What is ambition briefly and clearly. What kind of person is an ambitious person? What kind of person are you

Most of our readers, and we are sure of this, have come across ambitious personalities. Or they themselves are. But if such a person met in a company, then it is easy to identify him. He is self-confident, holds himself "above others", he has inflated demands on his fate. It is these individuals who achieve high results if, in addition to ambition, other characteristic traits of character are used to achieve goals - perseverance, diligence, diligence, dedication, etc. But let's find out how good it is to be ambitious, and what a person's underestimated ambitions mean, why, for what reason this trait is formed.

What is ambition

According to the definition of psychologists, ambition is a certain level of ambition of a person striving to achieve his goals. The main desires of this type are to be in the center of attention on a positive basis, to be held in high esteem and content with the respect of others. Such a person devotes his life to achieving both material and professional benefits by realizing his abilities in various fields corresponding to his interests.

We often say about such people “He will achieve a lot! He needs everything from this life! In cases where a person does not make claims to this life, does not want to achieve much, he is considered a person with an underestimated level of ambition.

And the one who sets ambitious goals for himself and is ready to “gnaw the earth”, just to achieve the goals set, is considered a person with inflated ambitions. Based on everything described, we can present an easy and quickly remembered interpretation of an ambitious person. This is the status that the personality is aiming for - it can be overestimated or underestimated.

How are human ambitions realized?

The term "ambition" in different nationalities is treated differently. For example, since ancient times in Rus', modesty, calmness, balance, respect, selflessness have been held in high esteem. And if someone says that he is ambitious, then he is treated with negativity. Since the word is associated with pride, pride, arrogance. But as far as European culture is concerned, the word ambition is held in high esteem by them. They perceive it as a desire to achieve the set goals, implement plans, and be successful.

It should be understood that the word "ambition" in itself does not translate very positively. In English, "ambition" means vanity, ambition,. And for this reason, in some cases in Europe, the attitude towards ambition is very ambiguous.

There is a fact - ambitious people are often distinguished by swagger, boastfulness, arrogance, and even a deceitful character. They are arrogant, arrogant, cynical and can, as they say, go over the corpses, just to satisfy their ambitions.

A negative attitude towards an ambitious person is often due to the fact that because of his claims, others feel discomfort. For example, if a person has a desire to buy an expensive car, they have to save on the family budget. Of course, in such a situation, such a person will be treated negatively.

The same with a woman for whom the main thing is career growth. She does not want to have children, stays in the office for a long time and does not think that they are waiting for her at home. And it is quite natural that this state of affairs, due to the ambitions of a careerist, causes discomfort.

What are the types of ambition?

As we already know, ambitions are overestimated and underestimated. But let's look at each of them separately.

1. So, inflated ambitions- a person sets goals for himself, but for this he has neither financial, nor intellectual, nor temporal grounds. He behaves arrogantly and snobbishly, boasts, but in fact he is nothing of himself. A simple and accessible example is girls from the outback who dream of becoming stage stars. No, no one is saying that there are no talented people in the provinces. But if we are talking about one that has neither a voice, nor artistry, nor an attractive appearance, then what kind of fulfillment of desires in terms of "stardom" can we talk about?
2. Low ambition- a person sets himself small-scale, simple desires and does not pretend to something more in this life. The question may concern both the choice of the second half, career, material wealth.
3. There is also a third type of ambition - adequate. Already by the name, we understand that the quality is inherent in a smart, intellectually developed, wise person. Such types are able to achieve their goals, but they go towards them gradually, without violating the quality of life of others and taking into account the interests of loved ones. Ambition can relate to different areas of life. Therefore, psychologists also distinguish political, careerist, champion, imperial and other types of ambitions.

Specialists also distinguish between different areas:

Professional. Those who decide to build an excellent career, to achieve a high and well-paid position, to have as many people as possible under their control, have precisely this type of ambition. Quality is inherent in the owners of holdings, offices, enterprises. But if the road to the realization of desires was erroneous, the wrong decisions were made, you can remain a banal workaholic and never achieve what you want. It is important to set priorities on time and correctly and to abandon the secondary, unimportant.

Family. In this case, a person wants to find an ideal soul mate and build in which there will be no place for scandals, omissions. In his dreams, there is always a picture of a family in which there are children, where everyone is friends, communicates, is frank and honest with each other. Well, this is a normal and quite realizable desire. The main thing is not to overdo it with the ideal partner. If you require a spouse (wife) to match the ideal personality, conflicts and rupture are possible.

It is important to understand that ideal people do not exist. And if your picture of the future is disturbed by the usual quarrel, omission, refusal of children to obey and do everything in their own way, you live in an illusory world. Look at yourself from the side. Does your attitude towards others, your character traits and habits correspond to the dreams of an ideal family? It is unlikely that you also have flaws. The main thing is to find love and understanding, and everything else can be experienced.

In the heat of building ideal family relationships, ambitious parents often force their children to live up to their ideals. The demand to study better, to achieve success in languages, the exact sciences and other subjects can lead to a child's nervous breakdown, his rebellion. At one point, he will refuse to do anything at all and, in order to prove his independence, will embark on "all serious".

In order to at least get closer to your desires, you should learn to talk with the child, listen and hear his arguments. Communication, frankness and trust are needed. This is the only way to find a common language. Imposing your ambitious family plans on everyone is stupid and counterproductive.

Financial. Well, we have a lot of like-minded people on this issue. Who among us does not dream of fixing our financial issues. And do it in such a way that you don’t need anything, don’t look for it, don’t borrow, in order to “plug” money holes in the family budget. But believe me, our problems have nothing to do with financial ambitions. Here there is a desire to have a lot, a lot, a lot of money. In this case, unlike normal people who want to live like human beings, everything is aimed at only one thing - to have wealth. In such cases, ambitious people do not think about others, they become greedy, stingy and pragmatic in everything.

