even admit to himself that he is not able to cope with any task; he is ready to work on it day and night, just to prove to himself and others that he can achieve this.

In addition, an overly ambitious person is demanding not only of himself, but also of others. He does not respect people with low ambitions and sets difficult tasks for others. He can even act arrogantly, as if he has already achieved a lot. This is what ambition means in an unhealthy and ugly form.

Healthy aspirations

A person who adequately assesses his abilities will never set himself unrealistic goals. He will strive for high but achievable goals. Having reached them, he will continue his movement to new ones. A person with healthy ambitions strives for self-improvement, to ensure that every day is lived 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 example, by his successes, he knows how to inspire other people. In addition, such a person knows how to correlate the complexity of a task with the timing of its completion, and will not set too difficult goals for himself that need to be achieved in a short time.

This is what ambition is in the positive sense of the word.

Good or bad?

Undoubtedly, healthy ambition is a useful character trait. 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 a team, this can lead to conflict situations, which, naturally, will worsen not only relationships, but also affect the quality of work. An overly ambitious person will never turn to another, more competent person for help, because this will deal a blow to his painful pride. Therefore, the work may remain uncompleted or the result may be unsatisfactory.

Thus, ambition is good quality only if the claims are not exaggerated and a person can really assess his capabilities.

What professions are suitable for such people?

Individuals with healthy ambitions are suitable for almost any profession, since they can achieve some success everywhere.

They feel best in leadership positions - they can be excellent middle and senior managers. They can also achieve great success in sales, where the final result of the work matters. Ambitious people are suitable for professions in which there is an element of competition - this constantly spurs their interest and makes them strive for more.

Professions for people with low ambitions

If, after reading this article, you consider yourself to be a low-income person, do not be upset. There are also many good professions for such a person. Since he values ​​professional stability above all and does not put career at the forefront, can try himself as an engineer, clerk, economist or accountant.

In addition, people with low ambitions can work in the administrative field, where there is a high There is always a shortage in the field of administrative personnel on 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 promotion.

So what is ambition? In a broad sense, it is a person’s desire for success. If he sets high goals for himself 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 character quality can be either good or bad, depending on whether a person has healthy or inflated ambitions.

We hope that after reading this article you understand what ambition means.

Every person has heard a similar phrase: “He has great ambitions.” However, not everyone understood its meaning. Many also cannot understand what character trait ambition is, bad or good. To answer this question it is necessary to consider a specific individual. Some people use it to achieve their goals, while others only need it to show off in front of someone and stroke their pride.

What is ambition

This word has many definitions. For example, in Ozhegov’s dictionary it has a negative connotation, because in Russian culture modesty has always been valued, and ambitious people were considered tyrants who needed to be ridiculed and belittled in every possible way. According to Ozhegov's dictionary, Ambition is closely related to the following character traits:

1. Heightened self-esteem.
2. Arrogance.
3. Swagger.
4. Arrogance.

However, in Western society this character quality is considered positive, primarily because it helps achieve goals and happiness. The main thing is that it does not develop into arrogance and contempt for other people.

In the West, employers value such people very much: they are able to generate income for the company, and high wages allow them to stroke their pride.

Previously, the majority of the population in Russia was the working class. This is why ambition was a bad quality. Now there are quite a lot of entrepreneurs in our country, and the business world does not tolerate unambitious people. At the present stage, the attitude towards this quality has changed for the better.

First of all, this concept is associated with the desire to achieve one’s goals, no matter what. If someone wakes up every morning with the thought that we need to change our lives for the better- He has great ambitions. However, quite often such people have no idea how they can achieve their desires.

With ambition, people often set themselves impossible goals and suffer because of it. For example, an employee has wages 35 thousand rubles. If he sets a goal to have an income of 50 thousand rubles by next year, it will be quite achievable. An ambitious goal is an income of 100 thousand rubles in a few months. Of course, some will be able to achieve this goal, but not all. And when it is set, the individual himself does not believe in achievement, but ambitions take precedence over common sense.

Character traits

Many people are interested in what kind of an ambitious person is and what is characteristic of him. He has the following character traits:

1. Persistence.
2. Self-confidence.
3. Demanding on people.
4. Positive thinking.
5. High level of aspiration.

Such people, no matter what, go towards their goal. Of course, there are often various obstacles along the way, but this does not stop them. The only thing that can stop them is moral standards. There are situations when in order to achieve a goal it is necessary to violate moral standards. This stops some people, but not others. It all depends on upbringing.

