What is ambition in character? What people have a lot of ambition and what does it mean What does ambition mean as a character trait.

• November 27, 2018
• Psychological terms
• Marusya Kot

In the modern world, one often hears the definition of "ambitious person." In order to find the answer to this question, it is necessary to understand what the word "ambition" means.

It appeared in Russian at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and is translated from Latin as “walking in a circle”, “walking around”, “courting”. This concept, moreover, is defined as "vanity", "ambition", "vanity". This is a deformed consciousness, which is expressed in the desire to prove personal superiority by achieving specific goals.

Ambition is an ambiguous sign, since it has its positive and negative sides. Psychologists recommend a deeper understanding of this concept in order to get the most out of this trait.

What is ambition

In the mysterious definition of ambition - what does it mean in a person's character and whether it should be perceived exclusively in a negative way - experts tried to figure it out. First of all, it is an individual intention and desire to achieve the set goals. A person can feel confident only if he understands his specific tasks and how to solve them. Ambitious is a person who does not allow himself to be manipulated, because he has self-esteem.

In the absence of personal ambition, life becomes boring and monotonous. A person lives by inertia, not trying to fix anything and dutifully accepting all the vicissitudes of fate. This means that a person's ambitions form his character and make him an independent, responsible and independent person.

Types of ambition

Ambition can be different - there are a lot of different aspects hidden in this concept. They may vary over time and change depending on the circumstances. There are stable expressions “a person lives by ambition” or “a flash of ambition”. This means that either uncompromisingness is constantly present in the character, or a person suddenly felt a surge of energy and self-confidence. But the classical understanding of the meaning of ambition dictates the presence of its three main forms:

1. Underestimated. A person initially sets himself goals that are achieved by themselves. He doesn't have to put in much effort to get it done. Low ambition can also be described as a lack of life direction. A person is not upset because he did not receive something, because he did not hope for anything. And in the case of a successful combination of circumstances, when success comes by itself, he rejoices and perceives this as an accidental gift of fate.
2. Adequate. An adequate form of ambition means that a person reasonably distributes his forces, does not hover in the clouds and does not dream about what is a priori impossible to achieve. He sets clear goals for himself, systematically moves towards their achievement, at any moment he is ready to adjust his plans depending on the circumstances. This is a fully formed personality who strives for spiritual growth.
3. Overpriced. This is the case when a person does not realize that he is striving to comprehend the impossible. Nowadays this type of ambition has become especially popular. More and more people are ready to set unrealistic goals for themselves, do not measure their objective capabilities, are not ready to stop to think over their further actions. They push ahead, run into constant failure, but never draw any conclusions. They are ready to blame everyone around them or circumstances for their troubles, but they never admit their mistakes.

Factors influencing the development of ambitions

Ambition is the psychology of human thinking. It depends on many aspects of influence on the development of personality. There are three fundamental factors that shape ambition:

• Personality type. Much depends on the type of personality to which the person belongs. Extroverts strive for communication, they need a large audience, so their circle of acquaintances is constantly expanding. They are very dependent on the opinions of others, they need the recognition of society. These people necessarily have their own ambitions, since this trait is the main one in their character. Introverts are the exact opposite of extroverts. They have little contact with others and care little about their reputation. The ambitions of these people are at the lowest level or completely absent.
• Self-esteem. People with a high level of self-esteem necessarily have inflated ambitions. They are so confident in their superiority that they do not notice obstacles to self-affirmation in the way. The situation is also indicative when a person has no ambitions, which means a low level of self-esteem.
• Family environment. An important factor is the environment in which the child was brought up. If parents have succeeded in life and have high hopes for the baby, they will involuntarily lay the foundation for the formation of an ambitious personality.

Positive sides

Ambition is necessary for a person to be realized in all spheres of life. Without a reasonable share of this quality, success cannot be achieved, since it implies the presence of self-discipline.

Positive aspects of ambition, what does it mean:

• generating a desire to succeed;
• the need to always be in good shape;
• self-improvement;
• assistance in achieving the goal;
• ignoring obstacles;
• commitment to the idea;
• assistance in the process of becoming a person in society;
• proper prioritization.

