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Ambition is a person's desire to get a high position, certain honors, to achieve visible success, recognized by the environment and ideally having a specific dimension, expressed in grades, numbers, awards, trophies. For an ambitious person, it is important to have the highest results. The concept of ambition is revealed through its two roots and denotes the love of honor.

Ambition meaning of the word is synonymous with vanity. In its extreme expression, ambition can aspire to greed, which, however, is closely connected with the acquisition of precisely material benefits, while vanity and ambition use specific physical benefits only indirectly.

What is ambition

An ambitious person himself can be aware that wherever he finds himself, everywhere he is ready to impose his own rules, even on people whom he has just come to know. Recognition of a mistake brings him painful sensations, the thought that he deserves more does not leave him. An ambitious person wants to have no competitors in any field other than himself. for him there is an engine of progress, a means to achieve personal goals. Such a person does not stop at what has been achieved, constantly strives for more, and, therefore, becomes stronger, ready to work more and improve.

Vanity and ambition make the individual selfish and even unpleasant to others. takes possession of a person and makes him look at the world from a distorted angle. ceases to meet the current conditions. It already seems to a person that he has the right to impose his opinion on others, he becomes quarrelsome in a team, it is difficult for him to find a common language with his environment. The thirst for success forces us to enter into a deal with conscience, to go over our heads for the sake of victory. Such individuals often end up achieving their goals, but remain lonely, with an abundance of mental trauma and emotional blockages.

Psychoanalyst Karen Horney explored the concept of ambition as one of the neurotic needs - a painful desire for personal achievement. It depends on whether you manage to be the best. We all come across an example of neurotic ambition already at school, we know children suffering from a low grade received, that there is a blow to them for them. In adulthood, this develops into a desire to be the best lover, writer, sportsman, to have the highest performance in production, prestigious awards, and earn the most.

Neurotic ambition is less harmful to others than other neurotic needs of the predatory type, because it is directed at its owner. Ambition has a destructive effect on him personally, brings an inability to accept himself as he is, to the full extent and with all natural, feelings, experiences to live his life. Such a person must definitely get grades, prove through his activity, first of all, to himself - his “I” exists and has weight. It is extremely important for him to capture, fix his activity in order to present its results to others as proof of his existence. This directly affects whether the neurotic can reduce the level, which goes off scale, if he does not have visible, visible evidence of his productive and productive activities.

Neurotic ambition forces a person to destructive actions - the desire to defeat his obvious or imaginary rivals, to win in competition and competitive struggle in any way.

How to reveal that ambition has a neurotic character? Its symptom is acute, which in neurotic vanity is perceived as humiliation. Another factor is the relentless pushing of oneself to greater accomplishments, which occurs despite the ongoing anxiety. Awards and trophies do not bring joy to such a person, there is no experience of genuine deep satisfaction from them. Achievement only pushes you to even higher levels, which will help you deal with anxiety. They simply reduce anxiety, feeling for a short time - they calm the inner critic, the internalized accuser. Such a neurotic has no peace with himself, he does not accept himself.

Ambition, how to get rid of

If you have begun to notice that your child has begun to show symptoms of neurotic ambition, you need to convince him that you will love and accept him, even regardless of what mark he brings from school. And let you feel your unconditional love. Tell him stories about failures from the lives of those around him, stories related to falls - with the aim that by these examples the child learns to feel that all failures are just feedback. Try to reduce the fear of failure so that it is not associated with humiliation, thereby redirecting or softening neurotic ambition, making it less sharp and painful. In general, as for other neurotic needs, according to Karen Horney's approach, in order to resolve this complex, it is important to weaken the idealized image, inflated ideas about oneself, learn to accept oneself, treat oneself without hatred and contempt.

There is an interesting opinion that ambition, in contrast, is the main driving force of mankind. A person constantly wants more, looks at others and celebrates their successes: a promotion, a new car, a vacation in a trendy resort with an abundance of impressions.

Ambition gives rise to an unwillingness to feel like a loser and win from everyone and constantly. Indeed, it draws a person forward, learning from others and receiving examples - he has to his own success. People create innovative technologies, develop science, someone has been in space, invented social networks, and the rest are drawn to the best, trying to acquire it and prevail. And so humanity moves forward thanks to ambition and. But is such ambition the only and true guarantee of strength and success?

At the same time, many do not agree with such a view, arguing that true ambition is not needed, ambition can even be a sign of the lack of talent and it.

Ambition can have a different nature. That ambition, which is associated with a thirst for possession and domination, is usually considered a negative quality. In contrast, some highlight a healthy passion that motivates and helps to reach the top after talent.

