An ambitious person and ambition: what do these words mean. Ambitious person, what is it? Ambition - good or bad What is ambitious

Sometimes we reach the goal and think: “How much can you work? It's time to calm down and rest." But for an ambitious person such questions do not exist. As soon as the ambitious conquer one peak, he immediately goes to capture the next. Is this quality always positive? Why is “ambition” considered a negative connotation? How to cultivate healthy ambitions in yourself?

Below are answers to questions and 9 tips for those who want to learn how to win.

What is ambition?

Ambition is a conscious desire of a person to occupy a high position, gain recognition in society, achieve noticeable success, prove his superiority in career, sports, knowledge, and personal life. Ambition is permanent. It either exists or it doesn't. This deep is born in early childhood, develops throughout life, but does not disappear even in old age. It is ambition that does not allow a person to stop and say to himself, i got everything i wanted».

Ambition manifests itself and occupies a grand place where we are talking about money, power, fame, records, dreams to conquer the world, to create something grandiose. It is impossible without the required components: sharpened, ambitious, vanity, high, competitive passion, innovation.

Ambitious is a person with the highest level of claims to himself, others, life. becomes for him a matter of life and death, and desire passes under the motto " achieve everything, no matter what". Moreover, the desire to become the Most-Most never dries up. Accepting challenges, fighting, winning for an ambitious person is as natural as pumping the press.

If we turn to the semantics of the word, then in the Explanatory Dictionary of V. I. Dahl " ambition is the search for external honor, honor, honors". The essence of ambition is fully revealed in the two roots of the word and literally means "love of honor." This concept studied and discussed in pedagogy, sociology, ethics, business.

Is ambition good or bad?

It so happened that ambition is perceived negatively by people. But this quality is of a different nature.

inadequate ambition destructive to . Its negative sides are expressed in excessive egoism, desire, to get a lot of money. Such a person is what is called "goes over the heads", regardless of others. He, as a rule, does not inspire confidence, respect, and often remains alone.

Adequate ambition- a powerful source of internal motivation and which helps a person pave the way to success on their own. This positive quality encourages you to choose difficult goals, not to stop when you fail, to strive for victories, to constantly be in the process. Ambition in the black is a constructive quality. It is impossible to do without it in sports, management, and entrepreneurship.

Most often, the manifestation of ambition for career development considered a phenomenon from Western civilization. In American schools, this quality is not only approved, but, along with competitiveness, is actively supported in students. In Eastern culture, aggressive stubbornness is generally discouraged. However, healthy ambition leads to victory everywhere.

Attitudes towards ambition in religions.

Major religious teachings have opposing views on ambition.

In Orthodoxy is a synonym for vanity, the desire for vain or empty glory. Most of The Christian life is spent in self-abasement and struggle with sinful habits, and this is impossible without a complete renunciation and ambition.

Judaism preaches a transitional stage. On the one hand, excessive ambition and vanity are characteristic of people because of their imperfection. But on the other hand, to wish well-being for yourself and your family is completely natural.

Protestant ethics fully approves ambition, without which the achievements of civilization and high level life. There is nothing wrong with wanting the best. After all, achievements and prosperity provide his family with a good house, car, education.

Three main factors influencing ambition.

Success for ambitious people is the same physiological need as food and sleep. But besides physiology, other factors work here:

  • Self-esteem. According to statistics, people with high self-esteem are more ambitious, demonstrate their superiority more often than others and achieve better results.
  • Features of psychology. are more focused on communication and recognition, so success is more important to them. on the contrary, they prefer to get away from the opinions of others, so they think about success less often.
  • Family history and upbringing. If a person was brought up in a family where great importance given ambition, he is likely to grow up ambitious. Such people know that a priori others expect them to succeed.

But talent is not considered an obligatory part of ambition. On the contrary, in practice, the most ambitious are people who could do little.

How to gain experience as a winner and learn how to win?

Ambition itself turns into baseless fantasies. But, backed up by perseverance, curiosity, determination, stability, it turns into a formidable force. But sometimes this is not enough for success. Beginners lack the experience of a winner - a feeling that gives confidence in a new victory.