Negative sides

A person with great ambitions is often unhappy. He does not get what he dreams of, does not have the opportunity to relax and open up even to the closest people. He suffers himself and makes everyone around him suffer. Unhealthy ambition makes a person's character very complex. The following qualities appear:

Signs of healthy ambition

A harmonious personality with healthy ambitions can be recognized by certain signs. These include:

• the presence of positive thinking;
• belief in your success;
• the ability to set bold but realistic goals;
• exactingness to oneself and others;
• the ability to adjust your plans depending on the circumstances, without abandoning the global goal;
• constant work on increasing personal growth;
• the presence of activity and energy;
• self-esteem;
• the ability to defend one's convictions;
• willpower, steadfastness.

The impact of ambition on life spheres

It is very important to objectively determine the role of ambition: what it means and how it affects different areas of a person’s life.

• Professional activity. In the modern world, it is impossible to achieve professional success without a reasonable amount of ambition. A person should strive to study, hone skills, gain experience. It depends on whether he will become a good master of his craft or will be content with odd jobs for the rest of his life.
• Career. In this area, you can not do without ambition. The material well-being of not only the person himself, but also all the people dear to him directly depends on career growth. And financial independence determines the status of the individual in society.
• Family. Family life is precisely the area in which the ambition of one or both spouses can be fatal. Arrogance, self-centeredness and lack of compromise can kill even the strongest feelings. Only common healthy ambitions of partners are allowed, who together strive to achieve their goals and do not succumb to difficulties.
• Children. Parents often make a huge mistake in raising their children when they try to realize their own ambitions in them. This means that a distorted idea of ​​the surrounding reality is formed in the character of the child. The kid must grow up as a self-sufficient person with his own big or small achievements. Parents are obliged to help him in this choice, and not to make him a hostage of their desires.

Adequate ambition

It is very important to understand what the word "ambition" means in its positive sense. This means that such ambitions can be managed and, if necessary, adjusted. In the understanding of a sane person, this sounds like the ability to correctly prioritize, objectively assess one's destiny, and listen to the opinions of others.

Adequately ambitious person stubbornly goes to his goal, reacts with dignity to obstacles, does not panic and does not blame anyone for his failures. He feels responsible not only for his life, but also for the well-being and safety of loved ones.

Inadequate ambitions

Uncontrollable negative emotions are called inadequate ambitions. A person is unable to cope with himself, because he is driven by the desire to control everyone, check, impose his point of view. Such a representative always blames people or circumstances for his failures, never admits mistakes, and proves his case to the last. He wants to always be a winner, and he will go to this victory at any cost, using the most unscrupulous methods. The saddest thing in this situation is the fact that ambitions control a person. At the same time, he himself is also a hostage of his bad character.

Fight against inadequate ambitions

Inadequate ambitions can and should be fought. Experienced psychologists recommend listening to advice that will help change your character for the better.

1. If a person realizes that he needs to overcome his ambitions, he is already half cured of the negativity present in him.
2. Love yourself, but with sincere healthy and creative love. Understand what needs to be done to improve health and appearance, provide yourself with a good rest, properly distribute forces. It is worth doing self-development and self-improvement. Having fallen in love with himself, a person will find inner harmony and will not demand love from everyone around him at the expense of his power or strength.
3. Find a vector of movement, decide on goals and not be distracted by useless claims to others. As you follow your path, try to help others as much as you can. Do not waste your energy and watch only your actions.

Steps to Develop Adequate Ambition

There are several effective steps to develop adequate ambitions. They are useful for those who seek self-improvement. But at the same time, you should understand how to develop adequate ambitions in yourself. This means that it will be necessary to decide on some qualities:

• objective self-assessment;
• personal motivation;
• a clear understanding of their goals;
• confidence in the correctness of decisions;
• self-confidence;
• the ability to listen to the opinions of others;
• correct prioritization.

