--- title: How to Be Ambitious Without Sacrificing Your Mental Health description: Ambition doesn't have to destroy your mental health. The key is to harness it for a goal that serves your well-being. Here's how. canonical: https://time.com/6224158/ambition-mental-health/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-10-25T13:13:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:41:04.972Z article:section: Health og:title: How to Be Ambitious Without Sacrificing Your Mental Health og:description: The key is to harness ambition for a goal that serves your well-being og:url: https://time.com/6224158/ambition-mental-health/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcbc4aa86069f1d6c/698a36a516d8845f22c3b291/Ambition-Health-Header.gif?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1763 og:image:height: 992 og:image:alt: Ambition Health Header og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Be Ambitious Without Sacrificing Your Mental Health twitter:description: The key is to harness ambition for a goal that serves your well-being twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcbc4aa86069f1d6c/698a36a516d8845f22c3b291/Ambition-Health-Header.gif?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Be Ambitious Without Sacrificing Your Mental Health > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=ed233e53-e9fe-4aad-9a85-f9fc2a9d273f&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Ambition Is Out [Watch (HLS stream): Ambition Is Out](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oRzVU4XX.m3u8) (4:13)  _Published 2022-10-27. First came the “Great Resignation,” followed recently by the phenomenon of “quiet quitting.” Many surveys have also pointed to a sense of malaise and fatigue sweeping the American workforce, apparently culminating in a common desire to do less._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Oct 25, 2022 1:13 PM UTC First came the “Great Resignation,” followed recently by the phenomenon of “quiet quitting.” Many surveys have also pointed to a sense of malaise and fatigue sweeping the American workforce, apparently culminating in a common desire to do less.  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Oct 25, 2022 1:13 PM UTC Ambition can feel like a dirty word in the era of [quiet quitting](https://time.com/6208115/quiet-quitting-companies-response/) and the [Great Resignation](https://time.com/6106322/the-great-resignation-jobs/). Many Americans have realized that an always-­striving mindset can come at a cost to mental wellness; in an October [report](https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being/index.html), the U.S. Surgeon General even named workplace mental health a new public-­health priority in the wake of the pandemic. Research has also linked chasing extrinsic goals­, such as power, to anxiety and depression. But is [abandoning your ambition](https://time.com/6219467/end-of-ambition/) outright the secret to inner peace? Not necessarily. Instead, research suggests, the key is harnessing your ambition for a goal that serves your well-being. “We want to make sure that our ambition is being directed in ways that we care about,” says Richard Ryan, a clinical psychologist and a pioneer of [Self-Determination Theory](https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/), a school of thought focused on human motivation. Striving is only healthy if “we do it in ways that don’t spoil the rest of our lives.” Ambition isn’t inherently good or bad for mental health. [One famous 2012 study](https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0028084), based on data from hundreds of people who were tracked for seven decades, found that ambition strongly predicted career success, but was only weakly related to life satisfaction. Ambitious people weren’t drastically happier or unhappier than people who weren’t as driven, explains co-author Tim Judge, who is now a professor at the Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business. The target of your ambition may have a stronger impact on mental health. [Studies](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cjas.1488) have consistently [shown](https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fpspp0000431) that people who are motivated by “extrinsic” markers of success, such as wealth, status, or popularity, aren’t as psychologically fulfilled as people fueled by “intrinsic” motivators, such as personal growth, deep relationships, or knowledge. Reaching an extrinsic goal may briefly satisfy you, “but it’s not long-­lasting,” says Tim Kasser, a professor emeritus of psychology at Knox ­College. With some practice and introspection, you can retrain your ambition to feed, rather than harm, your mental health. Here are five research-backed ways to do just that. ## Prioritize your relationships Ambition can become harmful when it “crowds out” other important parts of life, Ryan says. “Ambition is effortful,” he says. “If you’re going to be successful and ambitious, you have to put a lot into it.” If that drive comes at the expense of psychologically fulfilling things like strong