Winners are people with a special mindset and lifestyle. Here are 9 ways that will help you tune in to hard work and learn how to win:

  1. Do the hardest. Nothing boosts self-esteem like the thought of conquering your own laziness, procrastination, discomfort, or fear.
  2. Define your metrics for success. Success is subjective: what is a victory for one may be a failure for another. Therefore, whether the result will be successful, everyone decides for himself. The evaluation criterion is as follows: if you have achieved what you planned - you have won, if you have not achieved - you are a loser.
  3. Prepare for criticism. Everyone who refuses to live inconspicuously, sets bold goals for himself, decides to drastically change his life, is condemned.
  4. Develop. The better a person understands own feelings, the better he understands others, knows how to correctly assess the situation, adequately respond to it.
  5. forget the word impossible» . Any thought is. Negative thoughts are irrational, destructive in nature. It is impossible to eliminate them with the help of logic, but they can be replaced by constructive installations. I can», « I deserve the best" or " I will do my best and impossible».
  6. Get rid of bad habits. Everyone has a personal “demon”: addiction to social networks, obesity, the habit of procrastinating important things. It is enough to take the will into a fist and get rid of at least one. increases self-respect, gives confidence that you deserve the best.
  7. Keep promises to yourself. The worst thing a person does to himself is to regularly break promises. This leads to a loss of self-confidence, destroys the foundation of personality. This point concerns not only unpleasant deeds, but innermost desires that are constantly postponed.
  8. View failures as challenges. Real winners know how to survive failures, but do not consider them an obstacle. On the contrary, mistakes become a test for psychological stability, training perseverance, flexibility, composure.
  9. Remember that 80% of what you do will not bring results.. Not everyone knows how to work hard until the moment when something starts to work out. It's one thing to learn a few phrases in English, it's another thing to learn the language every day. Willingness to survive the collapse and move on again is a mandatory quality of the winner.

conclusions:

  • Ambition is the desire to be significant.
  • An ambitious person is a person with an indestructible desire to succeed.
  • Developed ambition is the main condition for self-realization and material success.
  • Healthy ambition is one that does not harm others, but helps to realize oneself. Unhealthy leads to self-destruction.
  • The person who wins once wins everywhere.

Many-sided qualities of the soul, inner world human being is so diverse and full of different properties and shades. A believer should carefully look after his own soul, like a precious garden, and develop only best qualities. Therefore, it is important to know all the shades of the soul in order to be able to accurately choose the best for yourself. Next, consider such a thing as an ambitious person, good or not. Let's analyze this property, based on the Orthodox faith.

As a rule, we can see most clearly what ambition is if we turn to fiction or biographies of various famous personalities.

This quality was possessed and possessed by various ambitious entrepreneurs and businessmen, people who wanted to become the best in something, to surpass the rest, to remain in the memory of others.

Perhaps a good example would be the ideal of the so-called American dream, for which ambition is actually the basis.

In short, in this concept, America is perceived as a country of unlimited possibilities, where everyone can achieve everything with their own efforts. Only for this you need to work hard and act within the framework of healthy competition, put your goals above all else. Such a concept is more characteristic of the offshoots of Christianity, Lutheranism and Protestantism, where practical benefits and labor are praised.

In order to better capture the meaning and meaning, the word ambitious should pick up the following synonyms:

  • purposeful;
  • focused on leadership;
  • conceited;
  • striving to be the best;
  • careerist;
  • perfectionist;
  • ambitious and selfish.

You should also choose a possible antonym for this word:

  • careless;
  • uninitiative;
  • not ambitious;
  • lethargic;
  • conformist;
  • follower (not leader);
  • slob.

Also, such terms as humble, empathic, sensitive, calm, altruist can act as an opposite. Accordingly, we are not always talking about unambiguously negative and positive connotations. As you can see, both a synonym and an antonym for the term under consideration can be both positive and negative.

Helpful Video: Ambition

In order to better understand whether such a quality affects the soul badly or is positive, you need to look again at the various branches of Christianity. Newer teachings, such as Lutheranism and especially Protestantism, point to the sacredness of all work.

It would seem that a completely normal concept, even a positive one, because even in Orthodoxy, believers are advised to take their everyday lives with righteous work, but there are some differences that are indicated by the most accessible portals - Wikipedia and others.