Having dealt with the definition of what a person's ambitions are and having taken all measures to ensure that they are adequate, it is necessary to summarize the work done. This must be done in order to understand your previous mistakes and try not to repeat them in the future. After about a year of work on yourself, psychologists recommend evaluating the benefits of transformations according to the following criteria:

• Has self-esteem increased?
• whether self-confidence has increased;
• whether there was a desire to make plans for the future;
• whether the number of risks has decreased;
• whether relations with others improved;
• whether there were fewer failures;
• Did you manage to learn to control your emotions?
• whether a person has learned to objectively assess the situation.

If a person’s life has noticeably improved, happy events have begun to happen more often, and a feeling of calmness and harmony has appeared in the soul, then everything was done correctly. Even if some points do not yet correspond to the desired results, everything will definitely improve over time. Well, if you have not yet been able to feel peace of mind, you need to try to start work again. Adequate ambition will win, and life will get better.

What is ambition, ambition? It is always good when a person has aspirations, goals and plans for his life, as well as an idea of ​​​​how to achieve them. However, how not to cross the line and not get a reputation as a conceited person who goes “over their heads”?

In this article, we will analyze what ambitions are, their properties, as well as the signs of an ambitious person, his character traits and mindset.

What is ambition?

“I am easily satisfied with the best” is a phrase by Winston Churchill, and this is probably the best saying to describe a person with ambition. From the Latin language ambitio means aggravated self-esteem, excessive self-conceit.

In more detail, ambitions are claims for recognition, respect, a person’s confidence that he deserves the best and will be able to achieve this. This is the ability to defend one's point of view, one's views, to achieve one's own. This is a developed sense of self-esteem, pride, ambition, lust for power.

What is an ambitious person?

An ambitious person is sometimes likened to people endowed with a high pedigree and “great power” (kings, presidents) - he believes that he deserves increased respect and special treatment for himself.
And he himself will decide whom to endow with his favor, to whom to give his friendship and indulgence, who is really worthy of it.

Well, it must be admitted that the character trait "ambition" has a negative connotation rather than a positive one. However, this is not entirely true, why - we will analyze a little further in this article.

Properties and characteristics of ambition

Ambition has three distinguishing characteristics: low, adequate and high ambition.

• Underestimated ambitions happen to a person who is too modest and shy, insecure, with low self-esteem. Feelings of guilt for one's success, lack of experience of success, or inability to resist the pressure of other people make such an individual incapable of claiming a little higher than the baseboard. They go with the flow, they are a crowd, "like everyone else." Why? Unresolved intrapersonal conflicts, tightness, negative internal dialogue - there are many factors that constrain ambitions, preventing such a person from "spreading his wings" and taking a step towards his dreams and goals. In fact, such people are stronger than they think, and are capable of a lot.
• Exaggerated ambitions are the exact opposite of the person we described above. This is exactly the case when a person "bites off a piece more than he can swallow." Simply put, he does not measure the responsibility he has taken against his actual ability to bear this responsibility. He takes on things that he cannot do, does not compare his abilities, talents and skills with the real complexity of the task. What's happening? A person imagines himself the center of the Universe, grabs at everything, beats his chest like King Kong, and when he can’t do something or decide, he takes offense at the whole world and withdraws into himself - so that later, with the same unshakable confidence, he will again take on another overwhelming task.
• Adequate ambition is that ideal "golden mean", the balance between your strengths and abilities, and the complexity of the tasks that you set for yourself. This is a reasonable prioritization, a competent assessment of one's strengths, without attributing additional "options". With adequate ambition, big breakthroughs usually occur, a person moves forward, solving problems and gaining experience, while not losing friends due to overly inflated conceit or vice versa softness.

Factors influencing the formation and size of ambitions

Various factors influence the formation of ambitions, such as, for example, parents and the family in which you grew up: rich and successful parents always inspire their children that, according to family tradition, they are also obliged to achieve success and financial independence by any means, so that not to dishonor the family and not to use the common phrase "there is an idiot in the family." As you understand, the child simply has no other choice but to "go over their heads."

Another situation: poor people from a simple family, without special achievements, aspirations and talents, raise a child in an atmosphere of “the rich, the happy” and instill in their child modesty, insecurity, inability to demand what he really deserves.