Achieving results is impossible without self-confidence and self-confidence. However, ambition implies development into self-confidence: a person may not sincerely believe in achieving his goal, but set himself up for the fact that he will achieve it.

He will constantly tell his friends or acquaintances about his plans and that he is already having his first successes. However, most often we are talking only about upcoming successes. If a person has ambitions, he will demand respect and respect for himself. Even if he is nothing, ambition will take its toll. He may be offended or even angry at adequate criticism addressed to him. It is very important for him that everyone has a good opinion of him and does not dare say anything bad.

Self-confidence is closely related to positive thinking. Even if everything is bad, the individual will not give up and give up. He will move forward and come up with new tasks for himself. However, over time, if nothing works out, he may lose interest in the goal. He has very high self-esteem and demands on people, life and attitude towards himself, and constant failures do not stop him.

High level of aspirations- these are hanging requirements for life. For example, a university graduate with poor academic performance and who does not have any professional skills expects a salary of 100 thousand rubles. Or an unattractive guy who doesn’t know how to communicate with a girl sees himself next to him only as models from the cover of a magazine, and on ordinary girls, who might like him, doesn’t even look.

Negative sides

Many people don't understand what the word ambition means. Quite often they associate something negative with this concept. Of course, this character trait has some disadvantages, but you can’t concentrate only on them.

So, some ambitious individuals have the following disadvantages:

Of course, you shouldn’t regard ambition as an exclusively bad quality. She is very often useful. The main thing is to learn to enjoy small victories and treat other people well, and then the individual will be living proof that ambition is positive trait character.

It is very important to remember that ambitions should be based only on real achievements and skills. If claims appear out of nowhere, it will play a negative role in understanding oneself and interacting with the world.

How to become ambitious

The meaning of the word ambition is the desire for success. Despite all negative sides This character trait is based on a positive desire. No matter what kind of character a person has, ambition can be developed.

Before developing such a quality in yourself, you need to understand whether it is necessary. Many people have learned to be content with what they have and live happily. However, if someone cannot sit still, but lacks the strength to move forward, they should definitely develop ambition.

For this it is necessary take the following steps:

1. Stay alone with yourself and think about your life. Remember all the bad and good situations that influenced the character. You may have to look into your childhood, as ambition develops or is completely destroyed even in childhood. school years. When will they be understood real reasons your failures in life, you should start working through them.
2. Make a list of unfulfilled goals. This will help you understand your true desires. It is very important to write this text by hand in order to put deep meaning into it.
3. Raising ambition in adults occurs in the same way as in children. If a child is constantly praised for his achievements, he grows up to be confident and ambitious. The task of an adult is to do the same. For example, for some small victory you can reward yourself with a delicious dinner, and for a significant step towards your goal you can reward yourself with a vacation. It is extremely important to receive feedback from other people. The main thing is to talk only about the achieved results, and not about the planned ones. Such a reward system will help cultivate good attitude to yourself and your work. Living by this principle, it is much easier to achieve your goals.

Suitable professions

The choice of profession largely depends not only on professional skills, but also on human qualities. To an ambitious person The following professional fields are suitable:

1. Sales is a business that will “ignite”. Every month there will be a desire to close as many transactions as possible. The employee will bring profit to the company in which he works and receive a good percentage from it.
2. Entrepreneurship is about achieving goals and making unusual solutions. This is an integral part of the life of an ambitious person.
3. Leadership positions are suitable for demanding people. The activities of any company require routine tasks. The head of the department is able to motivate his employees to perform these tasks and control the process, and if they are not fulfilled, punish them. Ambitiousness and demandingness are very important traits for a boss.
4. Sport is about constantly achieving goals and self-improvement. Absolutely all athletes had great ambitions in childhood.
5. Public service. The most striking example is Armed forces. It is impossible to grow in this field of activity without ambition. To achieve the next title you need to work hard. This area requires personnel who show great promise.

Ideal for people with low ambitions the following types labor:

1. Scientific activity.
2. Service sector.
3. Production.

Any job requires ambition. The meaning of the word is the desire for success. Without this desire, no one will have the desire to work. In any case, the development of this quality will be useful to everyone, the main thing is to set realistic goals and not lie to yourself.

