Why ambition can be bad?

Ambition is a trait that, typically, is not bad or dangerous. Ambition can be what helps someone achieve their life goals or cultivate resilience for someone when things don’t work out the way they planned. However, just like with most personality traits, too much of something can be bad. Furthermore, all it takes is just a slight tweaking of one’s circumstances to transform one harmless ambition into something more sinister and hurtful.

The first thing to consider is what exactly ambition is. Ambition refers to the feeling of desire that is often associated with setting and achieving goals or obtaining success. This is different from the drive, the actual “push” that one intrinsically possesses that helps them take the necessary steps forward in accomplishing short- and long-term goals related to their ambitions. Ambition can take the form of either extrinsic ambition (goals and desires that are focused on external rewards) or intrinsic ambition (goals that come from a place of internal individualized meaning that is based on/defined by the person).

So, how can this go awry? Ambition can sometimes cloud a person’s judgment when taking strides and making moves that they perceive as necessary in bringing them “closer” to their goals. Someone might not have any issues with undermining or being deceitful towards others if it means that they can accomplish what they have set out to do. This person might not be someone who, under normal circumstances, would do things such as lie or manipulate. But, if heightened ambition geared towards accomplishing their goals becomes the central attribute that they rely on in this situation, they might find themselves doing “out of character” or even dangerous.

Ambition can also cause someone to doubt themselves and fixate on their “failings” when their definition of success derives from extrinsic ambition or external validation. For people who are very strict and inflexible in their definition of success (such as situations where the obtaining of money or fame is essential to their perceived achievement), a high ambition that is motivated by these factors can turn into a trait that leaves a person constantly questioning their decisions and their abilities. So, is ambition bad? The answer is more complicated than “Yes,” or “No.” Ambition can be a very positive trait if it is implementedhealthilyy. However, if the right set of external and internal circumstances present themselves, ambition can turn into something with potentially harmful consequences.