Ambition-
apparently the key ingredient to any successful person’s mindset. Ambition is
the difference between the students in your class that always wants to be the
best at everything they do and the students who don’t really mind taking their
time and generally being average. But is it always a positive characteristic?
Ambitious
people can sometimes be thought of as being dissatisfied, as they have such a
strong desire and determination to reach their full potential.
Some
countries look down on ambitious people, a Japanese proverb states: “The nail that sticks out, gets
hammered down”.
Nassir
Ghaemi (a professor of psychology and pharmacology at Boston’s Tufts Medical
Centre) says that the more self-esteem one has, the more likely they are to be
ambitious as they believe that they are able to achieve more.
Furthermore,
people in Western nations believe that outgoing people with high grades are
also very ambitious. These people care about whether or not people view them
positively. On the other hand, introverts don’t mind how they are viewed and
therefore aren’t as ambitious. It is also believed that if you have a successful
family history you may be more ambitious as it’s expected of you to achieve
high standards.
Are
these judgments fair? Do they really represent ambitious people? In my opinion
when you are ambitious, you just want to succeed, is there really any shame in
that? Why should you follow the crowd? There is only one you and if you don’t
believe in yourself and if you don't try your best, nobody will do it for you.
Ghaemi says this about successful business people: “They have to
be really well liked, but they’re also conformists. They’re not especially creative,
they’re not super productive and they’re not especially innovative. They just
need to be committed to the institution.” Ironically, this statement about
ambition goes against what I believe.
However,
ambition is necessary as a ‘stepping stone’ into the world. Too much or little
of this ingredient can ruin the cake, you need just the right amount to rise.
