Is it bad that I don’t have an ambition?

Dilemma

No performance interview passes without the question: where do you see yourself in five years? Everyone seems to be busy with the next step, the higher target, the new goal, the personal development plan, the better function. Rewards go to the best performers, permanent contracts to high flyers, compliments to outblinkers. But what if you will see yourself in the same place in five years as now? What if you have a position with which many start their career, but that you still have at the age of 40? What if you work ‘under your level’, you can take on more tasks, but it all so late? Is that sin, unwise, lazy? In short: is it bad if you don’t have an ambition?

A sin

Nowadays we automatically link ambition to work, says Geertje Bol, political scientist and researcher at Ghent University. « We see it as something positive, where terms like higher, better and more belong. » This used to be very different, she says. Once this kind of ambition was even seen as a sin. « Like the sin of Adam and Eva, who ate the apple to gain more knowledge. Ambition was then associated with that. If the will to take a higher place or rank than you were given by God. »

Know your place, was the credo. « This of course applied mainly to women. A kind of ambition that was accepted was the sound, which was about developing a moral character. »

Our current way of thinking about ambition, ‘career ambition’ calls Bol this, emerged in the 19th century. Illustrative is Napoleon’s slogan: La career over aux Talents. By that he meant that, under his regime, people could move forward based on their capacities, not because of their origins. The fascination for ‘the genius’ in the 19th century also contributed to the rise of career ambition, says Bol. « The most talented people, who make optimum use of their talents, got the best career. »

Cruel optimism

Research shows that people with a lot of ambition can be faster Adjust stressful situations at workoften dare And that they see yourself as successful. Also Managers look positively at people with ambitions. Yet ambition in the workplace is not just positive, says philosopher Lieke Knijnenburg, author of the book A beautiful void. An attempt to resist our obsession with productivity. « We have been talking to us that ambition can take us far. In the workplace we are often pushed to grow and achieve goals. But only a few are actually rewarded for that. The rest is left empty -handed. »

The American cultural theorist Lauren Berlant had a nice term for this, says Knijnenburg: cruel optimism. You will be disappointed if you think ambition will always make you move forward.

Career psychologist and coach Corine Adams also sees young people start their career with a lot of ambition and good courage -and get disappointed. « A large number of my clients are medical specialists who expected that they would end up well after fifteen years of hard work, studying and promoting, but nowhere to find a permanent appointment. Having ambition is unfortunately no guarantee of success. »

A life next to the workplace

By the way, you can have ambition, says Adams. But there is a difference between unhealthy and healthy ambition. Unhealthy ambition is always want more in your career at all costs, without considering whether this is good for yourself and for others. Healthy ambition is to develop yourself, want to inspire others, be motivated, set feasible goals that suit you and that make you happy.

This means that you can also adjust your expectations. Adams: « For example, a client of mine was frustrated that she had a job below her level. As a university -trained she had to reach more, she thought. But after a number of conversations she realized that she had little confidence and that ‘more’ or ‘higher up’ may not suit her. » And then you can work hard on your self -confidence, but you can also learn to accept who you are and which job fits with that. Or you focus on growth in your current job. No healthy ambition without self -knowledge is Adams’ conviction.

Nobody can do without ambition, according to philosopher Knijnenburg. « It gives value to life, ensures that you want to develop yourself and that you care about something. You not only achieve your goals through it; ambition creates it too. »

Translating ambition only into a successful career is a far too close interpretation, she says. « You may find it much more important to be a good friend, or read books. There is also a whole life next to the workplace in which ambition deserves a place. »

Bol also argues for a wider definition. « If we continue to see ambition as something that suits successful career tigers, we exclude many people. Ambition is for everyone. In the workplace and far beyond. »

Conclusion

Everyone actually has ambition, although that does not always touch the workplace. There is always something you care about, what you strive for, where you want to be. And that can also be who and where you are. Not wanting to move forward in a time when it seems like a taboo to stand still is perhaps the most ambitious thing there is.

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