Protestants see wealth and wealth as a completely acceptable business. Representatives of this denomination, as a rule, are the richest Christians.

Note! In Orthodoxy, ambition is considered unequivocally negative, since to some extent it contradicts the concept of love for one's neighbor and care. It is perceived as a pernicious vice that does not correspond to the teachings of Christ, who was the ideal of humility and absolutely not ambitious.

Nevertheless, Protestants generally approve of almost any work, including usury as a kind of activity. Recall that in Orthodoxy such activity is unacceptable and is associated with the sin of covetousness and the love of money. There are significant differences in this subtlety.

When, for example, a Protestant sets himself ambitious goals of achieving financial well-being, he generally sees the righteous path in his activities and uses a variety of worldly methods in order to arrive at the desired result. The Orthodox, in turn, sensitively considers each option for generating income, assesses whether it contradicts the faith and whether it harms the soul. Thus, it is not difficult to understand why sincerely Orthodox believers cannot always boast of excessive wealth, while representatives of other faiths can even calmly boast of it.

If considered globally, then it is good or not particularly good, people decide based on their own faith and basic worldview concept. For someone, "going over their heads" for their own purpose and putting their interests at the center of the world is not only acceptable, but also ideal. For an Orthodox, such an ambitious person does not look quite normal, especially if the quality manifests itself in the most negative aspects.

How to get rid of ambition

The Orthodox faith speaks of the ideal of humility, as they say, "he who humbles himself will be exalted." Of course, we are not talking about some kind of mental or physical masochism and similar morbid inclinations. The ability is meant to:

  • do not shield your own ego;
  • do not put yourself above others;
  • not seek to humiliate others in order to exalt oneself;
  • do not look for reasons for self-praise;
  • do not look for opportunities to intentionally be better than others;
  • do not fall into excessive competitiveness and competition with others;
  • do not look for inferior qualities in others that make you feel better than them.

The holy ascetics in Orthodoxy represented these ideals of humility. Seraphim of Sarov, most likely, did not want to become the best saint in the world and set a record for the duration of prayer on a stone or build a convent better than others. Luka Krymsky hardly aspired to become the most famous doctor or move higher in the church hierarchy.

Many other examples can be cited, one way or another, all these ascetics knew what it means to be ambitious, and tried to eradicate such thoughts in themselves. As you can see from these examples, in order to achieve something (especially in the field of faith) it is not at all necessary to have excessive ambition and the intention to become better than others. Of course, a certain boldness is needed, but it always comes with humility and a willingness to humiliate yourself.

It is useful for the simple believer to follow these examples, to understand what the word considered here means, and what are the negative aspects of this property. IN modern world it is difficult to find humility, especially if you have to operate in an environment where everyone competes with another, where everyone acts only in their own interests. However, the personal definition of a true believer is to make behavioral choices based on faith, not majority opinion.

Note! In some areas of activity, partial ambition may be acceptable and bring some positive results. For example, it is useful for a leader to be ambitious in taking care of his subordinates and his own subordinate structure.

Useful video: ambition is a replacement for talent or the need for immortality?

Output

It is necessary to realize where ambition is useful and where it is excessive, and to observe the norms of religious morality. Rejection of ambition does not mean inaction or some kind of passivity. The rejection of this vice means choosing a more difficult but true path, when other people are not perceived as competitors who need to be surpassed, and worldly fame and recognition as the highest goals of being. Such a difficult path is available only to a sincerely and deeply believing person.

In contact with

ambitious man is an individual who strives to be better than others. He wants to be richer, more successful, more recognizable, he wants to achieve success with which he can surpass other people. or bad? What is the reason, and what are the motives of people who want superiority over others?

Conversations about what it means to be ambitious often come down to endowing people with a thirst for power, subjugation of other people and showing superiority over others. But it is not so. Ambition is a healthy human desire to become better. This is an incentive to develop and move on, grow above yourself and constantly improve. Ambition is given to us at birth in an embryonic state and gradually develops throughout life. And it is from him proper development depends on the adequacy of the perception of their goals and the means by which they will be achieved.