There is an aesthetic theory of Chukovsky, that only what a person does not want is good. That is, non-pragmatic activity brings brilliant results. An example is Steve Jobs, who became a truly great businessman not because of the desire for money, success, honors. He was fascinated by the idea of ​​creating a fundamentally new and very valuable for mankind, putting all his strength into his aspiration. That is, for success, you need to set yourself a high, ambitious goal, which should not be pragmatic - but higher than just the desire, for example, for money, which will only be a consequence.

Or maybe ambition is the desire for immortality? The desire to leave something behind. “I owe all the best in me to death.” After all, if our life were not finite, if it were not for the need to realize ourselves in this allotted area of ​​\u200b\u200blife, then there would be no incentive to create, stand out, be remembered, leaving a mark. The idea of ​​death strongly pushes to leave some recognized values, a good or famous name, which is a kind of synonym for honor. From this point of view, ambition reveals the meaning of the word not through love for honors, but as a striving for personal honor. And this motivation is considered harmonious, as it contributes to true growth. So we can talk about ambition at different levels.

Is ambition good or bad?

Where is the line between healthy ambition and ambition? For example, an athlete or an actor must consider himself the best - otherwise he will not achieve high results. Self-confidence, positioning himself as the best and belief in this move him to work hard on himself. Looking at the views on this issue over the past 2000 years of history in different currents, we will even see contradictory approaches in religions. In Orthodoxy, the dogma of self-abasement permeates the dogma with a red thread. Career, self-esteem, the desire to be the first, to reach heights and prove something to yourself or your environment - are considered bad, following the instructions of the Bible, to be the last. In contrast to them, modesty, self-abasement, awareness of one's insignificance and humility are cultivated as the only way out. Ambition here is associated with pride and is considered a sin.

In Catholicism, there is already a different approach - a person must be respected, not stoop to self-abasement and sprinkle ashes on his head. A person here is no longer bad, but in Protestantism he is completely good - success, work, money, well-being are considered as gifts from above, a blessing. This approach contributes to advancement in life, creation even at the level of an entire nation. Beautiful architecture, comfortable cars, quality things and a good education - this is what we associate with the European and American ways of life, professing Catholicism and Protestantism. However, with an excess of attention to such benefits, the line between healthy ambitions, a generally positive desire for success and ambition is lost, success becomes an end in itself, subordinating all aspirations of a person.

The approach, rather characteristic of Orthodoxy, that it is necessary to preserve the soul and fight the passions of ambition - in its excess also gives distortions in the human soul, envy of more successful people and a craving for comfort appear simultaneously with extreme condemnation, which splits the psyche, forcing a person to use a whole set of mechanisms. Which, in the end, does not contribute to the victory over ambition, but, on the contrary, polarizes the psyche and gives new momentum.

Of course, the truth is in the middle. With a more careful, scrupulous study, we will restore the balance by finding a common original meaning, which later developed into opposing currents. The instruction to sit down in the last place sometimes looks somewhat manipulative, as if I deliberately humiliate myself, and secretly with the same thirst for success, I hope that they will elevate me. This is an allegorical instruction, but it has a deep meaning. Do not sit in first place - do not try to be a leader in form. And sit on the last one, first becoming it internally and proving with all your being that you are the first - so that it is recognized by the people themselves. At the same time, elevation itself here should not have significance for a person, but only deep inner work on oneself, which bears fruit, and is not an end in itself. Self-abasement is an extreme, which is also confirmed by other gospel advice - for example, to knock so that it is opened, to seek and acquire, not to bury talent in the ground. It shows that if you believe, then everything can be achieved. Faith that moves mountains gives high self-esteem, which, together with hard work, leads to success.

It turns out that it is an active life position that is preached in Christianity. No need to worship the first place or money, by all means reach out to them for the sake of honor and pride. This is revealed in the instruction not to try to serve two masters - God and Mammon, where Mammon personifies earthly blessings. They are not bad in themselves, like wealth, which is not evil, but good, if it is a means to high ends. And the line between ambition and ambition is reached in the Christian position by the fact that a person’s attention should not be focused on gaining honors, he should not dream of self-exaltation, and being exalted by other people, maintain modesty and continue to work on himself. It is this formula that leads a person to true victories, lays the mechanism for success.

Speaker of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"

Strives to become the best in his field - this is always commendable and deserves respect. However, when human ambitions force them to commit immoral acts, society does not accept such a person. What is ambition and if a person is ambitious - is it good or bad?

What is ambition?

