About Being Ambitious

“Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.” ~ Mark Twain

Do you think of yourself as being ambitious? Is there a plan inside your mind hidden from everyone else that strives to supersede the achievements of all others? Is this driving force inside of you something you value? Does it bring you joy and a sense of satisfaction? Or does it leave you exhausted with a sense of “never going to be enough?” How do you define ambitious?

Ambition the word was originated from ambio, to go about after the practice of Roman candidates for office, who went about the city to solicit votes. It is defined now as a striving for excellence or superiority and this superiority follows applaudable ambition. There is also a sense of the word that means an inordinate striving for power.

Again, do you think of yourself as ambitious, and which sense of the word more correctly describes how you use this motivation? On the positive side, we can say “I am truly motivated to succeed” while on the negative side, you may be seen as a dominating ego-maniac, unconcerned about the others you step on as you climb to the pinnacle of what you deem to be success.

In this article, I’d like to address both sides of being ambitious. I’d love to think that you will see which side you are on and if the side needs improving, you will decide to change and do that.

In the process of unfoldment, as we develop a sense of Self from our baby stage, through our toddler stage, into the young adult stage and then, finally, the adult stage, our sense of Self changes drastically. These changes accompany the unfoldment of our ability to reason rightly about our life experience and to unfold a sense of self-sufficiency.

Because life is a mental experience, as our sense of Self become larger, stronger and more about understanding, our bodies change to reflect those very changes inside our minds. Babies don’t know they can walk, so their bodies reflect that. As they figure out the can walk, their bodies reflect that.

Just as simultaneously as light emits light, our sense of ambition also unfolds and pictures itself forth via our bodies. We may ambitiously desire to walk, to run, to kick a ball. We strive for these accomplishments until we unfold the ability to reflect via our bodies the desires inside our minds.

Some individuals decide early on just how much is enough in this ambition area. And some individuals decide early on that they want it all; that they’ll do whatever it takes to get it all; and they don’t care who gets hurt in the process. And somewhere along the line as you moved from the baby to the youth to the adult stage, you decided precisely where to place your focus. You decided on how to define ambitious for you via school, your body, your possessions, your spirituality, your career, your politics, or your country. And you also decided how much focus and power you’d place upon this ambition.

I believe it’s wise to gain a balance of success in all the areas above. If you notice that you have a larger proportion in only one area, you may want to re-consider how you’re using the powerful tool of being ambitious.