There are a lot of options for interpreting the word “ambition”. From Latin the word “ambitio” can be translated as vanity, ambition, passionate desire. In Russian, the word appeared at the beginning of the 18th century and meant “swagger, arrogance.” “For a penny of ammunition, for a ruble of ambition,” they said in the old days about a person with heightened pride and great self-esteem.

But over time, the word began to acquire a positive connotation. IN modern world ambitions most often mean determination, readiness to achieve set goals, desire for self-realization and higher standards of living.

Thus, ambition is the degree of a person’s aspirations. They force a person to move forward, explore new horizons and strive to achieve his dreams. But ambition can only be considered a virtue if it is backed up by something.

Ambitiousness as a character trait

The presence of a certain level of ambition in a person is called “ambitiousness”. This is a rather specific character trait, since everyone interprets this concept in their own way.

An ambitious person always tries to set new goals for himself and strives to achieve more, even if at the moment he does not have sufficient means or abilities to do so.

Ambitiousness: good or bad

There is no clear definition of whether it is good or bad to be ambitious. Depending on the capabilities and abilities of each specific person his ambition can be:

• understated;
• adequate (healthy);
• overpriced.

People with low (or even non-existent) ambitions rarely achieve success. As a rule, these are shy, timid, unsure of their abilities. In their lives they are content with little, being wary of any difficulties and obstacles.

A person with high ambition due to his self-confidence and tendency to exaggerate his own abilities, he rarely achieves his goal. But this does not bother him and he does not draw conclusions from his mistakes, attributing failures to external factors. In most cases, overly ambitious people do not enjoy authority in a team, since their painful pride does not allow them to seek advice from a more competent colleague, which, of course, affects their work results.

Healthy ambition. A person with adequate ambitions strives for high but achievable goals, as he is able to proportionately assess the level of his capabilities and abilities.

Having reached the planned milestones, he will continue to climb to new ones. Having healthy ambitions makes a person strive for self-improvement, to take a daily step forward. Such people are always pleasant and interesting to talk to. They always listen to the opinions of others, do not stick their nose into other people’s affairs, and skillfully and timely adjust their goals. An ambitious person first of all strives to prove his worth to himself, and not to demonstrate his superiority over others.

Among other things, an ambitious person has a sense of self-esteem.

Demonstrating ambition in various areas

The most common manifestation of a person’s ambition can be found in the following areas:

• professional activity;
• career growth;
• family life;
• parenting.

Professionally healthy ambitions are essential, even if you do not strive for career heights. Inertia and lack of initiative are not welcomed by employers in the modern world. And if you want to fully realize your professional and organizational abilities, maximizing your social status and strengthening financial situation, then you can’t do without ambition.

IN family life excessive ambition will be unnecessary, since family happiness is built on the ability to find a compromise and not put pressure on your other half.

In matters of upbringing, parents very often make the mistake of trying to realize their personal ambitions in their children. It is better to avoid this, and to instill in the child from the very beginning the ability to achieve his goals and teach him to strive for success.

How to become ambitious

Ambition - it's not an innate trait. It originates in early childhood and is formed in the process of growing up and personality development.

Parents play a decisive role in the development of ambition in a child. If they rejoice at his successes and encourage his endeavors, then adult life such a person will “stand firmly on his feet” and feel confident. If you do not show interest in his results and achievements in various fields, and constantly scold him for his mistakes and failures, then most likely with age a person will become indecisive and complex, devoid of any ambitions.

Main, encourage real achievements, and not praise the child on every, sometimes completely inappropriate, occasion. Otherwise, there is a high probability of developing in the child large, unsupported ambitions, which will subsequently be impossible to moderate.

To become an ambitious person, you need the following:

Ambitiousness is the need for success, achieving more, based on increased aspirations for life.

Often, ambitious goals and plans are born when the “pockets are empty” and the “head is full” and there are no resources, but there is hope that radical, high-quality transformations will reveal new sources of their emergence. Not every goal deserves to be called ambitious. Add to the usual goal seeming unattainability, a dream, isolation from the current current state, a certain absurdity, paradoxicality, riskiness and a “portrait” of an ambitious goal in general outline ready. An ambitious goal must break out of the general order of mediocre goals and direct its creators to places where they have never gone or been before. Initially, she does not even imagine on what means she will live; ideas about who will support her come later. Coco Chanel noted: “If you want to have what you never had, you will have to do what you have never done.”