Political. We can watch the activities of people with political ambitions every day on TV. These are deputies, officials, political scientists, presidents, chancellors, prime ministers, etc. But it should be understood that such persons do not aim only to occupy any high post. They dream of ruling states and enjoying authority over almost the entire planet. As a rule, future politicians have been fond of political talk shows, magazines, newspapers since childhood. They begin their political "career" while still in school. They participate in the editorial board, publish wall newspapers, hold a post in the school parliament, participate in debate clubs, etc.

Realization of ambitions

Ambition in character drives every individual to action. If they are not there, then you can lie on the couch and admire the successes of others. If there is ambition in the human character, then he sets goals for himself and does everything to get to them.

But it also happens that ambition is a negative character trait. We can talk about positive if a person has reason to hope for the realization of his plans - education, personal growth, knowledge. If a person does not have a basis for the formation and implementation of plans, then ambitions are false. It's like a mirage in the desert, it builds on the sand and disappears in the same way. To understand how this is, we suggest studying a specific example.

“It was in the late 80s. The two girls were close friends. Natalya and Zhanna were the same age, they just studied in different classes. So, Zhanna always studied well and dreamed of entering a medical school. And Natalya, on the contrary, was painful, she studied for triples, but her plans also had an element of grandiosity. She loved languages ​​and dreamed of entering the faculty of foreign languages ​​or journalism.

Both graduated from high school and began to prepare for admission. Zhanna studied non-stop, and Natalya did not seem to miss the days of preparation. But here is the admission, and one managed to pass the exams and become a student, while the other did not. It's just that Natasha's plans were based on "mirages". She did not have the appropriate knowledge and, naturally, she failed the exams.

Years passed, one of her friends, as expected, graduated from high school and began working as a doctor. And the second got married and for a long time did not think about getting an education. Only after family troubles, left alone with the child, Natalya decided to try her luck again. She began to prepare for admission to the university at the Faculty of Law.

She studied at the correspondence department, each time she had to pay extra for passing tests and exams. As a result, she still received a diploma in her hands. But why is it needed for someone who does not have clear, adequate ambitions to achieve success in the legal field? Surely, many guessed that Natasha hid the diploma in a chest of drawers and did not remember about it anymore.

We studied a banal, but very instructive story, Natasha seemed to have ambitions, but there was no desire, firmness to achieve results and work on them. They were false.

Is it possible to fight ambition

If a person’s ambitions prevent him from living or create discomfort for those around him, it makes sense to fight them. But there is one But! It's like being an alcoholic or a drug addict. It is impossible to fix the problem if the person suffering from the “problem” does not want it. If he did not recognize that his ambitions are harmful, then there is no point in doing anything.

In the case when there is agreement, it is necessary to start with an analysis of your actions and activities. It is important to determine the positive and negative character traits. To do this, take a piece of blank paper and write down all the bad things that you notice about yourself. And each time to fight with the negative quality. Of course, you can't fix it right away. But time works for you - keep fighting and you will succeed.

1. You need to learn how to respond normally to criticism from those who really treat you with respect and love. It is not necessary to see a dirty trick, betrayal, deceit in everything. Only people who truly love you can tell the truth. And ill-wishers, watching your baseless ambition, happily rub their hands.
2. If you have a desire to realize your ambitions, pay attention to how adequate they are, whether they correspond to your internal and external potential. If yes - continue, and you don’t need to fight it, if you don’t have the opportunity - refuse and don’t make people laugh. This will help communication with loved ones. Listen to their assessment of your performance and advice. It is not necessary to do everything, but it is still necessary to weigh all the pros and cons in a particular case.

How do ambitions arise?

Most believe that ambition is a hereditary quality. Such an opinion has the right to life, because it is not based on an empty place. Notice who is the ambitious person? Often this is the son or daughter of successful people who have reached great heights. Or the offspring of talkers, braggarts, greedy and mean people who raised their children in the same way. But if you dig deeper, you cannot call ambition a hereditary trait.

Everything is formed in childhood and for this reason children look like their parents. It is adults who can bring up inflated, understated or adequate ambitions in a child. For example, parents of dentists who understand that for a career as a dentist it is necessary to study well, graduate from medical school, and constantly improve. Teach your child to work hard. From an early age, he attends various kinds of circles, sections, goes in for exact sciences, sports, etc.

In the case when children in the family are not fond of anything, but only do what they dream of a successful career in some industry, nothing will be achieved. Their ambitions are too high. And finally, despite the fact that the beloved child is an excellent student at school, gets good grades, attends sports clubs, parents say that he will not achieve anything. This is a perfect example of understated ambition. It is brought up in a child by his parents - pessimists, whiners and losers. Here, more than ever, the saying “water does not flow under a lying stone!” fits.

Ambition is often the product of unreasonable admiration for the actions of the baby. It happens like this - the child picked up a candy wrapper from the floor - and the whole family is simply delighted with a normal act. Then he was able to turn on the TV himself - “wow, what a fine fellow!”. Further, performances in kindergarten, school, and from each such moment, relatives lose consciousness, what an event! That is, ordinary actions cause a violent, unfounded reaction. The kid gets used to easy successes, his ambitions are formed. With age, the child's aspirations grow in line with the growth of needs.

Fortunately, there are many exceptional moments when a child who grew up in a family with inadequate formation of ambitions is able to achieve a lot. This is especially true for those who constantly heard that he would not be able to succeed. But there is no - "I can!". “Why am I worse than others!” He challenges society and proves that everything is feasible, the main thing is to fight low ambitions. And go to the intended goal without stopping and without doubting your abilities.

Modern ambitions - what they look like

Experienced psychologists say that ambition today is the main way to achieve positive results in life. Ambitiousness has become a fashionable character trait, otherwise you will not “live” in our world. We earnestly ask readers not to confuse the ambition of modern man with greed and cynicism.

