Which ambition suits me?

Firstly, before diving into what ambition might be the best fit for you, it is important to distinguish between the two most common types of ambition. Ambition refers to the desire to accomplish goals or achieve success and can be, typically, broken down into two categories: extrinsic ambition and intrinsic ambition. With extrinsic ambition, the goals and desires are more focused on external rewards. These can be material (money, a position at work, the ability to afford expensive things) or non-material (fame and notoriety). Meanwhile, when referring to intrinsic ambition, the goals come from a place of internal meaning that is individually important to the specific person setting them (such as the desire to help others or to feel “accomplished” in one’s achievements).

To figure out what ambition would work best for you, it is important to ask yourself some pretty critical questions about your goals and the desires surrounding them. Ask yourself: What is motivating me? Can it be conceptualized into different “material” rewards, or is it more ambiguous? Do these rewards fit into either of the two categories of ambition? Once you have determined what category these motivations and goals might fall into, it is critical to question the “why” behind the ambition.

Look back on your history of achievements or goal setting and reflect on how you might have come to achieve or fail to achieve these things. Did you focus more on extrinsic ambition or intrinsic ambition at this time? Was that maybe the reason you did not achieve what you would consider “success” around these different ambitions?

Another way to look at which type of ambition is best for you is to think about how you are as a person in general. Sometimes, people have a hard time using their intrinsic desires or motivations to move forward, and they need an extra push from the outside to accomplish their goals. If you think you are one of these people, you might find that extrinsic ambition is more appropriate. However, some people don’t rely on external rewards or motivators to accomplish their goals. These people are typically described as those who “march to the beat of their own drum” and are flexible in how they define “success.” If you think this is more of who you are as a person, then intrinsic ambition might be the better fit for you.