It has been a belief of mine that the word passion has always been recognized as a word that has a positive meaning. The word ambition a negative one. I was always taught that having a passion for what you believe in will fuel the inner fire that is within you to accomplish the necessary goals that are to be achieved. However, on the other hand having strong ambitions will eventually take you to a place where you may have to compromise your views that you have based your foundation on.
If possible, I would like to take a second, just to get the common definition of both words. Merriam’s Dictionary defines the word “Ambition” as having a desire to be successful, powerful, or famous. The defined meaning from Merriam’s Dictionary for “Passion” a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something, a strong feeling (such as anger) that causes you to act in a dangerous way.
I would say with anything you can have a negative or positive outlook, and too much of one thing whether good or bad can surely not be all good. If I as a human being and entrepreneur have built a foundation based on positive, and humble beliefs that provide a positive service to others, I can honestly say that my ambitions to present a quality, and uplifting product is not a selfish or a self-centered mindset. As presented in the assigned reading “It’s a Jungle in There” if we do take the negative connotation for the meaning of ambition, then we can presume we would be consumed by self-centeredness, arrogant, and narcissistic ways.
Even, as I reviewed the assigned reading from “It’s a Jungle in There,” it gives us the idea that Passion is a motivator, a sort of energizer that can give you the power to pull through trying times while in the heat of building your business from the bottom up. Again, we presume this because of the positive presentation given by the assigned reading. However, we can also establish a dark side to the word passion. There is definitely a downfall to being overly passionate in business which can result in an Entrepreneur making overly emotionally decisions when it comes to their respected business. Sometimes being too close or too immersed, and not having the right support in other key leadership positions that can help you with checking and balancing your decisions.
Finally, having passion or being ambitious about your business, is not a bad thing to have. However, you must have the where with all to recognize when you have overly extended your emotions to your business or projects. In your business, you must always have checks and balances and senior leadership that is close to you to warn you when you have crossed the ethical, immoral, or the excessively overbearing line.
Schussler, Steven (1994). It’s A Jungle In There. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
Myatt, Mike (2011). The Downside of Passion retrieved from http://hub.n2growth.com/when-passion-impedes-purpose/
Tsaousides, Theo (2016).The Thin Line Between Too Little and Too much Passion retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/smashing-the-brainblocks/201610/the-thin-line-between-too-little-and-too-much-passion-part-1