Let's think, with such competition, a huge number of applicants for a good job, salary, is it possible to "survive" without ambition? No, except perhaps somewhere on the outskirts of the country, with no prospects for the future. But as we already know, they must be healthy, adequate. And the formation of claims is influenced by such qualities as heredity, training and personal moments.

1. Self-esteem - it is very closely related to the claims of the individual. Those who have it too high have an overestimated type of ambition. And with low self-esteem, you should not count on more than low claims. And of course, an adequate level of self-esteem is a healthy claim.
2. Family. In some homes, the main word in raising a child is "should"! Hearing it from childhood, the child grows up to be the one who must justify the desires and expectations of adults.
3. Personal factors - we are all divided into two types of people - introverts and extroverts. The first are closed, do not make contact and live in their own world. The latter, on the contrary, have a high level of communication, easily get acquainted and make friends with people. And of course, these qualities affect ambition. And what is remarkable, introverts often have inflated claims. And extroverts try to please everyone and everything and are not able to achieve much due to an underestimated degree of ambition.

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How to spot an ambitious person

Everything is simple here. If a person has overestimated or underestimated claims, it will not be difficult to consider quality.

Women with claims always represent not only excellent wives, but also diligent housewives. They always have everything clean, perfectly prepared breakfast, lunch, dinner. She will never let her husband and children out of the house in untidy, unironed clothes. Also, ladies with pretensions often visit sports clubs, shaping, fitness clubs, spas. An ambitious woman is smart, she reads a lot, she holds a high position in the company.

Men also stand out because they demonstrate, attend bodybuilding clubs, swing, dress in everything fashionable. And of course, these are bosses who receive high salaries and have a couple of expensive cars in their garage.

We understand that if an individual has achieved something in this life, and did not boast in vain, he has normal, adequate desires, which he achieved through work and efforts. In pursuit of success, such types do not lose their individuality and constantly improve their abilities, grow “above themselves”.

Also, unlike those who have low ambitions, he will never allow himself to be humiliated and insulted, to treat his person without due respect, because during the time of success he was able to develop self-esteem. And constant self-development, the desire to learn new things and not waste time on trifles allows you to gain valuable knowledge and grow up the career ladder even faster.

So, we have studied with you - what are ambitions, how to realize them and what are the types of claims. We hope you were able to extract useful moments from the article and be able to achieve success in your life with their help. The main thing is not to be afraid to act and look like an ambitious person who has only adequate claims to his own destiny in his thoughts.

Ambition - the need for success, achieving more, based on increased claims to life.

Ambitiousness is when you go to the exam, you think that you know 2, and when they put 4, you wonder why not 5.

Ambitiousness is manifested for good if it is of the same height as its carrier itself.

Often, ambitious goals and ideas are born when the “pockets are empty”, and the “head is full”, there are no resources, but there is hope that cardinal, qualitative changes will reveal new sources of their appearance. Not every goal gets the right to be called ambitious. Add to the usual goal a seeming unattainability, a dream, isolation from the current current state, a certain absurdity, paradoxicality, riskiness and the “portrait” of an ambitious goal is in general ready.

An ambitious goal must get out of the general system of ordinary goals and send its creators to where they have not yet gone or been. Initially, she does not even assume on what means she will live; ideas of who will support her come later. Coco Chanel remarked: "If you want to have what you never had, you have to do what you never did."

Only a person endowed with the ability to discern in the objects and phenomena of the outside world the potential for a sharp movement and development can become a generator of ambitious goals and plans. To do this, you need to be the owner of the appropriate personality trait - ambition.

Ambition as a personality trait is interpreted differently in Russian and English. In the dictionary of the Russian language by S. I. Ozhegov, who traditionally reveres modesty, it is negatively colored: 1) heightened pride, arrogance, swagger; 2) claims, claims for something (disapproved). At the same time, in Western countries, ambition is unequivocally ranked as a human virtue, implying the desire to achieve goals, the requirement of external signs of respect, honor. In Anglo-Saxon transcription, the word "millionaire" has a positive meaning, while in Russian it causes envy and hatred. However, this is not a reason to attribute a negative interpretation to the concept of "millionaire".

In the conditions of today's realities, when we are approaching a happy capitalist future with leaps and bounds, the view of ambition has become more friendly and open. Domestic business looked at it with great curiosity as an undoubted virtue, provided it was adequate, solid and realistic. Business captivates self-confidence and professionalism, characteristic of this quality of personality. In a big business, underestimated ambition, timidity, shyness and self-doubt are not encouraged. A person with a lack of ambition, as a rule, is an outcast for big politics, sports and business. Success involves passion, enthusiasm and energy. A person without ambition is a "living corpse" for business. Bernard Shaw once said, as if implying the slogan of reasonable ambition: "Achieve what you want, or you will have to be content with what you have."

The ability to generate and solve ambitious goals seems to be one of the most important personality traits that contribute to success. Reasonable ambition presupposes two-facedness in unity: the ability to want and to be able. “I want” without “I can” turns into a fiction, and “I can” without “I want” into an unguided projectile. Practically it turns out, as in a joke. The woman was asked: “How to call a man who wants, but cannot” - “Impotent” - “And who can, but does not want” - “Bastard”. In this context, Raul Gonzalez remarked: “Ambition is what you cannot do without to climb to the top, and ability is what you cannot do without.”

When ambition, having taken stubbornness, voluntarism, frivolity and unjustified audacity as allies, “crosses the Rubicon” of the permissible boundaries of rationality and rationality, it turns into a harmful utopia that can “sink” any good undertaking. Excessive, inflated ambition with an unjustified, unrealizable level of claims can make a lot of noise and bring tangible harm to the cause in which it is involved.

