Ambition is one of the most powerful forces for any single human to possess and wield.
For the driven individual, ambition is what fuels them to be in constant pursuit of something greater.
The most successful people to who have lived were and are solely driven by their own ambition.
Drive and ambition isn't something that can be learned however, it is something that we are either born with or we are not.
Research shows that people that are driven share similar genetic components that resemble those of our primitive ancestors.
In primitive times, it was the driven that were the hunters and gatherers.
The insatiable need to be in pursuit of something, whether it be food or shelter as a means of survival, is a common trait that the driven all share.
In the modern world, the most driven and ambitious people all share these primitive traits.
While we no longer live in a primitive environment, modern driven individuals channel their primitive instincts into productive behavior to keep themselves occupied.
The driven traits aren't all sunshine and rainbows however.
In fact, there is a dark side to ambition that many highly driven people can experience.
Part of the reason why highly ambitious people feel like they need to be in a constant pursuit of something is rooted in an insecurity of never being good enough.
Many of the most innovative creators and inventors may experience this feeling.
Another reason why highly driven people feel the need to be in a constant pursuit of something is due to the feeling of never having enough.
In other words, they are looking for the next best thing, whatever that may be.
They feel the need to constantly be in new environments and create more challenges for themselves.
The cost of ambition in this sense is a never ending seek of fulfillment that may never come.
When nothing feels to ever be good enough, the feeling of having something new and exciting takes over.
One can see how this can become problematic for these types of people.
In fact, the most driven and ambitious people can easily fall into the traps of seeking short term gratification because the feeling of something new and exciting becomes prominent in their patterns of behavior.
There is good and bad in anything in life, and the same principle holds true even for the most driven and successful people.
There are tons of benefits of being highly ambitious because it is ambition that gives people this insatiable need to never give up and be productive.
With that being said, there is a cost that comes to being highly driven and ambitious also.
For the sake of this post, it is important to understand that ambition and drive is something that someone is born with and there are genetic components associated with ambitious behavior.
It is not something that can be taught, but rather something that can be harnessed.
Those born with the ambitious traits are not comfortable living within the traditional system - working a regular 9-5, settling for whatever they can get etc.
The highly driven are over-thinkers and need new challenges and problems to solve.
We feel as though we can do better at creating our own lives as opposed to living in the traditional system everyone else has grown accustomed to.
This is also why highly driven people in the modern world set out along the path of entrepreneurship because owning a business gives us full control of our livelihood.
The highly driven over-thinker will fail living within the traditional system and will oftentimes resort to vices for needs of fulfillment that they will never truly get.
Being highly ambitious and driven is a blessing but can also be a curse if not harnessed properly.
We first need to become aware of the traits that were blessed with and understand that the path of the warrior can be extremely useful for the benefit of mankind.
But we also need to be aware of the cost of ambition if not harnessed properly or not harnessed at all - a genuine lack of fulfillment in life.