Psychological dictionaries say that ambition is a desire fixed in the human character to achieve success in accordance with personal goals in various areas of life. When compared with purposefulness, this term is aimed at personal goals, and not at altruistic ones. In contrast to greed, ambition is partly understood as obtaining material gain. This concept is the subject of ethics, psychology, pedagogy and other equally important humanities.

Sometimes the question of an ambitious person becomes relevant - is it good or, on the contrary, is unacceptable in society. In a good sense, ambition drives a person for any achievements in their activities. In other words, a person does everything in order to do his job perfectly. At the same time, he may have a desire to stand out, be in the spotlight, get flattering reviews, climb the career ladder.

However, such a person will always do his job at a high level and you can rely on him. Without such a quality as ambition, it is impossible in sports, competitions and other competitions. Here people tend to strive for victories and these are quite healthy ambitions. However, there are situations when a person can completely forget about decency to achieve goals, loves flattery and to please, then this is not very good and can even be called vanity.

Ambition and vanity - differences

If a person is ambitious, this means that he certainly strives to be the best in various areas of life, and this cannot but inspire respect. Being a very good specialist in your field and at the same time responsibly treating your work cannot but be an example for others. This is the main difference between ambition and vanity, where there is an excessive attraction of attention to one's person. There is a fine line between vanity and ambition, when one of these qualities can turn into another. In such situations, a person can praise his own merits.

Ambition and ambition

Ambitiousness is understood as ambitious claims, the desire to achieve the set goals. Here is the desire to obtain a certain status, to achieve a worthy position. When it comes to healthy people, we are talking about all those motives that encourage a person to strive to become more successful. Thanks to them, there is a desire to achieve their goals and become more successful. However, if ambition is not justified by anything, then a person can look very funny.

Ambition can be very beneficial for every person. So, it is difficult to do without it for those who want to climb the career ladder. Here, the winner can be the one who, in addition to professionalism, also has such important qualities. Ambition often helps in sports as well, since a strong-willed person is unlikely to agree that participation is important. He will certainly want to be the winner.

Arrogance and ambition

Ambition is often associated with arrogance. This is due to the fact that it is important for a person to be sure that he can still achieve his goals. However, if at the very start he doubts, then his goal will be unrealizable. People with ambition cause ambiguous attitude. On the one hand, they delight, because they know what they want, but on the other hand, they can cause negative emotions, because they can commit immoral acts. Sometimes this happens when it comes to painful ambition. This quality becomes good or bad in the hands of the person himself.

Ambition and reputation

Everyone, or almost everyone, worries about their reputation. This is especially true for people in high positions. They try to do everything in order not to spoil their own face in the eyes of others. It will depend on whether a particular person has the honor of ambition. So, if a person strives to achieve success in his profession and at the same time tries to fulfill his duties perfectly, he has every chance to earn respect in the eyes of others.

How to develop ambition?

Having ambitious goals is good. If you want to develop ambition, here are some valuable tips:

1. Positive affirmations should be repeated as often as possible. This is such a statement, reminiscent of compliments to yourself. They can help improve self-esteem and problem-solving skills in stressful situations.
2. It is important to focus on what you can get and think less about what you can lose.
3. You need to think of failure as a process of elimination.
4. You should enjoy successes, but at the same time do not get hung up on them.
5. You need to set specific goals and at the same time create a strategy to achieve them. Definition of short-term and long-term goals. Here it is important to reward yourself every time you achieve your goal.

Ambition in Orthodoxy

The Orthodox religion claims that ambition is a sin. A real Christian shouldn't be like that, because it might upset God. The Christian religion says that every person should be modest and not stand out. The Bible tells about the fact that during the life of Jesus Christ, healing the sick, avoided glory and honor. The Holy Gospel says that such a vice as hypertrophied ambition should be avoided.

An ambitious person is an individual who strives to be better than others. He wants to be richer, more successful, more recognizable, he wants to achieve success with which he can surpass other people. or bad? What is the reason, and what are the motives of people who want superiority over others?

Conversations about what it means to be ambitious often come down to endowing people with a thirst for power, subjugation of other people and showing superiority over others. But it is not so. Ambition is a healthy human desire to become better. This is an incentive to develop and move on, grow above yourself and constantly improve. Ambition is given to us at birth in an embryonic state and gradually develops throughout life. And it is on its correct development that the adequacy of the perception of one's goals and the means by which they will be achieved depends.

Development is always a positive process. And the ambition of a person makes him move forward and overcome himself and his laziness. This quality is very important in people's lives and gives them the opportunity to achieve success and fame. After all, otherwise there would be no famous scientists and discoveries, inventions and progress of all mankind.

An ambitious person is an individual who strives forward. He mobilizes his inner hidden resources and makes them work for his own good. It helps a person to set difficult goals for himself and achieve them by working on himself and improving himself.