Unlike ambition, which is usually aimed at solving one's individual, personal goals, ambition is mainly associated with solving corporate, collective, group or public tasks. Therefore, the negative consequences of unbridled ambition are much more painful and widespread.

L. D. Trotsky, who played the “first violin” in the triumph of the Bolsheviks during the seizure of power, became a victim of his ambitiousness. When no one had heard of Stalin yet, he created the Red Army in the battles of the civil war. It was Trotsky who became the author of the idea of ​​defensive detachments, hostage-taking. By order of the “lion of the revolution”, lists of relatives of officers who had gone to the Whites were compiled. Every commander of the Red Army knew that in case of treason, the arrest of his family members would inevitably follow. In the regiment that left the position, every tenth was shot. During the Great Patriotic War, Stalin borrowed his famous order N 227 “Not a step back” from Trotsky.

In a careless triumph of ambition, Trotsky let a more competent and hardy stayer go ahead. While Trotsky was inspiring the Red Army with his incendiary oratorical genius, “a comrade from the Caucasus, Koba, painstakingly and imperceptibly prepared a huge contingent of his supporters in routine personnel work. Trotsky's main trouble in the confrontation with Stalin is ambition, because of it he did not even notice the formidable, mortal enemy. And when I noticed the train, as they say, left. Until the early 1930s, Trotsky regarded Stalin as a second-rate revolutionary from a vast pool of reserves. And he miscalculated. The scheme of Stalin's struggle with Trotsky's ambitions was simple but effective - unconditional recognition of merit, then opposition to the actions of the Central Committee of the party, and, finally, labeling a "renegade" - a bearer of harmful ideas for the cause of the revolution. When, already in exile, but never taming his painful ambitions, Trotsky wrote the lines: “Life is beautiful,” the Mexican communist Ramon Mercader was already delivering his historical blow with a climbing ice ax.

There is an African proverb: "The smaller the lizard, the more it hopes to become a crocodile." Excessive ambition is a consequence of overestimated self-esteem, a discrepancy between the position held and the level of one's own ambitions. It is quite simply diagnosed by other accompanying personality traits. Close friends of such ambitiousness are constant dissatisfaction, excessive pretentiousness, quarrelsomeness, capriciousness and fastidiousness. Painful pride does not allow her to be wrong and therefore she blames others for all her failures. Exaggerating its capabilities, it cannot objectively weigh the complexity of the task.

When the need for competent assistance becomes obvious, overstated ambition will stubbornly prove to everyone that it can handle itself. Well, when everything collapses, she will step aside, pretending that she is here from the side of the burn. If she plays football, then she wants to outdo Maradona, if in politics, then, of course, she wants to become president, if in business, then big. However, it is not business that becomes big, but ranting about it. As they say - great things were waiting for him, but they did not wait. You can't call her a dreamer, although she lives in a world of her own imaginary importance, in which ambition is identified with irreplaceability and unique intelligence. It is unimaginable even to imagine that she would allow the idea that she took up something other than her own and dragged other people into a deliberate adventure. Closed by wounded self-esteem from the perception of third-party advice, she is not able to perceive any criticism.

Inflated ambition with thoughts always in the future. She perceives the present as a sculptor, looking at a raw stone - to cut off the excess from the "here and now", turning it into a substance pleasing to her. But the processed stone is not able to satisfy the exacting requirements of ambition, and she mercilessly continues to destroy the natural monolith, unsuccessfully trying to carve out an ideal form from it.

It is not as easy to tame excessive ambition as it is to force a hungry wolf to guard a flock of sheep. Constant failures, fiascos and life "defaults" make her touchy, irritable and unbearable. In dealing with presumptuous ambition, you need to remember every minute about her extraordinary envy, which extends to the success of even close people. But without rest and sleep, she is ready to listen about her genius, originality and insight.

Ambition usually shows exactly what and how much a person lacks for "complete happiness", for a comfortable existence.

A mind colonized by ambition is doomed to a restless pillow of insomnia.

An ambitious fool is like a soap bubble.

It is foolish to put your head for the realization of other people's ambitions.

A ludicrous sight, a narrow-minded, superficial being brimming with ambition.

Unhealthy ambition is sometimes explained by a burning desire to rise above others and achieve power. If you put her on a par with the personality traits that are comfortable for her, then the following composition will be revealed during the roll call: selfishness, arrogance, indifference, formalism, tactlessness, rudeness, envy, vindictiveness and vindictiveness. An ambitious person recognizes only the stronger and more successful. She is devoid of sympathy, instead she cultivates causticity, categoricalness and maximalism in herself. Before the implementation of ambitious plans, it is always not superfluous to ask questions: “Why do we need to do this?”, “What will happen next?”

One day, a businessman stood on a pier in a small village and watched a fisherman sitting in a flimsy boat as he caught a huge tuna. The businessman congratulated the fisherman on his luck and asked how long it takes to catch such a fish. “A couple of hours, no more,” replied the fisherman. - Why didn't you stay at sea longer and catch a few more of these fish? - the businessman was surprised. “One fish is enough for my family to live tomorrow,” he replied. "But what do you do the rest of the day?" - the businessman did not let up. - I sleep until noon, then I go fishing for a couple of hours, then I play with my children, after that my wife and I have a siesta, then I go for a walk in the village, I drink wine in the evening and play the guitar with my friends. You see - I enjoy life, - the fisherman explained. - I am a Harvard graduate, - said the businessman, - I will help you, you are doing everything wrong. You have to fish all day and then buy yourself a big boat. - And then what? asked the fisherman. “Then you will catch even more fish, and you will be able to buy yourself several boats, even ships, and one day you will have a whole flotilla. - And then? - Then, instead of selling the fish to a middleman, you will bring the fish directly to the factory, and by increasing the profits, you will open your own factory. - And then? - Then you will leave this godforsaken village and move to a big city, and maybe one day you will be able to open a huge office and be a director there. “And how long will all this take?” - Years 15–20. - And then what? - And then, - the businessman laughed, - then the most pleasant will come. You can sell your company for a few million and become very rich. - And then? - Then you can stop working, you will move to a small village on the coast, you will sleep until dinner, fish a little, play with children, have a siesta with your wife, walk around the village, drink wine in the evenings and play guitar with your friends ...