Hence arises dissatisfaction with life and.

We take classic examples, of course, there are also directly opposite examples, when rich people bring up a child in modesty and do not spoil much, but this rarely happens.

Much more common is the opposite situation regarding a poor family, when parents use their last strength to scrape up a child for a good education and inspire him that he deserves more than they do, that he will break out into people and he will succeed. And it's great - you always need to believe in yourself and hope for the best.

Another factor that influences the formation of ambitions is the personal qualities of the person himself. In particular, his extraversion or introversion.

It is believed that extroverts are more likely to achieve success due to their sociability, openness and ease. Accordingly, they have more ambitions, they are overpriced and often quite selfish and conceited. In addition, they are more than introverts in need of recognition. Not without reason, among other properties of extroverts, such as impudent, noisy, self-centered, poseur are called.

Introverts, on the other hand, are considered quiet, modest and shy, and at first glance they have less ambition. They don't care what others think of them, they are in their own world.

Here, too, everything is not quite so: extroverts are open and communicate more easily, but they can also be shy, can be embarrassed and sometimes do not feel confident in their abilities. Just like introverts see and feel much deeper than extroverts, and often know what they want from life, and go to it not in such obvious and direct ways as extroverts, but still quite stubbornly and persistently. Like water that flows slowly, having met a stone, flows around it and continues to swim along its route further, as if not noticing an obstacle.

However, despite the duality of the properties of introverts and extroverts, still belonging to one or another type of personality affects the size and properties of a person's ambitions.

Ambition: good or bad?

So, being an ambitious person is still good or not? Each person will answer this differently. As for us, we believe there are "two sides of the coin", and now you will understand why.

An ambitious person goes to his goal, sometimes not noticing that he offends someone, crushes with his pressure, crushes weak people under him. Is it good or bad? Certainly bad. A decent and educated person, in order to achieve his goals, does not need to “go over the heads” and achieve success at the expense of the failure of others.

However, not everything is so bad. In life, the most important thing is to achieve that very balance between getting your own way and not harming others at the same time. This is exactly the “golden mean”, adequate ambitions, which we spoke about above.

If you are well educated and understand that in achieving your goals you do not need to infringe on the interests of others, step on their dignity, you will achieve what you want without making enemies for yourself.

Of course, you need to believe in your success, and also that you deserve success! Always and under all circumstances, you need to believe in it. However, if necessary, you need to “give way” to others, help others, and just as much wish the success of other people as well as your own. It is difficult to learn this, and it appears only from the nobility of the soul and wisdom, as well as from the notorious property “to love your neighbor”. Not everyone is capable of this, of course, we are all human and for the most part selfish.

This is a personal choice for each person. A little impudence in life does not hurt, but still you need to try not to be “in a vacuum”, not to go blindly towards your goal, not noticing other people, but to keep pace with someone, choose a wise, experienced patron and trust him, and measure your capabilities to the tasks that you set for yourself - as well as to have enough common sense not to blame anyone but yourself in case of failures, and to gain experience from these tasks.

Summarizing…

Believe in yourself, believe in your strength, be grateful for everything you have and strive for more. Look around you and help other people achieve their goals. Believe me, this will bring much more benefit to both them and you, because the self-perception of a generous and kind successful person is better than a lonely and proud successful person. Both there and there you are successful, but what do you have besides success? Loving and devoted friends, proven over the years, reliable partners, or a snake ball of ill-wishers, eagerly watching your mistakes? It's up to you to decide. Be honest, kind and patient! And you will be rewarded.

What is ambition?

"I am easily satisfied with the very best" - Winston Churchill's phrase, and this is probably the best saying to describe a person with ambition. From the Latin language ambitio means aggravated self-esteem, excessive self-conceit.

In more detail, ambitions are claims for recognition, respect, a person’s confidence that he deserves the best and will be able to achieve this. This is the ability to defend one's point of view, one's views, to achieve one's own. This is a developed sense of self-esteem, pride, ambition, lust for power.

