Why ambition is important

Asked by Anonymous
Answered
04/30/2021

Ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.  Ambition is a characteristic that is highly desired.  When working with clients, I often hear them say they find this attractive in friends and partners.  But, why is it important?  I’m so glad you asked!

 Visualize this for a moment:  I want you to picture two people.  For simplicity, we are going to call them person 1 and person 2.  Person 1 has a great idea.  He has thought of the world’s 1st dog chewing gum---and it’s fully digestible!  He also happens to be a chemist and has created said gum. However, he lacks ambition.  So, instead of doing anything with the idea, he shrugs his shoulders.  He decides to see what’s new on Netflix. (This is hypothetical.  Please do not give your dog chewing gum…even if you think it is digestible.)  Now, on to person 2.  Person 2 has the same great dog chewing gum idea!  He is also a chemist and has created said gum (Again, please do not give your dog chewing gum.).  But, this person has ambition.  So, he calls a few pet food companies.  He goes on Shark Tank.  And, in a year—he sells his idea!  As you can see, ambition is the driving force that gets us to do things.  It’s more than having an idea.  It’s what moves us forward.

Ambition is also important because we can choose to be ambitious about anything we want (see above).  You can put your energy into your passion with ambition.  When we are ambitious, it naturally leads us to be persistent, gain experience, be determined, and focus on our objective.  Ambition sees a goal and finds a way to meet it.

When we are ambitious, we build character.  Though we may be ambitious about something, passionate about it, and want to achieve it…it may not always work out.  Let's be honest, the dog chewing gum?  It probably wouldn’t have won on Shark Tank.  However, it most likely would have shown someone that they could work hard, be determined and come up with an original idea.  Without ambition, we are merely a head full of ideas without bringing them to fruition.  Why might ambition be important for you?

(LPC-S, LCPC-S, MS)