Petr Kovalev 2013

Today, everyone has a different understanding of what ambition is. Someone treats ambitious people negatively, considering them snobby snobs, and someone does not hesitate to call himself an ambitious person and is proud of it. But what is ambition, really? Is it a positive or negative quality? Let's try to figure this out.

Ambition - what is it? Interpretation of the term in different cultures

Different dictionaries give different interpretations. For example, Ozhegov's dictionary gives this word a negative connotation. In Russian culture, modesty has always been valued above all, so the meaning of the word "ambitiousness" is sharply negative. These are inflated claims, and swagger, as well as arrogance and unhealthy pride. Russian culture did not honor ambitious people and labeled them as petty tyrants who needed to be ridiculed in every possible way.

In Western society, a completely different attitude to the concept of "ambitiousness" has formed. The meaning of this word is positive. Such people are valued by employers because they always strive for more, set high goals and achieve them.

Today, when Russia also began to strive for a capitalist future, the attitude towards ambitious people began to change. In business, timid, insecure individuals are not valued. Employers began to be interested in ambitious people who could lead the company to success.

Ambition: definition

In a general sense, the term can be described as the desire to achieve success at all costs, get more than you have at the moment, change your life for the better, set high goals and get what you want. Very often, ambitious people have no idea how they can achieve the goal, but still hope for a positive outcome and strive for the goal, even without any means to achieve it. Most often, ideas come already in the process of moving towards the desired. An ordinary goal differs from an ambitious one in that at first glance it seems unrealizable, it is like a dream looming in the vastly distant future, it seems risky and dangerous, and it is ambition that makes it so. Synonyms of this concept can be given as follows: ambition, pride, pretentiousness, vanity, arrogance, arrogance. An ambitious person can never be satisfied with his current position and will always find something to strive for further. Such people usually become politicians, sports stars, successful businessmen.

Ambitious character

Let's try to draw an approximate portrait of a person who is characterized by the quality we are considering. What is ambition in character? First of all, it is a constant desire for self-development and self-improvement. An ambitious person attends various trainings and seminars, reads professional literature, as he understands that without development there will be no movement towards the goal. He is aware of the need to adapt to the changing environment and at the same time tries not to lose his own individuality. He will always try to learn something new, as new knowledge contributes to his progress.

Secondly, an ambitious person will never allow others to treat him badly, disrespectfully. He has a pronounced sense of self-worth.

Thirdly, such a person will always be easier than others to climb up the career ladder. Often ambitious people achieve more success than more talented, but not so vain.

And finally, such a person always tries to set himself up for a positive outcome, even if he has doubts about the reality of achieving what he wants. He likes to set goals a little higher than what he can realistically achieve. And only achieving heights, he feels genuine satisfaction.

Now you probably understand better what ambition is in character. A person endowed with this quality has a great chance of achieving success in all areas of his life.

How to develop?

Since the quality in question is in vogue today, many are wondering how to develop ambition in themselves. And is it even possible? It must be said right away that ambitions are not born. This quality is acquired in the process of personality development and is laid from childhood. An important role in the formation of a person's ambitions is played by his own parents. If they encourage all the successes of the child, rejoice for him and praise him, then such a person grows up more self-confident, and with age he has ambitions.

And if parents mostly scold the child and do not pay due attention to his achievements, then most likely he will grow up devoid of ambition, downtrodden and insecure.

There are also situations when children whose parents do not provide them with proper support grow up and strive to prove to them, to themselves and at the same time to the whole world, that they also deserve something. Such people are trying to challenge society, and their ambitions are often painful.

Thus, we can say that ambition cannot be developed - this trait is laid down in a person from childhood.

unhealthy quality

Now that we have defined what ambition is, let's try to find out in what cases it is useful, and in what cases it can bring significant harm to a person and his environment.

What kind of people can be said that their ambitions have gone beyond and become unhealthy? First of all, the claims must be backed up by something. If a person really has some ability, it is natural that he has certain ambitions. But when they are from scratch, with a complete lack of abilities in a certain field of activity, it looks ridiculous and stupid.

A person with unhealthy ambition can set himself unrealistic goals, as he overestimates his capabilities too much. He cannot even admit to himself that he is not able to cope with any task, he is ready to work on it day and night, just to prove to himself and others that he can achieve this.

In addition, an overly ambitious person is demanding not only of himself, but also of others. He does not respect people with low ambitions and sets others difficult tasks. He can even act arrogant, as if he has already achieved a lot. This is what ambition means in an unhealthy and ugly form.

healthy claims

A person who adequately assesses his abilities will never set himself unrealistic goals. He will aim for lofty but achievable goals. Having reached them, he will continue his movement to new ones. A person with healthy ambitions strives for self-improvement, for each day to be better than the previous one.

It is always pleasant and interesting to communicate with such a person. A person will not behave arrogantly, on the contrary, by his example, by his successes, he knows how to inspire other people. In addition, such a person is able to correlate the complexity of the task with the timing of its implementation, will not set for himself too complex goals that need to be achieved in a short time.

That's what ambition is in the positive sense of the word.

Good or bad?

Undoubtedly, a healthy ambition is a useful quality of character. She helps him move forward and improve his life. The main thing is that in his striving for success, a person does not go too far and does not turn into a victim of his own claims.