What is an ambitious person?

An ambitious person is sometimes likened to people endowed with a high pedigree and “great power” (kings, presidents) - he believes that he deserves increased respect and special treatment for himself.
And he himself will decide whom to endow with his favor, to whom to give his friendship and indulgence, who is really worthy of it.

Well, it must be admitted that the character trait "ambition" has a negative connotation rather than a positive one. However, this is not entirely true, why - we will analyze a little further in this article.

Properties and characteristics of ambition

Ambition has three distinguishing characteristics: low, adequate and high ambition.

• Underestimated ambitions happen to a person who is too modest and shy, insecure, with low self-esteem. Feelings of guilt for one's success, lack of experience of success, or inability to resist the pressure of other people make such an individual incapable of claiming a little higher than the baseboard. They go with the flow, they are a crowd, "like everyone else." Why? Unresolved intrapersonal conflicts, tightness, negative internal dialogue - there are many factors that constrain ambitions, preventing such a person from "spreading his wings" and taking a step towards his dreams and goals. In fact, such people are stronger than they think, and are capable of a lot.

• Exaggerated ambitions are the exact opposite of the person we described above. This is exactly the case when a person "bites off a piece more than he can swallow." Simply put, he does not measure the responsibility he has taken against his actual ability to bear this responsibility. He takes on things that he cannot do, does not compare his abilities, talents and skills with the real complexity of the task. What's happening? A person imagines himself the center of the Universe, grabs at everything, beats his chest like King Kong, and when he can’t do something or decide, he takes offense at the whole world and withdraws into himself - so that later, with the same unshakable confidence, he will again take on another overwhelming task.

• Adequate ambition is that ideal "golden mean", the balance between your strengths and abilities, and the complexity of the tasks that you set for yourself. This is a reasonable prioritization, a competent assessment of one's strengths, without attributing additional "options". With adequate ambition, big breakthroughs usually occur, a person moves forward, solving problems and gaining experience, while not losing friends due to overly inflated conceit or vice versa softness.

Factors influencing the formation and size of ambitions

Various factors influence the formation of ambitions, such as, for example, parents and the family in which you grew up: rich and successful parents always inspire their children that, according to family tradition, they are also obliged to achieve success and financial independence by any means, so that not to dishonor the family and not to use the common phrase "there is an idiot in the family." As you understand, the child simply has no other choice but to "go over their heads."

Another situation: poor people from a simple family, without special achievements, aspirations and talents, raise a child in an atmosphere of “the rich, the happy” and instill in their child modesty, insecurity, inability to demand what he really deserves.
This results in dissatisfaction with life and depression.

We take classic examples, of course, there are also directly opposite examples, when rich people bring up a child in modesty and do not spoil much, but this rarely happens.

Much more common is the opposite situation regarding a poor family, when parents use their last strength to scrape up a child for a good education and inspire him that he deserves more than they do, that he will break out into people and he will succeed. And it's great - you always need to believe in yourself and hope for the best.

Another factor that influences the formation of ambitions is the personal qualities of the person himself. In particular, his extraversion or introversion.

It is believed that extroverts are more likely to achieve success due to their sociability, openness and ease. Accordingly, they have more ambitions, they are overpriced and often quite selfish and conceited. In addition, they are more than introverts in need of recognition. Not without reason, among other properties of extroverts, such as impudent, noisy, self-centered, poseur are called.

Introverts, on the other hand, are considered quiet, modest and shy, and at first glance they have less ambition. They don't care what others think of them, they are in their own world.

Here, too, everything is not quite so: extroverts are open and communicate more easily, but they can also be shy, can be embarrassed and sometimes do not feel confident in their abilities. Introverts, on the other hand, see and feel much deeper than extroverts, and often know what they want from life, and go to this not in such obvious and direct ways as extroverts, but still quite stubbornly and persistently. Like water that flows slowly, having met a stone, flows around it and continues to swim along its route further, as if not noticing an obstacle.

However, despite the duality of the properties of introverts and extroverts, still belonging to one or another type of personality affects the size and properties of a person's ambitions.