An ambitious person is a winner by nature. He strives to be the first and win both in competitions and in life. The desire to be the first makes him go forward and not stop there.

But the desire to be the first always and in everything can play not only a positive role. Very often, the thirst for superiority over other people pushes a person to unseemly acts. An exorbitant craving for fame, wealth, success or fame leads to a constant race for an unattainable goal and makes a person behave ugly and meanly towards other people, go over their heads, being alone.

Speaking of how ambitious are you? Synonyms for this word often include the word "vain". Such a person seeks to occupy a high position both in life and in society, using any goals for this. The goals and aspirations of such a person are always self-centered. He listens only to himself and always acts in his own interests, not neglecting the opportunity to bypass competitors by dishonest methods.

Do not confuse these concepts. Kindness to other people and to their successes is what first of all characterizes an ambitious person. This radically distinguishes him from vainglorious individuals and firmly delimits these concepts.

Everything should be in moderation. Ambition is necessary for a person in life to develop and achieve their goals. It has a positive impact on all areas of life. And most importantly - do not strive for the impossible. It is impossible to become an outstanding scientist tomorrow if you are still a student today. It is necessary to realistically assess your capabilities, set goals and go towards them. And everything will work out!

Sometimes we reach the goal and think: “How much can you work? It's time to calm down and rest." But for an ambitious person such questions do not exist. As soon as the ambitious conquer one peak, he immediately goes to capture the next. Is this quality always positive? Why is “ambition” considered a negative connotation? How to cultivate healthy ambitions in yourself?

Below are answers to questions and 9 tips for those who want to learn how to win.

What is ambition?

Ambition is a conscious desire of a person to occupy a high position, gain recognition in society, achieve noticeable success, prove his superiority in career, sports, knowledge, and personal life. Ambition is permanent. It either exists or it doesn't. This deep is born in early childhood, develops throughout life, but does not disappear even in old age. It is ambition that does not allow a person to stop and say to himself, i got everything i wanted».

Ambition manifests itself and occupies a grandiose place where it is about money, power, fame, records, dreams of conquering the world, creating something grandiose. It is impossible without the required components: sharpened, ambitious, vanity, high, competitive passion, innovation.

Ambitious is a person with the highest level of claims to himself, others, life. becomes for him a matter of life and death, and desire passes under the motto " achieve everything, no matter what". Moreover, the desire to become the Most-Most never dries up. Accepting challenges, fighting, winning for an ambitious person is as natural as pumping the press.

If we turn to the semantics of the word, then in the Explanatory Dictionary of V. I. Dahl " ambition is the search for external honor, honor, honors". The essence of ambition is fully revealed in the two roots of the word and literally means "love of honor." This concept is studied and discussed in pedagogy, sociology, ethics, business.

Is ambition good or bad?

It so happened that ambition is perceived negatively by people. But this quality is of a different nature.

inadequate ambition destructive to . Its negative sides are expressed in excessive egoism, desire, to get a lot of money. Such a person is what is called "goes over the heads", regardless of others. He, as a rule, does not inspire confidence, respect, and often remains alone.

Adequate ambition- a powerful source of internal motivation and which helps a person pave the way to success on their own. This positive quality encourages you to choose difficult goals, not to stop when you fail, to strive for victories, to constantly be in the process. Ambition in the black is a constructive quality. It is impossible to do without it in sports, management, and entrepreneurship.

Most often, the manifestation of ambition for career growth is considered a phenomenon from Western civilization. In American schools, this quality is not only approved, but, along with competitiveness, is actively supported in students. In Eastern culture, aggressive stubbornness is generally discouraged. However, healthy ambition leads to victory everywhere.

Attitudes towards ambition in religions.

Major religious teachings have opposing views on ambition.

In Orthodoxy is a synonym for vanity, the desire for vain or empty glory. A large part of the Christian life is spent in self-abasement and struggle with sinful habits, and this is impossible without a complete rejection of ambition.

Judaism preaches a transitional stage. On the one hand, excessive ambition and vanity are characteristic of people because of their imperfection. But on the other hand, to wish well-being for yourself and your family is completely natural.

Protestant ethics fully approves ambition, without which the achievements of civilization and a high standard of living are impossible. There is nothing wrong with wanting the best. After all, achievements and prosperity provide his family with a good house, car, education.

Three main factors influencing ambition.