If people with unhealthy ambitions work in a team, this can lead to conflict situations, which, of course, will worsen not only relations, but also affect the quality of work. An overly ambitious person will never turn to another, more competent person for help, because this will deal a blow to his morbid pride. Therefore, the work may generally remain unfulfilled or its result will be unsatisfactory.

Thus, ambition is a good quality only if the claims are not overstated, and a person can realistically assess his capabilities.

What professions are suitable for such people?

Personalities with healthy ambitions are suitable for almost any profession, since everywhere they will be able to achieve some success.

They feel best in leadership positions - they can be excellent middle and senior managers. They can also achieve great success in the field of sales, where the end result of the work matters. Ambitious people are suitable for professions in which there is an element of competition - this constantly spurs their interest and makes them strive for more.

Professions for people with low ambitions

If, after reading this article, you ranked yourself among the people with a low level of claims, do not be upset. For such a person, there are also many good professions. Since he values, first of all, professional stability and does not put career growth at the forefront, he can try himself as an engineer, clerk, economist or accountant.

In addition, people with low ambitions can work in the administrative field, where there is a high turnover of staff. There is always a shortage in the labor market in the field of administrative personnel, because employees who have ambitions usually do not stay long in such positions, for them it is just a springboard for further promotion.

So what is ambition? In a broad sense, this is a person's desire for success. If he sets high goals for himself and strives to achieve them, if he tries to improve the quality of his life and is engaged in self-improvement and self-development, then he can be called ambitious. This quality of character can be both good and bad, depending on whether the person has healthy or inflated ambitions.

We hope that after reading this article, it became clear to you what ambition means.

Ambition

Wiktionary has an article "Ambition" James Tissot's The Ambitious Lady (1883-1885) depicts a young girl whose interest in participating in political discussions excited minds at the end of the 19th century, since politics was considered an exclusively male occupation.

Under ambition(or ambitions) is understood as the desire fixed in the character of a person to achieve success in accordance with personal goals in such areas of life as personal productivity, success, recognition, influence, leadership, knowledge or power. In contrast to purposefulness, ambition is directed more towards personal rather than altruistic goals of a person. Unlike greed, ambition is only indirectly aimed at achieving material gain. Ambition is the subject of ethics, psychology, pedagogy, political science and some other humanities and scientific areas.

Perception of ambition

In Christianity

In Christian ethics, which was based only on faith and imitation of Christ, ambition was considered a vice. The Gospel says: “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”(Mt 23:12). Paul especially warns against ambition in his letters and calls for humility and modesty. Aurelius Augustine is quoted by Luther: "Ambition is the mother of all heresies."

According to Kant

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) writes about ambition:

Man is a creature that constantly fluctuates between public and private good. He needs other people to develop his abilities; however, a person has a tendency to stubbornness, that is, to oppose himself to his neighbors and resist their opinion. From this tendency arises the triad of ambition, love of power and love of money (greed).

Psychological and pedagogical perspective

In psychology and pedagogy, the term motivation corresponds to the concept of ambition. In the concepts of education, the purpose of which is a pronounced focus on results, in addition to the development of intrinsic motivation and skills in academic, artistic or physical training, it is also advisable to apply and teach such competencies as self-efficacy expectation, endurance and diligence.

Ambition from a scientific-political point of view

Political scientist Joseph A. Schlesinger identified three types of ambition in politics in 1966:

• Under progressive ambition he understood the desire of a politician to a higher position than he currently holds.
• static ambition he called the politician's desire to keep the position he now occupies as long as possible.
• Discrete ambition- this is the desire of a politician to achieve a specific political goal or position, without expecting to repeatedly acquire it.

Ambition in literature and cinema

Ambition is the central theme of many literary works. Examples:

• William Shakespeare: Macbeth(England, 1606)
• Stendhal: Red and black(France, 1830)
• Guy de Maupassant: Dear friend(France, 1885)
• Henrik Ibsen: Hedda Gabler(Norway, 1890)
• Klaus Mann: Mephisto(Germany, 1956)

Also in many feature films, the theme of ambition is in the spotlight. Examples:

• muzzle(USA, 1933)
• Citizen Kane(USA, 1941)
• All the king's men(USA, 1949)
• The most beautiful(Italy, 1951)
• All about Eve(USA, 1951)
• Becket(UK, 1963)
• Black Swan(USA, 2010)
• Obsession(USA, 2014)

Literature

• Josef H. Reichholf: Why we want to win. Athletic ambition as a driving force in human evolution. Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt 2009, ISBN 3-596-18366-9.

ambitious is:

ambitious

Dictionary of Russian synonyms.

Ambitious cm. arrogant

Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. - M.: Russian language. Z. E. Alexandrova. 2011.

Ambitious adj.)

Dictionary of Russian synonyms. Context 5.0 - Informatics. 2012.

Ambitious adj., number of synonyms: 19 ambitious (1) important (111) arrogant (37) arrogant (9) proud (41) arrogant (31) puffy (18) arrogant (28) pompous (45) pretentious (20) pretentious (8 ) with ambition (24) proud (15) over-ambitious (3) arrogant (27) conceited (6) swaggering (17) swaggering (18) ambitious (9)

ASIS Synonym Dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013.

What does ambitious mean?

Valentina spornyak

An ambitious person is a person who has heightened self-esteem, excessive self-conceit; he is characterized by arrogance and arrogance. There is a second meaning of the word ambition - outdated. Pride, self-esteem. In this case, a person's ambitions were regarded on the positive side.

Elena

Olga panikhina

Ambition is when self-esteem goes beyond the permissible limit and turns into "a claim for something that one does not really deserve." These are unhealthy ambitions.

Although, this word is also used in a positive sense, in the sense of goals, plans, and other ambitious undertakings of a person. In this case, "healthy" ambitions are added to the word "ambition".
Ambition is when self-esteem goes beyond the permissible limit and turns into "a claim for something that one does not really deserve." These are unhealthy ambitions.

