Ambition
April 10, 2009 by
Adam
Filed under
Personal Development, Productivity
am⋅bi⋅tion
[am-bish-uh n]
–noun
An earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honor, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment.
Ambition is at the heart of all true success stories. That’s because success is based on one thing: achievement. Sure there are plenty of people with fame and money who have never had to work for it—but rarely are they considered a “success.” Rather, it’s the people who have had to make sacrifices; who have worked tirelessly and been resourceful who we look to as our icons of success. And the thing that drives those people is ambition.
The question I have for you today is: how ambitious are you? The answer will determine the level of success you will attain in your business venture, because it will define exactly what you’re willing to do to make it succeed. Obviously, unchecked ambition can be dangerous because it ignores everything else but the sought-after “prize” of money, fame, or whatever you’re after. But a strong, healthy sense of ambition is absolutely necessary if you’re going to overcome the obstacles that stand between you and your goal.
There are millions of people who start up a business each year; yet only a small percentage of them actually establish themselves and continue to grow after the first few years. Even less become more than just a steady source of income for the owner. Of course, there are some cases where disaster strikes and a business fails because of things outside of the owner’s control, and every once in a while there’s a business idea so ridiculous it is simply not sustainable. But for the most part, the failure of a business is about not having the chutzpah to keep it going no matter what comes up.
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. The blood, sweat and tears that goes in to starting up a business are done so not for money, but for creative achievement that every entrepreneur has as part of their personality. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: not everyone can be an entrepreneur. It takes a very special person with not only talent, knowledge and ability but a powerful ambition to see their work take root and flourish.
Ambition requires that you have enough faith in yourself that you won’t back down in the face of criticism or discouragement. It means that you are resourceful enough to come up with solutions when all hope seems lost. It means you’re not above rolling up your sleeves and working all night, or asking for help when you really need it. Ambition means that you believe in your company enough that you are ready to talk about it any time you have an opportunity.
Throughout history there have been a small percentage of people—men and women—who have risen to the top, regardless of where they’ve started out in life; people who have taken the flash of inspiration and carried it through to a concrete reality; individuals with the ability to create their own vision so clearly that they manifest it in everything that they do. They are the ambitious. Are you?
Adam, thanks for the post. Ambition is vital for success. This enables one to work through the obstacles in life, and great ambition leads to determination to never give up. Do not enter a field you do not have ambitions in, are not passionate about. Wanting to do something I love is what drives me and I will not stop until I reach that goal.
Very good advice here. When people talk to me about making money online, with blogs or other endeavors, it’s always very obvious from the sites of those doing poorly that they just don’t work at it. And it’s also obvious from the sites of those much more successful than I that they work a lot harder than I do. They may well have more talent or more technical skills than I do, but some don’t … they just work harder.
When I talk to people who ask for advice and aren’t doing well, I have found one interesting stat … almsot every one of them watches more TV than they spend on their site(s).
Great post, couldn’t agree more. Nothing worse than telling everyone you’re going to do great in life but without the drive to get the job done.
Very good post. I like this blog.
Even better than ambition is directed ambition or “smart” ambition. In other words, are you directing your ambition in the correct area of your business and do you know when to adapt (instead of sticking to a bad direction)?
In my opinion, two people may have the same skillsets.. but what will set them apart is the level of ambition, the level of passion each one has. How badly do you want it? Are you willing to go the extra mile? You are right when you say that Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, you have to be willing to deal with the disappointments that are bound to occur when you first start out. It’s a rocky road to success…
till then,
Jean
In my experience, it’s not the people who’ve had it easy their whole life who are the driven, motivated, and ultimately incredibly successful people. It’s those who’ve come through hardship, learnt valuable lessons, and applied the to their lives that have arrived at the upper levels of the success ladder.
Why did they keep coming back after facing so many adversaries? Ambition.
Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘Outliers’ talks about a lot of the factors that drive people to these levels. Really interesting read. Highly recommend if you’re interested in understanding what it takes to get to these levels.
I think one of the symptoms of optimism is being ambitious. These should not only remain in the mind but must also be supported with actions and right decisions. Ambition starts as an abstract thought but through hard work and perseverance, it could transform into a tangible outcome along with success.