Development is always a positive process. And the ambition of a person makes him move forward and overcome himself and his laziness. This quality is very important in people's lives and gives them the opportunity to achieve success and fame. After all, otherwise there would be no famous scientists and discoveries, inventions and progress of all mankind.

An ambitious person is an individual who strives forward. He mobilizes his inner hidden resources and makes them work for his own good. It helps a person to set difficult goals for himself and achieve them by working on himself and improving himself.

An ambitious person is a winner by nature. He strives to be the first and win both in competitions and in life. The desire to be the first makes him go forward and not stop there.

But the desire to be the first always and in everything can play not only a positive role. Very often, the thirst for superiority over other people pushes a person to unseemly acts. An exorbitant craving for fame, wealth, success or fame leads to a constant race for an unattainable goal and makes a person behave ugly and meanly towards other people, go over their heads, being alone.

Speaking of how ambitious are you? Synonyms for this word often include the word "vain". Such a person seeks to occupy a high position both in life and in society, using any goals for this. The goals and aspirations of such a person are always self-centered. He listens only to himself and always acts in his own interests, not neglecting the opportunity to bypass competitors by dishonest methods.

Do not confuse these concepts. Kindness to other people and to their successes is what first of all characterizes an ambitious person. This radically distinguishes him from vainglorious individuals and firmly delimits these concepts.

Everything should be in moderation. Ambition is necessary for a person in life to develop and achieve their goals. It has a positive impact on all areas of life. And most importantly - do not strive for the impossible. It is impossible to become an outstanding scientist tomorrow if you are still a student today. It is necessary to realistically assess your capabilities, set goals and go towards them. And everything will work out!

). Love for honors, thirst for honors, desire for them. A man of great ambition.


Dictionary Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935-1940.


Synonyms:

See what "Ambition" is in other dictionaries:

    Mystery of feelings * Remembrance * Desire * Dream * Pleasure * Loneliness * Expectation * Fall * Memory * Victory * Defeat * Glory * Conscience * Passion * Superstition * Respect * … Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

    Ambition, ambition, careerism, vanity, vanity, love of glory Dictionary of Russian synonyms. ambition love of glory (obsolete) / excessive: vanity Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language. Z.E.… … Synonym dictionary

    Ambition- Ambition ♦ Ambition A thirst for success, often aimed at the future and expressed in concrete actions. Ambition characterizes not so much the current state (as opposed to pride) and current activity (as opposed to zeal), but rather ... ... Philosophical Dictionary of Sponville

    ambition- the expression in the personality of the motives for achieving superiority, the desire for fame, for receiving awards, for an honorary position in a certain field of activity, the sphere of public life. Hypertrophied ambition is enhanced by arrogant vanity ... ... Great Psychological Encyclopedia

    ambition- AMBITION, vanity, obsolete. popularity Ambitious, careerist, bookish. Herostratus AMBITIOUS, conceited, outdated. glorious ... Dictionary-thesaurus of synonyms of Russian speech

    AMBIT, I, cf. Thirst for fame, honors, desire for an honorary position. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

    ambition- great ambition colossal ambition insatiable ambition exorbitant ambition unheard of ambition huge ambition amazing ambition monstrous ambition ... Dictionary of Russian Idioms

    AMBITION- - a socio-psychological trait of a person, expressed in the desire to perform actions in the name of achieving leadership in a team, group ( public life, science, culture, etc.). Ch. can act as a stable positive motive, ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

    Ambition- a negative spiritual and moral quality of a person, manifested as a person's desire for honors, fame, fame, recognition, honorary or higher position. Ambition, especially highly developed, kills ordinary human ... ... Fundamentals of spiritual culture ( encyclopedic Dictionary teacher)

    AMBITION- the expression in the personality of the motives for achieving superiority, the desire for fame, for receiving awards, for an honorary position in any field of activity, sphere of public life. Hypertrophied ambition is enhanced by arrogant vanity ... ... Eurasian wisdom from A to Z. Explanatory dictionary

Books

  • Two Napoleons. Rise and fall, . The French Revolution opened the way for many ambitious people, among whom Napoleon Bonaparte, a native of the island patriarchal Corsica, rises like a rock. Small, ugly, talking...

