Why is that? Why are some people born with a fire in the belly, while others need something to get their pilot lit? And why do others never get the flame of ambition going?
For every person consumed with the need to achieve there's someone content to accept whatever life brings. "Ambition is a revoloutionary product" as defined by Edward Lowe at Soka University of America, in Aliso Viejo, California. "No matter how social status is defined, there are certain people in every community who aggressively pursue it and others who aren't so agressive."
People with goals but no energy are the ones who end up sitting on the couch saying "One Day i'm going to build a better mousetrap."
Assuming you have drive, dreams, and skill, is all ambition equal? Is the successful musician to whom melody comes naturally more driven than the unsuccessful one who sweats every note?
Most troubling of all, what about when enough ambition becomes way too much? (Got someone in mind).. Grand dreams unmoored from morals are the stuff of tyrants.. think Enron..
The 16 hour workday filled with high stress and at the desk meals is the stuff of burnout and heart attacks. Even among kids, too much ambition quickly starts to do real harm. Its not enough for people to be housed and fed, people want more, and thats ok.. but how much is too much? A study done at Ohio State University reported 70% of over ambitious people are stressful and DULL. Their successes amounted to short term bursts of achievement.
"For me, ambition has become a dirty word. I prefer Hunger." Johnny Depp
The correlation of brain activity and persistence is high, and that reflects the drive defined as ambition. Sometimes its the finding something to be ambitious about that becomes the jolt. Franklin D. Roosevelt would have not become a President had his disabling polio not taught him valuable lessons about patience and tenacity.
"Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast that however high we reach, we are never satisfied." Niccolo Machiavelli
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6 comments:
Amen.
Il7amdilah I am in between. I am ambitious but never 3ela 7sab 9i7ity o ra7at baly. Couldn't say that in english for some reason.
I admire ambitious people a lot, but sometimes it can be just too much.
On the other hand, I pity people who have no goal in life. There lives seem to lack meaning.
So I say, better be extremely ambitious in life and have a life that is short and stressful, then a long boring meaningless life.
But then again, life is meant to be enjoyed. Whats the point of work work.
I can never make up my mind these days.
:)
Delicate: Meaning is relative.. coffee with friends can be meaningful to some.. while to others it might be the "i changed the world" feeling that cuts it.. while i understand the ra7at ilbal part.. i personally would rather burn out and achieve something rather than sit at home and watch a movie.. but then again that differs from day to day.. and what if you feel that you can't enjoy without that equal balance of work work..
making up ones mind seems to be difficult everyday.. thats why i chose to be in constant evolution ;)
Homer: Now this seems like something i would agree with.. Edison.. and as far as ambition being a goal we set for ourselves.. i prefer setting a goal then pushing it higher to continue challenging myself.. Great comment
No comment, sorry!
Fucking great post. :)
I find too many people in Kuwait lacking a hunger for self development.
Complacency is rife.
Everyone has their own definition of happiness. So im not going to force ambition/hunger, whatever, down everyones throat.
Im hungry. I always will be. Hungry to better myself, to make an impact on my surroundings. To develop. I dont want fame. I just want to leave behind something bigger than myself. Something that adds value to society.
There is no such thing as the top
entr: Thank you! And i applaud your hunger. In Kuwait the lack of ambition is due to piggy back riding on your family name.. why try when it will be handed to you?
I come from a home where i have paid for everything i want since the age of 12.. so my hunger is not for making my ends meet as much as it is to make my own place in the world.
sounds great. I can relate to u :)
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