When ambition goes wrong what happens?

Ambition can have some benefits to our mood and functioning; it supports better motivation and drives us to make positive changes in our lives.  However, as with anything in life, too much of anything can also have negative effects.  Here are just a few examples of what goes your ambition becomes too much:

• Disregard for social norms: Sometimes when our ambition becomes too intense, we become so hyper-focused on obtaining a certain goal that we will disregard the social norms in our society. You may find yourself engaging in behaviors that would disrupt the community around you.  A simple example would be that if you are urgently trying to arrive at a destination you may decide to park in a handicap spot, despite the awareness of social norms and how your behaviors are impacting those around you.
• Compromise your morals/values: In general, we all have our own set of morals or values that we tend to live by; it helps guide us into making decisions based upon what we believe to be morally sound. However, if our ambition becomes too strong then we may start to “bend” our morals in an effort to achieve a certain goal.  The negative outcome of this is you may start to feel a sense of shame for compromising your values for this goal. 
• Increased emotional turmoil/lability: This goes along with what was mentioned above, but when we become too focused on our ambitions you may notice that our mood becomes a roller coaster. You may experience “highs and lows” from the build-up of ambition.  There will be an adrenaline burst, this excitement and energy will be short-lived though.  During these energy bursts, your judgment may be impaired and you will engage in behaviors that you would not otherwise engage in.  After that short-lived burst of energy, you will experience bouts of sadness and perhaps guilt, depending on the degree of seriousness of poor behaviors being made.  If you do not pay attention to this pattern, you may end up in a cyclic motion that will likely leave you feeling emotionally drained. 

It is best to monitor the range of intensity of your ambition; a mild to moderate amount of ambition would be considered appropriate and healthy.  It is when your ambition reaches a more intense severity that you will likely experience the description above.  Take a self-reflective inventory of your behaviors would be a good way to check-in.