Only a person endowed with the ability to discern in objects and phenomena can become a generator of ambitious goals and plans. outside world potential for dramatic movement and development. To do this, you need to have the appropriate personality quality – ambition.

Ambition as a personality quality is interpreted differently in Russian and English languages. In the dictionary of the Russian language by S.I. Ozhegov, who traditionally reveres modesty, it is negatively colored: 1) heightened pride, arrogance, conceit; 2) claims, claims to something (disapproved) At the same time, Western countries Ambition is clearly considered a human virtue, implying the desire to achieve goals, the requirement of external signs of respect and honor. In Anglo-Saxon transcription, the word “millionaire” has a positive meaning, but in Russian it evokes envy and hatred. However, this is not a reason to attribute a negative interpretation to the concept of “millionaire”.

“A mind without ambition is like a bird without wings,” said Salvador Dali. In today's realities, when we are rapidly approaching a happy capitalist future, the view of ambition has become more welcoming and open. Domestic business looked at it with great curiosity as an undoubted virtue, subject to its adequacy, thoroughness and reality. Business captivates the self-confidence and professionalism characteristic of this personality quality. In big business, low ambition, timidity, shyness and lack of self-confidence are not encouraged. A person with a lack of ambition is usually an outcast for big politics, sports and business. Success involves passion, enthusiasm and energy. A person devoid of ambition is a “living corpse” for business. Bernard Shaw once said, as if to imply the slogan of intelligent ambition: “Achieve what you want, or you will have to be content with what you have.”

The ability to generate and achieve ambitious goals seems to be one of the most important personality traits contributing to success. Reasonable ambition presupposes two-facedness in unity: the ability to want and be able. “I want” without “I can” turns into a fable, and “I can” without “I want” turns into an unguided projectile. It practically turns out like in a joke. The woman was asked: “What to call a man who wants, but cannot” - “Impotent” - “And who can, but does not want” - “Bastard”. In this context, Raul Gonzalez noted: “Ambition is something without which you cannot climb to the top, and ability is something without which you cannot stay there.”

When ambition, taking as its allies stubbornness, voluntarism, frivolity and unjustified insolence, “crosses the Rubicon” of the permissible boundaries of rationality and rationality, it turns into a harmful utopia that can “sink” any good undertaking. Excessive, inflated ambition with an unjustified, impossible level of claims can make a lot of noise and cause significant harm to the business in which it is involved.

Unlike ambition, which is usually aimed at solving one’s individual, personal goals, ambition is mainly associated with solving corporate, collective, group or social problems. Therefore, the negative consequences of unbridled ambition are much more painful and widespread.

There is an African proverb: “What smaller lizard, the more he hopes to become a crocodile.” Excessive ambition is a consequence of inflated self-esteem, a discrepancy between the position held and the level of one’s own ambitions. It is quite simply diagnosed by other accompanying personality traits. Close friends of such ambition are constant dissatisfaction, excessive pretentiousness, quarrelsomeness, capriciousness and fastidiousness. Painful pride does not allow her to be wrong and therefore she blames others for all her failures. Exaggerating her capabilities, she cannot objectively weigh the complexity of the task. When the need for competent help becomes obvious, overambitiousness will stubbornly prove to everyone that it can cope on its own. Well, when everything collapses, she will move to the side, pretending that she is on the side of the heat. Constant failures, fiascoes and life “defaults” make her touchy, irritable and unbearable. When dealing with overbearing ambition, you need to remember every minute about her extraordinary envy, which extends to the successes of even close people. But without rest and sleep, she is ready to listen about her genius, originality and insight. An ambitious person recognizes only the stronger and more successful. She is devoid of sympathy; instead, she cultivates causticity, categoricalness and maximalism.

Before implementing ambitious plans, it’s always a good idea to ask questions: “Why do you need to do this?”, “What will happen next?”