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Ambition is a property of character that manifests itself as clearly expressed goals of the individual, motives and methods for achieving primacy, fame, recognition or an honorary position in a certain field of activity.

Manifestations and properties
Ambition orients a person to specific actions - accomplishments, career, individual success. Realizing his ambitious goals, he strives to do his job better than others, constantly improves his skills, mobilizes willpower and personal potential.

Ambition, as a personality trait, is expressed in the desire to acquire a high social position, weight, influence, and also to earn official recognition in any area of ​​life. The ambition of a smart and decent person is to stand out among others with his good name and be valued for his knowledge, truthfulness and nobility - qualities that cannot be bought anywhere, but can only be acquired by those who have a clear head and a good heart. .

Differences Between Vanity and Ambition

Vanity is to produce a cheap effect, buffoon, ephemeral, moth. Ambition is to succeed with a deeply thought out project. This is a purposeful, serious and long-term approach to lasting success, on top of which everyone will see the brilliance of the virtues of her conqueror. True ambition can only be satisfied with well-deserved, and not exaggerated, far-fetched glory. This causes sincere respect.
Ambition grows from a person's inner need for self-affirmation, the desire to prove to himself and the outside world his personal value, usefulness and significance, to receive visible evidence of his merits.
Ambition is a must for a man. As well as self-confidence, purposefulness and responsibility. Find a woman who would like an unambitious companion, content with today's standard of living? Woman and desires are synonyms. Women's desires are many times higher than men's and serve as an incentive for male ambition. Vanity is a deception that cannot deceive a woman.
And who wants to work without seeing ahead of success and recognition of merit? Convinced of their own worth, a person gains self-respect and a healthy feeling dignity. When you are valued and respected by the people around you, you do not need praise, everything is extremely clear to both the person and the people.

Embedded in the complex of a person's psychological organization, ambition acts as an ethical quality of a person and manifests itself in his interaction with society.

If ambition is on the side of Good, it will be healthy, constructive, positive for people.

If Ambition turned out to be on the side of Evil and a destructive person became the owner of ambition, then society expects a shock if such a person comes to power.

Society is interested in cultivating healthy career and professional ambition in people. Healthy ambition is an extremely positive personality trait, and it is necessary to develop it, because it motivates people to productive social activities.
There is nothing more natural than the desire to provide your family with housing, and if possible - a separate house with a garage, a garden and a swimming pool. More than natural and the desire of a person to give his children better education than the one he received himself, send them on vacation abroad to ski and sail on a yacht. Let all these be just components of status, but will a person work overtime if he is deprived of such a bait? Who would sit through the night on books without hoping for a higher degree?
In other words, it is difficult to imagine the progress of mankind in isolation from the Ambitious thoughts of its most enterprising and enterprising representatives.

Ambition as part of other qualities of Character

Ambition in itself, without connection with others positive qualities personality turns into an empty fantasy. When he has purposefulness, perseverance, perseverance, constancy, determination and responsibility as allies, it turns into a formidable force that crushes all obstacles.
Encouraged and inspired by the ambitious, he violently asserts himself in his chosen environment. Ambition directs every calorie towards the realization of the goal, it is directed towards the goal like a clot of colossal energy.

Pronounced H ambition

Exorbitant, hypertrophied, not supported by its own significance, ambition approaches in its qualitative properties with cheap vanity. Painful ambition, associated, as in the case of vanity with the acquisition of vain fame, causes a feeling of chronic dissatisfaction with life, suffering and anxiety, envy of other people's successes, sacrificing love for children, spouse and friends.

Enemies of Ambition

Ambition has two enemies - an unfulfilled dream and not one's own, but an achieved goal. There was not enough talent, and the dream remained a dream. When this happens, ambition seeks excuses, attributing the collapse of its hopes to time, circumstances, bad luck, bad luck and the machinations of enemies.
In the second case, this is a mistake in setting the Goal, and Ambition is trying to understand why the top is taken, but there was no happiness, and no. Even more suffering is added by the understanding that he was moving towards someone else's goal, imposed from the outside.
Someone else's goal came under the influence of stereotypes, false beliefs, beliefs and the influence of others, lack of basic concepts and human values.