Ambition: good or bad?

So, being an ambitious person is still good or not? Each person will answer this differently. As for us, we believe there are "two sides of the coin", and now you will understand why.

An ambitious person goes to his goal, sometimes not noticing that he offends someone, crushes with his pressure, crushes weak people under him. Is it good or bad? Certainly bad. A decent and educated person, in order to achieve his goals, does not need to “go over the heads” and achieve success at the expense of the failure of others.

However, not everything is so bad. In life, the most important thing is to achieve that very balance between getting your own way and not harming others at the same time. This is exactly the “golden mean”, adequate ambitions, which we spoke about above.

If you are well educated and understand that in achieving your goals you do not need to infringe on the interests of others, step on their dignity, you will achieve what you want without making enemies for yourself.
Of course, you need to believe in your success, and also that you deserve success! Always and under all circumstances, you need to believe in it. However, if necessary, you need to “give way” to others, help others, and just as much wish the success of other people as well as your own. It is difficult to learn this, and it appears only from the nobility of the soul and wisdom, as well as from the notorious property “to love your neighbor”. Not everyone is capable of this, of course, we are all human and for the most part selfish.

This is a personal choice for each person. A little impudence in life does not hurt, but still you need to try not to be “in a vacuum”, not to go blindly towards your goal, not noticing other people, but to keep pace with someone, choose a wise, experienced patron and trust him, and measure your capabilities to the tasks that you set for yourself - as well as to have enough common sense not to blame anyone but yourself in case of failures, and to gain experience from these tasks.

And further…

Believe in yourself, believe in your strength, be grateful for everything you have and strive for more. Look around you and help other people achieve their goals. Believe me, this will bring much more benefit to both them and you, because the self-perception of a generous and kind successful person is better than a lonely and proud successful person. Both there and there you are successful, but what do you have besides success? Loving and devoted friends, proven over the years, reliable partners, or a snake ball of ill-wishers, eagerly watching your mistakes? It's up to you to decide. Be honest, kind and patient! And you will be rewarded.

Someone treats ambitious people negatively, considering them snobby snobs, and someone does not hesitate to call himself an ambitious person and is proud of it. But what is ambition, really? Is it a positive or negative quality? Let's try to figure this out.

Ambition - 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 are inflated claims, and swagger, as well as arrogance and unhealthy pride. Russian culture did not honor ambitious people and labeled 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 is positive. Such people are valued by employers because they always strive for more, set high goals and achieve them.

Today, when Russia also began to strive for a capitalist future, the attitude towards ambitious people began to change. In business, timid, insecure individuals are not valued. 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 all costs, get more than you have at the moment, change your life for the better, set high goals and get what you want. Very often, the ambitious do not have how they can achieve the task, 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 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 vastly distant future, it seems risky and dangerous, and it is ambition that makes it so. Synonyms of 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 further. 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 ambition in 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, as he understands that without development there will be no movement towards the goal. He is aware of the need to adapt to the 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 contributes to his progress.

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

Thirdly, such a person will always be easier than others to climb up the career ladder. Often ambitious people achieve more success 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 can realistically achieve. And only achieving heights, he feels genuine satisfaction.

Now you probably understand better what ambition is in character. 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 vogue today, many are wondering how to develop ambition in themselves. And is it even possible? It must be said right away that ambitions are not born. This quality is acquired in the process of personality development and is laid from childhood. An important role in the formation of a person's ambitions is played by his own parents. If they encourage all the successes of the child, rejoice for him and praise him, then such a person grows up more self-confident, and with age he has ambitions.

And if parents mostly scold the child and do not pay due attention to his achievements, then most likely he will grow up devoid of ambition, downtrodden and insecure.

There are also situations when children whose parents do not provide them with proper support grow up and strive to prove to them, to themselves and at the same time to the whole world, that they also deserve something. Such people are trying to challenge society, and their ambitions are often painful.