One day, a businessman stood on a pier in a small village and watched a fisherman sitting in a fragile boat as he caught a huge tuna. The businessman congratulated the fisherman on his luck and asked how long it takes to catch such a fish. “A couple of hours, no more,” answered the fisherman. - Why didn’t you stay in the sea longer and catch a few more of these fish? - the businessman was surprised. “One fish is enough for my family to survive tomorrow,” he answered. - But what do you do for the rest of the day? - the businessman did not let up. - I sleep until lunch, then go fishing for a couple of hours, then play with my children, then my wife and I take a siesta, then I go to the village for a walk, drink wine in the evening and play the guitar with my friends. “You see, I enjoy life,” the fisherman explained. “I’m a Harvard graduate,” said the businessman, “I’ll help you, you’re doing everything wrong.” You should fish all day and then buy yourself big boat. - And then what? - asked the fisherman. - Then you will catch more more fish, and you can buy yourself several boats, even ships, and one day you will have a whole flotilla. - And then? - Then, instead of selling the fish to a middleman, you will bring the fish directly to the factory, and by increasing your profits, you will open your own factory. - And then? - Then you will leave this godforsaken village and move to Big city, and maybe one day you can open a huge office and be the director there. - How long will all this take? - 15–20 years. - And then what? “And then,” the businessman laughed, “then the most pleasant part will come.” You can sell your company for several million and become very rich. - And then? - Then you can stop working, you will move to a small village on the coast, you will sleep until lunch, do a little fishing, play with the children, have a siesta with your wife, walk around the village, drink wine in the evenings and play the guitar with your friends...

The thoughts reflected in this article were inspired by a client who recently contacted me for psychological help. This is a 19-year-old guy, outwardly he behaved with me politely, reservedly and slightly arrogantly, but internally one could read strong tension and “frozenness.” The problem he addressed was the lack of friends and inability to build interpersonal relationships. From his story about himself, it became clear to me that he is an extremely demanding young man of himself and those around him, with an inflated level of ambition. How ambition is formed, what ambitions are and how they influence a person will be discussed below.

What is ambition?

- this is the level of a person’s aspiration, the height of the goals he sets for himself, as well as the firmness in achieving results - professional, family, material and others. If a person does not strive to conquer the peaks and is content with little, then we can say that he has little ambition or is not ambitious at all. If a person tends to make grandiose plans and achieve various heights, then such a person is considered ambitious or even has unhealthy ambitions. Thus, ambition indicates a person's desired status and the magnitude of his goals. A person's ambitions are very closely related to his level.

In a positive sense, the concept of “ambition” correlates with success and self-confidence, as well as determination, conditioned by knowledge of one’s own strengths and weaknesses, and the real chances of achieving desired goals. However, ambition can also be negative, when a person achieves his goals at any cost, ignores the feelings of others, has a highly inflated self-esteem that has little correlation with real opportunities the person himself.

What are the types of ambitions?

By magnitude, ambitions are divided into overestimated, adequate and underestimated.

Inflated ambitions

Man with high level ambitious person tends to set himself unattainable goals, without relying on his financial, intellectual, or time capabilities. Such a person behaves arrogantly and excessively exaggerates his actual achievements. It is not surprising that he has few friends and people around who sympathize with him. He knows little about his strengths and weaknesses, has inflated self-esteem and a very high level of internal tension, constantly pushing him forward, forcing him to ignore the people around him and the real arrangement of things. Facing defeat is unbearable for such a person.

Adequate ambitions

A person with an adequate level of ambition is able to set realistic goals for himself, strive to achieve them, acting gradually, adequately assessing his chances and focusing on the people around him. It's smart intelligent person maintaining a balance between the goals and the means to achieve them. Healthy ambitions ensure personal self-development and self-realization, sustainable movement forward, and gradual overcoming of obstacles.

Low ambitions

A person with a low level of ambition is usually content with little and does not strive for something more. When faced with difficulties and obstacles, he stops and does not strive to overcome them. Such people tend to consider their achievements to be a matter of chance, a lucky coincidence of circumstances, and not their own efforts or talent. They have absolutely no motivation to strive forward, develop, or improve their lives.

In areas of life, ambitions can be professional, family, financial, political, sports and many others. Let's look at some.

Professional ambitions

Characteristic of people who strive to build a career, hold a high position, or have a subordinate a large number of Human. This type of ambition is inherent in owners of holdings and enterprises. The other side is inflated professional ambitions, characterized by workaholism.

Family ambitions

Typical for people who prioritize: the search for the second “ideal” half, the birth of children, harmonious and open family relationships, where everyone is friends and supports each other. The other side of the coin is inflated family ambitions, characterized by excessively stringent demands on one’s spouse and children, which can lead to numerous conflicts and family breakdown.

Financial ambitions

This desire to have as much as possible more money, . This desire is probably close to many of us. However, the desire to have a stable income and be financially independent should be distinguished from the obsessive desire to get rich (remember Scrooge McDuck), when financially ambitious people become greedy, stingy and very pragmatic.