Although, this word is also used in a positive sense, in the sense of goals, plans, and other ambitious undertakings of a person. In this case, "healthy" ambitions are added to the word "ambition".

Well, it's clear that an ambitious person is a person with ambition... and see the difference above.
Well, it's clear that an ambitious person is a person with ambition... and see the difference above.

What does the word ambition mean?

Sergey

Do you think ambition is good or bad? No, seriously, is an ambitious person a negative characteristic or a positive one? And is it necessary to have ambition? And if you have them, what should you do - rejoice or worry? There are so many questions at once, and they are all connected with one single word: ambition.

A beautiful Latin word "ambitio" - vanity, ambition, vanity (and in the literal sense - "walking around, going around, courting"). And I remembered the foreign word "ambition" because recently it has changed its meaning too clearly. And, as the site "Culture of Written Speech" rightly notes (on the Internet this is "Gramma.ru"), this is connected, do not be surprised, with a change in public consciousness.

Judge for yourself: in Latin, and in Polish, and in Ukrainian, and in German, and in English, and, finally, in Russian, the word "ambition" originally had a negative connotation. Synonyms - arrogance, swagger, lust for power, heightened self-esteem, arrogance, arrogance, aplomb, arrogance ...

In general, a whole bunch ... But over time, in Western European languages, the word "ambition" acquired a neutral meaning - "aspiration, aspiration, goal, object of desire." And what? It is in this sense that the noun "ambitions" is often used in Russian texts: "political ambitions", "modern ambitions of youth", "healthy ambitions", "champion ambitions" ... So, experts of the portal "Gramma.ru" conclude : it was not without the influence of the English equivalent "ambition". In fact, at the beginning of the 21st century, before our eyes, a new borrowing took place - no longer the outer shell of someone else's word, but a concept alien to Russian national traditions. High "aspirations, aspirations, aspirations" are replaced by "ambitions". Such is the assumption. Whether it's good or bad is up to you to judge.
Good luck!!!

D.Stayn

AMBITION, -i; and. [lat. ambitio].
1.
Heightened self-esteem, excessive self-conceit. Prove, argue with ambition. Someone without ambition
2. usually pl. : ambition, -tsy. Unapproved
Claims, claims. Leave aside your political ambitions. ◊ Break into (hit) ambition.
Show extreme resentment; offended, angry.

One word is unlikely to answer here. This is the desire to achieve great success in some business. For example, if someone, just getting a job as an ordinary employee, seriously wants to become the head of this enterprise, then he has huge ambitions. And vice versa, if he does not strive for career growth at all, then he has no ambitions at all.

From the article you can learn everything related to ambition. What are ambitions, their classification, positive and negative aspects, as well as recommendations for their development and self-improvement.

There are a large number of different points of view about what ambition is. Translated from Latin, "ambitio" means ambition, vanity, vanity. He borrowed it into Russian at the beginning of the 18th century.

Initially, the words "ambition" and "ambition" were perceived by the society as negative traits of the individual, since they were associated with "harassment of the place", swagger, arrogance.

ambition. What it is

In connection with social development, the meaning of these words begins to be interpreted in a positive way - "the desire to act or work", "the desire to achieve power, success, a strong desire."

Various sources also give a mixed assessment of what the word ambition means. On the one hand, it is "a goal, aspiration, an object of desire." However, this interpretation may also have a negative connotation (“imperial”, “nuclear”, “politicians' ambitions”).

Today there are so many seminars and business trainings, all kinds of textbooks where these words occur, and which explain that a person declaring his ambitions is eager to achieve a certain goal and strives for success. For business promotion, this is the first quality.

Ambition has different definitions in different cultures and languages. According to tradition, in respecting modesty in Russian culture and language, these are:

• heightened pride, arrogance, arrogance;
• claims, claims.

Thus, ambition is a person's motivation, the foundation of which is the need for success.

They tend to force people to move forward and explore new horizons, and most importantly, to strive for a goal! But, one way or another, ambition acts as a virtue only when it is substantiated and confirmed by something.

Good or bad

Only manifesting itself in accordance with the capabilities and abilities of a particular person, as well as his level of training and experience, ambitions are real and positively perceived by others. Then they are useful in a career or study and lead to success.

If the ambitions are “built on sand” (the absence of any specific deadlines or actions), they are akin to a mirage in the desert.

They are able to cause extremely negative emotions, and not only in their owner, but also in the people around him. Since there are more such dreamers in any society - representatives of empty ambitions, those who have real ambitions are often considered upstarts.

But ambition has its advantages, because it:

1. Makes you constantly strive for success.
2. Encourages continuous self-improvement.
3. Ensures achievement of intended goals.
4. Gives strength to overcome obstacles.

What are

Ambition can be classified as follows:

• Adequate and inadequate (inflated).
• healthy and destructive.
• Champion and career.
• Political and imperial, etc.

Adequate correspond to human capabilities, they are real. Therefore, they always bring a positive result, that is, satisfaction - a person fulfills the goal.

Psychological research shows that the human mindset that "I'm the best" and "I owe everything to me", if not put real effort into confirming it, will lead to swagger and arrogance.

By setting impossible tasks, a person will not get the result he expected. These are exorbitant ambitions that cause a negative response in the public environment, and a negative perception of the very concept of ambition.

In everyday life, ambitions often manifest themselves in the following areas:

1. Professional activity- even if a career take-off is not for you, professional ambitions will not hurt, since inertia is not welcomed in the modern way of life.
2. Career- the social and financial situation worries everyone, which means that ambition is necessary.
3. Family life- arrogance can not reflect rosy on her, so you should learn a balance so that high ambitions do not interfere with family happiness and do not put pressure on your soulmate.
4. Parenting- often parents make a mistake, realizing personal ambitions in children. This is not worth doing, since childhood it is better to instill in the heirs the desire for success and teach how to achieve more.

