Ambition as a Driving Force

Ambition is a driving force that causes humans to create opportunites and succeed. In doing so sometimes, one can go overboard and drive himself to destruction. Is having an ambition a bad choice?

Many strive to excel in many aspects of life such as school, work and sports. The pursuit of ambition motivates them to work hard and find ways to solve problems that hinder their progress. Striving to succeed keeps them focused and once they have achieved their goals, they feel great satisfaction. Steven Spielberg is a well known film director and writer now because of his childhood ambition to become a film director. History holds many more who had become great and well known men due to their ambition. When then does having a burning desire to fulfil one's ambition become disastrous?

When one loses control of himself in the process of attaining his goal or becomes greedy, the outcome may end up being one that is unfavorable or causes harm to him. The ferocity of ambition had caused the downfall of Macbeth who was blinded by his greed to become the king. Greed had caused the downfall of Richard Nixon whose public image was torn apart by the Watergate scandal. These men had allowed their ambition to overthrow them and degrade them into selfish and greedy individuals.

Obviously, ambition is important for men to succeed in life. When a man has succeeded and aims for something more in a positive aspect it is healthy. However, when he aims for something negative such as more and more money and fame, he may not be far from his downfall.