How are ambitions formed?

According to psychologists, ambition is not an innate personality quality, but is formed in early age. The height of an adult’s ambitions is largely determined by the characteristics of family upbringing.

A child’s inflated ambitions are formed in a family where he is constantly praised exaggeratedly, even for all sorts of little things. The child is told that he is very capable and talented, while these statements are not based on real results and success. The child is overly pampered and indulged in all his whims. As a result, he gets used to easy achievements and considers himself a genius! The inability to adequately assess one’s capabilities will echo in adult life: encountering setbacks and failures, the lack of visible achievements and praise will lead to irritability, tension, and increased resentment (“I’m so talented, but they don’t notice me: they don’t raise my salary, they don’t promote me to a position, they don’t want to be friends..."). In fact, find mutual language With such a person it can be very problematic - the people around him rarely “reach” the level of “His Majesty”.

In contrast to this type of family upbringing, low ambitions are characteristic of a child who was constantly criticized and reproached in childhood. Any of his aspirations and desires were not taken seriously, ignored, unnoticed. He did not find support from his parents, and his failures (for which he was punished) were noticed rather than his achievements and successes. It is not surprising that an adult does not know how to strive for anything and does not see any value in it.

Adequate ambitions are formed in a child whose parents adequately evaluate his successes, support his desires and help him overcome difficulties. Healthy ambition is maintained in children through professional activities. The child learns to set goals, achieve them, and thanks to the competitive moment, strive for victory and learn to deal adequately with defeats.

The main characteristics of a person with adequate ambitions:

1. Ability to set achievable, realistic goals;
2. Believe in yourself and your abilities;
3. Adequate demands on yourself and the people around you;
4. The ability to react flexibly when faced with difficulties, change one’s behavior in accordance with new circumstances, continuing to move towards the goal;
5. Inner desire, energy, passion that moves a person forward;
6. Constant professional and personal development and improvement;
7. The ability to clearly feel your true desires, distinguish your needs from imposed ones;
8. Having stable boundaries and the ability to stand up for yourself;
9. The ability to think positively.
10. Real assessment of your capabilities, talents, abilities.

How many of the qualities listed above have you discovered in yourself? If more than five – congratulations! We can say about you that you are a person with adequate ambitions and healthy aspirations!

Do you need to fight your ambitions?

To answer this question, first try to analyze your ambitions. Assess how adequate they are and how they correspond to your capabilities and potential. If your ambitions are quite real and “healthy”, there is no need to fight them! Your ambitions are your engine, your resource that supports you on the path to your goals. And it doesn’t matter what the people around you think about this - perhaps they’re just for you!

However, if you have admitted to yourself that in many ways you do not live up to your own aspirations, it is simply necessary to adjust your level of ambition! The main thing is to realize that inflated ambitions are more likely to interfere with a normal life than to help you move forward. After all, overly inflated ambitions create discomfort for the person himself and his environment, cause a lot of internal tension, and make a person hostage to his own goals and aspirations. A person falls into a trap: on the one hand, moving towards a goal causes him a lot of negative experiences, requires him to work hard, and forces him to give up simple pleasures and a comfortable life. But as soon as a person abandons this goal, he feels like a complete failure and is faced with equally difficult experiences that do not allow him to stop and abandon this manic idea of ​​achievement.

Reducing an inflated level of ambition can be quite difficult. Indeed, in this case, a person needs to admit to himself that he is not as talented and brilliant as he is accustomed to consider himself. Very rarely do such people turn to psychologists for help specifically with the problem of high ambitions. More often they come with secondary problems - lack of friends, inability to build interpersonal relationships, poor socialization, etc.

If you find that your ambitions are too low - you stop yourself too much, although you are capable of great achievements, then you simply need to raise the level of your ambitions! Try to realize what is holding you back? Perhaps it’s the fear of falling, or the inability to take responsibility, or low self-esteem... If you can’t cope with your own limitations on your own, make an appointment with a psychologist.

In conclusion, I would like to note that an adequate level of ambition stimulates human activity, an overestimated level creates too much tension, and an underestimated level hinders the achievement of goals and movement forward. Thus, having healthy ambitions is quite beneficial. But you shouldn’t focus only on achievements, because in the pursuit of new heights you can miss something very important.

Taking care of you, Gestalt therapist