Implementation and development

The psychology of ambition begins in early childhood. Parents instill high self-esteem in a child. Often this happens not on purpose, but not consciously.

True, some parents tend to try to transfer their own unrealized ambitions to their children. They praise the child for nothing, long before he actually does something commendable.

And vice versa, if something doesn’t work out for him, the parents blame anyone, but not the baby. Therefore, he considers himself a genius only for the simple reason that dad and mom constantly tell him about it.

So they cultivate great ambitions in the child. But is it possible to subsequently tame an ambitious person? No.

From the point of view of psychologists, such a person's character will not change with age:

• Constant failure will make him more irritable, unbearable and touchy. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to find a common language with such people.
• All the time they try to satisfy their own unfulfilled ambitions at the expense of others. Usually these people do not have real friends. And if there are any, they are obliged to forget about their opinion and live only in the interests of an arrogant comrade, strengthening his narcissism.

You can fight with high self-esteem, but only if an ambitious person himself wants it. He needs to make an analysis of the results of his activities, realizing all the advantages and disadvantages objectively, in comparison with the activities of other people.

A person must learn to take an example from those who are successful and have a normal reaction to well-deserved criticism.

How to develop adequate ambition

• Self-esteem- evaluate the degree of compliance of their abilities with the level of ambition.
• Confidence- be confident in your own actions and yourself.
• Motivation- attribute ambitions to constantly developing and changing qualities, because their basis is precisely the motivation of the individual.
• clear understanding- awareness of their desires, ways to implement them.
• Ability to listen to the environment- an objective assessment of one's activities by relatives or colleagues will allow one to know one's abilities, outline creative plans and potential growth, which will increase self-confidence.
• Goal setting- striving for real goals, and upon achieving them - moving forward.

Thus, by developing healthy ambition, people become closer to their goals: to be more successful, to be better, to lead others! To improve it and be on the alert - this is the main rule of a person with adequate ambitions.

Video: About selfishness, ambition, talent and work

There are a lot of interpretations of the word "ambition". From Latin, the word "ambitio" can be translated as vanity, ambition, passionate desire. In Russian, the word appeared at the beginning of the 18th century and meant "swagger, arrogance." “For a penny of ammunition, for a ruble of ambition,” they used to say in the old days about a person with heightened pride and great conceit.

But over time, the word began to acquire a positive connotation. In today's world, ambition is most often mean purposefulness, readiness to achieve the set goals, the desire for self-realization and higher requirements for the standard of living.

Thus, ambition is the degree of a person's claims. They make a person move forward, explore new horizons and strive to fulfill their dreams. But ambitions can be attributed to the virtues only if they are supported by something.

Ambitiousness as a character trait

The presence of a certain level of ambition in a person is called "ambitiousness". This is a rather specific character trait, since everyone interprets this concept in their own way.

An ambitious person is always trying to set new goals for himself, striving to achieve more, even if at the moment he does not have sufficient means or abilities for this.

Ambition: good or bad

There is no clear definition of whether it is good or bad to be ambitious. Depending on the capabilities and abilities of each individual person, his ambition can be

• understated;
• adequate (healthy);
• overpriced.

People with low (or even no) ambition rarely succeed. As a rule, these are shy, timid, insecure subjects. In their lives, they are content with little, being wary of any difficulties and obstacles.

A person with high ambition in view of his self-confidence and a tendency to exaggerate his own abilities, he rarely achieves his goal. But this does not bother him and he does not draw conclusions from his mistakes, attributing failures to external factors. In most cases, overly ambitious people do not enjoy authority in a team, as their morbid self-esteem does not allow them to seek advice from a more competent colleague, which, of course, affects the results of their work.

Healthy ambition. A person with adequate ambition strives for high, but achievable goals, as he is able to adequately assess the level of his capabilities and abilities.

Having reached the planned milestones, he will continue to climb to new ones. The presence of healthy ambitions makes a person strive for self-improvement, for a daily step forward. Such people are always pleasant and interesting in communication. They always listen to the opinions of others, do not stick their nose into other people's affairs, skillfully and timely adjust their goals. An ambitious person first of all seeks to prove his worth to himself, and not to demonstrate his superiority over others.

Among other things, an ambitious person has self-esteem.

Demonstrate ambition in various areas

The most common manifestation of a person's ambition can be found in the following areas:

• professional activity;
• career growth;
• family life;
• parenting.

Professionally healthy ambition is essential, even if you do not aspire to career heights. Inertia and lack of initiative in the modern world are not welcomed by employers. And if you want to fully realize your professional and organizational abilities, raising your social status to the maximum and strengthening your financial position, then you cannot do without ambition.

In family life, excessive ambition will be unnecessary, since family happiness is built on the ability to find a compromise and not put pressure on your other half.

In matters of upbringing, parents very often make the mistake of trying to realize their personal ambitions in their children. It is better to avoid this, but to educate the child from the very beginning the ability to achieve goals and teach him to strive for success.

How to be ambitious

Ambition - it's not an inborn trait. It originates in early childhood and is formed in the process of growing up and personality development.

A decisive role in the development of ambition in a child is played by his parents. If they rejoice at his successes, encourage his undertakings, then in adulthood such a person will “stand firmly on his feet” and feel confident. If, however, one does not show interest in its results and achievements in various fields, constantly scolds for mistakes and failures, then most likely with age a person will become indecisive and notorious, devoid of any ambition whatsoever.

Main, encourage real achievement, and not to praise the child for each, sometimes completely inappropriate, occasion. Otherwise, there is a high probability that the child will grow large, unsupported ambitions, which later it will be impossible to moderate.

To become an ambitious person, you need the following: