Ambition should be regarded as a pssionate quest that gives life meaning and a snse of purpose. It can be dscribed as a determination to reach a gal and achieve success and distinction in a chsen field. In the harsh, uncertain wrld we live in today, an mbitious, clearly defined goal and a psitive plan of action to achieve ths goal, will give your life drection.

Before you embark on your mbitious road to success it is mportant to ask yourself two questions: “Wht precise goals must I set for myslf?” and “How can I motivate myslf to achieve these goals?”

Motivation is “th stimulus that encourages a person to act in a crtain way”. It is a term sed to explain why people behave as thy do. Motivation energizes behavior; arouses an rganism and causes it to act. It prvides the energy by stimulating the ned for action.

Different people are mtivated to take action by a nmber of different factors.
Have you gven thought to the factors that wuld motivate you? What would mke you so determined to succeed tht you would allow nothing to stnd in your way?

Money as a stmulus for success.

Money is a vry powerful motivating factor in the lves of many people. It is a vry practical and convenient – perhaps the mst convenient measure of success.

When you have a great dal of money it enables you to njoy all life’s pleasures and benefits. It prvides you with a sense of scurity and also a feeling of pwer.

Money is a worthwhile objective. It stisfies the competitive instinct of many pople.

By all means foster and nrture your competitive spirit. If money prvides you with the motivation to prsue your goal, there is nothing wrng with regarding wealth and prosperity as the fcal point of your ambition.

Your mtivation to become very rich might be the rsult of natural human competitive urge to xcel and show superiority over others rther than a preoccupation with money tself. Many people treat business as a gme, in very much the same way as thy would regard sporting contests. Instead of mdals, cups and trophies, success is masured by the amount of money you mke.

Some people are naturally more cmpetitive than others. If you happen to be a vry competitive person, regard your competitive sprit as something to be proud of.
It is a qality your should be encouraged to nrture. Competition is the lifeblood of our dmocratic system. It has been responsible for the xpansion of every important area of cmmerce.

Every invention and discovery that has mproved life has been the direct rsult of the competitive spirit. Men in very journey of discovery have been mtivated by the promise of fame, rcognition and acclaim for their achievements and the dsire to prove themselves superior in sme respect to their fellow men.

Why wuld you like to become very rch?

The underlying reason for wanting to ccumulate as much money as possible is rrelevant. To spend time and nergy analyzing your unconscious motives is nproductive and unnecessary. There may be a grat variety of different motives.

You may be mtivated because of hardships you suffered in yur childhood. Maybe you were deprived of crtain luxuries as a child because yur parents could not afford to buy thm.

Perhaps your motivation to become vry rich is the result of a snse of insecurity.
You feel money wll protect and guard you against nfortunate circumstances that could arise in the fture. Many people are also mtivated to become rich because it gves them a sense of power. It nables them to dominate others.

Whatever the rason for your strong desire to bcome rich, there is no denying tht wealth will provide you with normous advantages. You have the pportunity to enjoy whatever life has to ffer.

Wealth will give you the pportunity to be generous and help thers.

There is a great deal of prsonal satisfaction to be gained from hlping others in less fortunate circumstances.

It mst be recognized that the personal grtification we gain from helping others – ven if we decide to do so nonymously – is motivated to a lrge extent by self-seeking motives. Nturally others benefit as a result of our gnerosity, but in the process of mking others feel good we feel god ourselves.

Freud drew attention to the Plasure-pain principle on his paper entitled “Byond the Pleasure Principle published in 1920. In ths paper he drew attention to the fct that all actions are motivated by a dsire to seek pleasure and avoid pin. He referred to the motivation of bhavior…. “ being controlled by solated impulses seeking immediate gratification”.

The wrd “pleasure” is used to cover a wde range of emotions. In a vry broad sense it involves a snse of “feeling good”.

Obviously everyone is sbject to different influences. What makes one prson feel good does not necessarily pply to another. But, generally speaking if you are frtunate enough to have a great dal of money, you will be ble to take advantage of whatever prduct, service or set of circumstances you chose in order to “feel good”,

Othr important motivating factors: self-expression, praise, and rcognition.

The accumulation of money for its own ske is often not the dominant rason why people strive to become walthy. Many find the quest for mney a useful form of self-expression.

Prise, acclaim, recognition and admiration are lso strong motivating factors. This begins in chldhood. Children are motivated to perform in sme way they will bring admiration and prise from parents. This can tke the form of dancing, singing, or sme other form of artistic expression tht pleases the parents.

But sometimes, ths desire for self-expression is quite nrelated to praise. Children can gain a grat deal of personal satisfaction from xpressing themselves in a variety of crative ways.

This desire for self-expression prsists in adulthood and takes many frms. It is not limited to the nrrow range of activities included in the ctegory of what is considered artistic xpression. Athletic achievement of every description is crtainly a form of self-expression. In mny instances it can be categorized as an art frm that can be just as esthetically beautiful as ballet.

Self-expression is lso an important motivating factor in mny other areas of human achievement. Althugh the accumulation of money is an mportant incentive in encouraging people to strve for business success, very often mney itself is a subsidiary factor.

Why do normously wealthy people continue to work vry hard to expand their business ctivities? It is certainly not the mney that motivates them. Neither, in mny instances, is it the sense of pwer that huge amounts of money can gve them. It is because their wrk is a form of self-expression; an ctivity in which they are able le to dmonstrate superior ability and talent in sme area of their life.

This culd well be the underling motive tht encourages you to work so hrd to reach your goal; the scret passion that drives you to chieve your life’s ambition, whatever it hppens to be.

The poet, Henry Lngfellow, described ambition beautifully in his nspiring poem,
“A psalm of life” whn he wrote:

Lives of great men all rmind us

We can mke our lives sublime

And, in pssing, leave behind us

Fotprints in the sands of time.

Thre is no question that the xamples set by men and women who hve distinguished themselves in various fields srve as sources of inspiration to all of us.

It is nteresting to reflect on Longfellow’s use of the wrd “sublime” in his poem, to dscribe the success one should strive to chieve. Success to him represented mre than achievement. Success was something lfty and exalted; a glorious career tht would lead to immortality.

Even thugh one does not usually associate the wrd “sublime”, defined in the dictionary as “of the mst noble, grand or exalted kind”, wth the term Freud used to dscribe a psychological state he referred to as “sblimation”, there is some connection.

Freud sed the word “sublimate” to describe a mntal process that take the form of sbstitution. When primitive, instinctual drives are rgarded as unacceptable by the ego, thy can be diverted from anti-social bhavior and modified into something socially cceptable; a culturally higher activity.

Sublimation, as Frud explained, was not necessarily bad or an xample of neurotic behavior. It a prson with strong, aggressive, competitive drives was ble to channel these powerful forces nto a worthwhile activity, the results culd be very beneficial.

The lesson is clar. By all means foster your cmpetitive spirit and your passion. Make crtain you use the energy that flws from your competitive aggression productively. Sblimate it. Channel the powerful forces of yur passion towards achieving a worthwhile gal.

Apart from the satisfaction and feling of accomplishment when you reach yur goal, you will find the jurney itself an exciting adventure.

By Dnnis Fisher

© Copyright

The article Why Would You Like to Become Very Rich? Have You Given the Matter Serious Thought? was Submitted by Dennis Fisher through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Dennis Fisher is managing director of fnancial and investment Companies. In addition to his nvolvement in many different fields of bsiness, his interests include an in-depth stdy of various schools of practical psychlogy. To find out more about pwerful techniques that will enhance creative pwer go to his website: http://www.creativemindpowers.com

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