Ambition and the Soul

Nathan O. Hatch addressed BYU in March 27^th, 2001. He entitled his address “Ambition and the Soul”. You can listen to it for free at the link at the end of this reading.

“Does ambition constitute a virtue or a vice?” Nathan asks. The dictionary defines ambition as “A strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.” Under this definition, I am very ambitious. I strongly desire to have an eternal family and I am working hard for it. So ambition is not bad in all instances. In fact, I would say that it is ambition that keeps us alive, we all follow the earnest desire to achieve happiness. On the other hand, ambition can get us off track when motivated especially by our self-interest. Power, fame or wealth is usually motivated by the benefits it can bring to me at the expenses of what it would mean for others. Nathan counsels to “scrutinize professional ambition with respect to how it affects other dimensions of life”. How do the means and the ends of my ambition affect my family, my friend, those around me, my relationship with God? The answer to this question will clearly highlight potential pitfalls in our desires and actions.

Ambition can be a bad thing for two reasons:

1.       Success rarely satisfies ambition, once we have success we will fall into a perpetual cycle of wanting more.

2.       We can fall into thinking that our success depends on somebody else failing. This will put us in the wrong path of trying to trip others to reach our goals.

It is our duty to take a deep dive into our convictions and desires to keep ambition from taking us in wrong paths.

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=238&tid=10