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

unhealthy quality

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

What kind of people can be said that their ambitions have gone beyond and become unhealthy? First of all, the claims must be backed up by something. If a person really has some ability, 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 ambition can set himself unrealistic goals, as he overestimates his capabilities too much. 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 others difficult tasks. He can even act arrogant, as if he has already achieved a lot. This is what ambition means in an unhealthy and ugly form.

healthy claims

A person who adequately assesses his abilities will never set himself unrealistic goals. He will aim for lofty but achievable goals. Having reached them, he will continue his movement to new ones. A person with healthy ambitions strives for self-improvement, for each day to be 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 is able to correlate the complexity of the task with the timing of its implementation, will not set for himself too complex goals that need to be achieved in a short time.

That's what ambition is in the positive sense of the word.

Good or bad?

Undoubtedly, a healthy ambition is a useful quality of character. She helps him move forward and improve his life. The main thing is that in his striving for success, a person does not go too far and does not turn into a victim of his own claims.

If people with unhealthy ambitions work in a 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 turn to another, more competent person for help, because this will deal a blow to his morbid pride. Therefore, the work may generally remain unfulfilled or its result will be unsatisfactory.

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

What professions are suitable for such people?

Personalities with healthy ambitions are suitable for almost any profession, since everywhere they will be able to achieve some 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 end 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 ranked yourself among the low people, you should not be upset. For such a person, there are also many good professions. Since he values, first of all, professional stability 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 field, where there is a high one. There is always a shortage in the labor market in the field of administrative personnel, 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 quality of character can be both good and bad, depending on whether the person has healthy or inflated ambitions.

We hope that after reading this article, it became clear to you what ambition means.

Good day, dear reader. In this article, you will learn about what an ambitious person means, what are the characteristic manifestations of this quality. Find out how ambitions affect a person's life, figure out how to manage them. You will learn how to develop ambition in yourself.

Definition of the concept and classification

In our time, ambition is seen as a strong need to act, to go to the goal, to success, striving for prosperity. When wondering what ambition is, you need to understand that there is no single definition. However, they all have the same meaning - to get what they want in any way possible.

An ambitious person is a person who has no doubts about achieving success, there is confidence that he will be able to easily cope with any task. Such a person does not know the words “impossible”, “I can’t”, “it won’t work”. He confidently says that he is able to achieve any goal. The only difference is how much strength he needs to achieve the result. There are also the following definitions of an ambitious person:

• an individual for whom his superiority is not so important as the ability to prove to everyone that he can achieve a lot;
• a person who sets goals and successfully achieves them;
• an individual who can go to a certain self-sacrifice in order to prove to everyone that he can achieve what he wants;
• a successful strong-willed person who achieves a lot in life is an accomplished person.

Others see arrogance and selfishness in the character of ambitious people. However, these qualities are more characteristic of individuals with high ambitions.

Some people admire the ambition of others, especially their desire to achieve their goals, to overcome all obstacles. People try to be like them, to develop ambitions in themselves, to strengthen them. However, there are also individuals who do not consider ambitious individuals to be normal people, do not strive to be such, are sure that considerable heights can be achieved if they perform their standard functions.

A person who has good ambitions is very energetic, sets goals for himself, gives himself motivation in further development. Changes in the life of such a person occur quite often, because he is very active.

I bring to your attention examples of ambitions:

• a girl from the village comes to the metropolis in order to escape from her backwater and achieve great heights;
• a guy who enrolled in acting, aspires to become a famous actor;
• a girl who has set herself the goal of capturing a rich man is doing everything in order to get him.

Ambitions include:

• destructive and healthy;
• imperial and political;
• adequate and overpriced;
• career and championship.

There are big and small ambitions:

• big goals and plans - situations when a person sets very high standards for himself, for example, dreams of becoming a director of a company in which he currently works as a courier;
• small ones are mainly formed with low self-esteem - a person does not see his own merits, deliberately underestimates his status. For example, a situation where an individual is an excellent specialist, they want to give him a promotion, but he refuses, as he considers himself unworthy of a new position.

Each person has some level of ambition, for some it does not manifest itself at all, for someone it is too high. It all depends on the specific abilities and capabilities of a single individual.

