Ambition is what built this country. So a little ambition has been known to have its benefits. But, according to Fox.com, ambition may be detrimental to your happiness and the longevity of your life. According to the article, a group of researchers followed a group of 717 people for decades. They followed the people over a span of time from college until they retired. This group was considered "high-ability" and smarter than average. Most received degrees from prestigious schools. However, some received degrees from high-school only or from a community college. Those people that were identified as the most ambitious had a 15.5% higher mortality rate. Those who were the most ambitious but didn't realize their goals were impacted even worse by the effect.
In my opinion, I feel that everyone needs to be somewhat ambitious. But i feel that people also need a reprieve. People need a chance to relax and stop being so worried about money and holding prestigious jobs and getting degrees from prestigious schools. However, ambition is what the American spirit is based on. People believe that in America, if a person wants something bad enough, they can work hard and achieve that dream. This is a positive form of ambition. Ambition begins to hurt a person when it begins to engulf their whole life and take over the person. Ambition can become negative when it begins to interfere with a person's family life, it becomes the only thing they care about, and when it sends them down a path that isn't true to what the person believes in. That being said, ambition is just like a lot of things in life, a person needs to find a balance for it to positively benefit them.
