The Downside Of Ambition (And How To Free Yourself From It)

By Features Desk

Friday, February 21, 2020.

You are ambitious and hard working. And you are desperate for any opportunity to prove yourself whether it is in your job, your career, your creative endeavors or your sporting activities. You know that every achievement under your belt is not just for you, but for the generations who came before you, who did not have the opportunities that you now have. Still, that is not to say that yours has been an easy path. You have encountered your fair share of adversity and more than a handful of naysayers to get to where you are today. Your ambition, work ethic and perseverance are to be lauded, but they come at a price. Ambition has its dark side, and it can taint everything you strive for and accomplish. It can poison your relationship with your peers, alienate you from friends and family, and cause you to grow increasingly frustrated and dissatisfied with yourself. 

Image by Elijah O’Donnell via Pexels

Here are some ways in which you can rid yourself of the bad side of ambition and achieve greater balance and inner peace as you strive for excellence in all you do…

Take the time to meditate

Seriously. Mindfulness meditation is the perfect antidote to a great deal of what is wrong with our frantic 2020s lifestyle, and it is so easy to fit into even the busiest schedule. We are constantly linked to the whole world through our mobile devices and dealing with an avalanche of sensory inputs at any given moment. Mindfulness meditation gives us an opportunity to shut all of that out and focus on nothing but breathing, quieting the mind and liberating the body from stress. And when we are stressed it affects our perspective, our behavior and our attitudes.

Read and listen to the words of inspirational figures

It is always a good idea to seek inspiration from older souls who have experienced more than us and have knowledge, insights and wisdom to share. Which is why you should always have an inspirational podcast or audiobook on in the car;  read more non-fiction in your free time and attend speaking engagements of inspirational people wherever possible. The one and only Prem Rawat’s message of peace is a perfect example https://www.wopg.org/prem-rawat/. By all means keep reading about people in the worlds of business, politics, sports, and many more - people who inspire and excite you. But make sure you embrace a diverse range of perspectives and listen to people who may help you find inner peace.

Let go of resentment

It is soul crushing when a colleague gets that big promotion over you. Or when a peer on your sports team gets an opportunity you feel you deserve more than them. But resentment can lead you down a dark path. You need to let go of it. That job, that promotion, that position on the team. They were never yours to lose. You haven’t been cheated out of them, no matter how much you may feel that you were. 

Take the time to reward yourself 

Finally, the curse of ambition is that you can never look back and say that you are satisfied. Your analytical mind is always looking for ways in which you could have done better or could have tried harder. But taking the time to acknowledge your achievements and reward yourself for them is a skill you will absolutely have to master to keep yourself happy, satisfied and sane.