Success for ambitious people is the same physiological need as food and sleep. But besides physiology, other factors work here:

• Self-esteem. According to statistics, people with high self-esteem are more ambitious, demonstrate their superiority more often than others and achieve better results.
• Features of psychology. are more focused on communication and recognition, so success is more important to them. on the contrary, they prefer to get away from the opinions of others, so they think about success less often.
• Family history and upbringing. If a person was brought up in a family where great importance was attached to ambition, he is likely to grow up ambitious. Such people know that a priori others expect them to succeed.

But talent is not considered an obligatory part of ambition. On the contrary, in practice, the most ambitious are people who could do little.

How to gain experience as a winner and learn how to win?

Ambition itself turns into baseless fantasies. But, backed up by perseverance, curiosity, determination, stability, it turns into a formidable force. But sometimes this is not enough for success. Beginners lack the experience of a winner - a feeling that gives confidence in a new victory.

Winners are people with a special mindset and lifestyle. Here are 9 ways that will help you tune in to hard work and learn how to win:

1. Do the hardest. Nothing boosts self-esteem like the thought of conquering your own laziness, procrastination, discomfort, or fear.
2. Define your metrics for success. Success is subjective: what is a victory for one may be a failure for another. Therefore, whether the result will be successful, everyone decides for himself. The evaluation criterion is as follows: if you have achieved what you planned - you have won, if you have not achieved - you are a loser.
3. Prepare for criticism. Everyone who refuses to live inconspicuously, sets bold goals for himself, decides to drastically change his life, is condemned.
4. Develop. The better a person understands his own feelings, the better he understands others, he knows how to correctly assess the situation, and adequately respond to it.
5. forget the word impossible» . Any thought is. Negative thoughts are irrational, destructive in nature. It is impossible to eliminate them with the help of logic, but they can be replaced by constructive installations. I can», « I deserve the best" or " I will do my best and impossible».
6. Get rid of bad habits. Everyone has a personal “demon”: addiction to social networks, obesity, the habit of procrastinating important things. It is enough to take the will into a fist and get rid of at least one. increases self-respect, gives confidence that you deserve the best.
7. Keep promises to yourself. The worst thing a person does to himself is to regularly break promises. This leads to a loss of self-confidence, destroys the foundation of personality. This point concerns not only unpleasant deeds, but innermost desires that are constantly postponed.
8. View failures as challenges. Real winners know how to survive failures, but do not consider them an obstacle. On the contrary, mistakes become a test for psychological stability, a training in perseverance, flexibility, composure.
9. Remember that 80% of what you do will not bring results.. Not everyone knows how to work hard until the moment when something starts to work out. It's one thing to learn a few phrases in English, it's another thing to learn the language every day. Willingness to survive the collapse and move on again is a mandatory quality of the winner.

conclusions:

• Ambition is the desire to be significant.
• An ambitious person is a person with an indestructible desire to succeed.
• Developed ambition is the main condition for self-realization and material success.
• Healthy ambition is one that does not harm others, but helps to realize oneself. Unhealthy leads to self-destruction.
• The person who wins once wins everywhere.

a socio-psychological trait of a person, expressed in the desire to take actions in order to achieve leadership in a team, group (social life, science, culture, etc.). Ch. can act as a stable positive motive that encourages a person to socially significant activities. If Ch. is selfish and leads to careerism, infringement of the rights, freedoms and merits of others, it must be assessed as a negative phenomenon. Giving moral justification to the motives of Ch. of a particular person can contribute to the formation of leadership qualities in her. Ch. can act as a cause of conflicts in the organization, firstly, when it becomes excessive; secondly, if Ch. is reduced to primitive careerism. In the interests of business and the prevention of conflicts, the leader must be able to encourage healthy personal development and prevent careerism from developing among subordinates.

Ambition

desire for external honour, honors, respect, honour, promotion, and consequently a tendency to act in immoral ways.

Like most young ambitious people in literature, he pours out on paper a store of information that he picked up the day before (O. Balzac, Daughter of Eve).

Love is a desirable madness, ambition is a serious stupidity (S. Chamfort).

Ambition embraces small souls more easily than large ones, just as fire embraces straw, huts rather than palaces (S. Chamfort).

We are usually pushed to new acquaintances not so much by fatigue from old ones or by love for change, but by dissatisfaction with the fact that people we know well do not admire us enough, and the hope that people who are unfamiliar will admire us more (La Rochefoucauld).

What we take for nobility often turns out to be disguised ambition, which, despising small benefits, goes straight to large ones (La Rochefoucauld).

In no matter seek earthly glory for yourself: earthly glory fades away for the one who loves it. For a while, like a stormy wind, she breathes on a person, and, having taken away from him the fruit of his good deeds, she soon leaves, laughing at his unreason (G. Constantinople, Stoglavets).

Wed desire for glory; vanity.