1. Low ambition. Such individuals very rarely manage to achieve good results, to be successful. As a rule, these are shy, modest, insecure people. They have practically no desire to achieve something, to strive for something. Such a person will be happy with what he has. The difficulties that arise on his way will be frustrating, he will try to avoid them.
2. Adequate. Synonyms for such ambition are ambition and arrogance. Such a person strives for heights, however, sets himself goals that are quite achievable. This individual is able to adequately assess their capabilities. When such a person completes the task, he does not stop there, sets himself new goals, tries to conquer them. The presence of healthy ambitions in a person contributes to self-improvement. These individuals are interesting interlocutors, it is pleasant to communicate with them, they are good listeners, they listen to what others say, they are not imposed. A person with this level of ambition will prove to himself the viability of his image, but will not demonstrate himself, pointing to his own superiority.
3. Elevated. Such a person is overly self-confident, often exaggerates his abilities, does not know how to adequately assess his own abilities, extremely rarely completes the assigned tasks, often does not finish what he started. When something does not work out, he blames others or external factors, but not himself. In the team, such people are not taken seriously, they are not entrusted with important tasks. The unhealthy pride of these personalities repels people, because of it there are problems with communication, loneliness.

Characteristic manifestations

If a person is ambitious, ambition will manifest itself in various areas of his life.

1. Career. In order for a person to have the opportunity to move up the career ladder, he needs integrity. For ambitious individuals, their financial situation and high social status are very important, which is what they strive for.
2. Professional activity. Even if a person in his professional activity does not have the opportunity to move up his career, then ambition will still be useful to him. After all, he wants to be a good specialist, he will improve his skills, engage in self-development, aggravate his interest in a certain area, develop in it.
3. Marriage. Ambition is not a positive trait for family relationships. The problem is that ambitious individuals can overwhelm their partner with their countless aspirations. In order for the ambitions of one of the spouses not to interfere with the life of the other, it is necessary to learn how to control them.
4. Children. Often parents make a mistake when they try to realize their ambitions in children. And you need to do everything so that the child develops a desire to achieve goals that are interesting to him, to stubbornly go to victory. Only in such a situation can he grow up strong, self-sufficient and independent.

There are a number of advantages of ambition:

• the need to achieve great success;
• self-development;
• assistance in achieving the goal;
• motivation that allows you to go through all the difficulties that arise along the way.

How to develop ambition

1. Learn to objectively evaluate your abilities and actions. To do this, you need to try to look at yourself from the outside, think about the topics “what are you like”, “can you change?”.
2. Understand your desires, clearly formulate them, think over acceptable ways to help in the implementation of plans.
3. Be completely confident in yourself and your abilities, do not be afraid of mistakes, realize that they are given to us for experience, draw conclusions from them.
4. Prioritize, do it right, set only achievable goals. When results are obtained on them, set even higher standards for yourself that were previously beyond your power, and try to achieve them.
5. Learn to adequately respond to mistakes, admit them, listen to what others say, do not be offended by their criticism.

How to communicate with an ambitious person

Sometimes among acquaintances a person with high ambitions can be found, with whom it is quite difficult to communicate. If you still want to keep in touch with him, you need to follow certain tips to help improve the relationship.

1. When you are around such a friend, do not mention the success of other people.
2. Do not talk about your achievements, try not to remember them when an ambitious person is nearby.
3. Point out to a friend their uniqueness, beauty, and genius.
4. If you know that this person has some awards for his victories, ask them to demonstrate.

When ambition is too high

If a person notices that his ambitions have taken over him, you need to learn how to suppress them.

1. You have realized that you have inflated ambitions, let them be inside you.
2. Take more time to think, meditate, acknowledge your own emotions and feelings.
3. Love yourself. Then you will be less likely to look for love in someone, you will stop controlling everyone.
4. Decide what is of great value to you, understand that you don’t need to argue with someone about something, realize your tasks and goals.

Now you know what ambition means and what an ambitious person is. As you can see, with a normal level of ambition, a person achieves considerable heights, however, inflated ambitions interfere with normal life, affect relationships with other people.