relationships or autonomy over your time, it can take a toll on mental health. ## Focus on the task, not the rewards [Research suggests](https://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/may/shape-achievement-goals-051012.html) you’ll feel more fulfilled if you focus on achievement for achievement’s sake—mastering a task, learning something, or creating positive change for your clients or community—rather than striving only for the next promotion or pay raise. ([Some research](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310481080%5FThe%5Fimpact%5Fof%5Fcareer%5Fambition%5Fon%5Fpsychologists%27%5Fextrinsic%5Fand%5Fintrinsic%5Fcareer%5Fsuccess%5FThe%5Fless%5Fthey%5Fwant%5Fthe%5Fmore%5Fthey%5Fget) even suggests that people who follow these internal motivators end up achieving more in the end.) “You can have ambition and be intrinsically motivated at the same time,” Ryan says. “You can love your work … but it’s in harmony with the rest of who you are.” ## Strive for growth Instead of letting ambition rule your life, you can adopt a “[growth mindset](https://fs.blog/carol-dweck-mindset/),” which refers to the belief that intelligence is not fixed and can be fostered. Judge says it may be healthier to strive for growth—learning or honing a skill, or cultivating a trait you admire in others—rather than concrete goals like getting a certain job title or salary. ## Practice gratitude People naturally have some materialistic tendencies, especially in capitalist societies. But Kasser’s research suggests that suppressing those desires can yield mental-health gains. Mindfulness and gratitude can help. [In one study](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b352f70b105987a3c71d3d1/t/5b59e1f170a6ad2b7a67c7f1/1532617202479/Brown+et+al+JRP+2009.pdf), people who meditated daily were more satisfied with their financial status and had greater well-being. Regular reflections on [gratitude](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-01347-004), relationships, or [mortality](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167207303015) have also been shown to reduce materialism, which can in turn improve mental wellness. ## Don’t try to monetize everything Have you ever lost interest in a beloved hobby after turning it into a side hustle? There’s a science-backed explanation. Decades ago, [researchers found](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1971-22190-001) that attaching extrinsic motivators (such as cash rewards) to activities that people enjoyed decreased their internal motivation to keep doing them. If psychological satisfaction is your goal, you may be better off without the extra cash. ## Transcript [00:00] Despite the price hikes millions of Americans have decided [00:03] to quit their job this year, and it is now being called the Great [00:14] resignation first team. [00:16] The great resignation followed recently by the phenomenon [00:21] of quite quitting. [00:22] Many surveys have also pointed to a sense of fatigue, [00:25] sleep in the American Workforce, apparently, culminating [00:30] in a common desire to do last Hyatt. [00:32] Quitting is a term, sometimes used to describe people who have [00:35] decided to not leave their jobs but take a step back from their [00:40] jobs. So this could look like you know, [00:43] doing the bare minimum of your job requirements or leaving [00:46] everyday at 5 on the dot. [00:48] If your work day is supposed to end at 5, [00:50] it's just sort of a way for people to reclaim some work-life [00:53] balance without actually quitting their job. [00:57] So there's been a lot of data in the later years of the pandemic [01:01] to suggest that people are not feeling engaged with their work. [01:04] So a lot of people are reporting that they're actively disengaged [01:08] from their jobs, mentally checking out. [01:10] A lot of people are actively looking for new jobs at prioritize [01:15] work-life balance and hopefully lower stress. [01:18] And a lot of people are just saying that they're not happy [01:21] at their current work environment or sort of having this Reckoning [01:24] with the role that work should play in our lives, [01:27] in general. And for a lot of people that is turning into a reframing [01:32] of the way, they think about ambition and accomplishment [01:35] and striving in their work in a given week, [01:46] I probably only do about 15 minutes of real actual work. [01:51] Many people have described their newly lacks attitudes [01:55] toward work as a loss of ambition. [01:57] But it's hard to say whether ambition is actually dropping [02:01] across the u.s. [02:02] population. So a study from the society for human resources [02:06] management and which is a group that does a lot of workplace [02:09] research found that about half of respondents were actively [02:13] looking for a new job as of July of this year and a lot [02:17] of people who had recently, left job said that they had done [02:20] that because they wanted better work-life balance. [02:22] Considering large cultural factors changes, are happening [02:26] in some Industries, but the progress has been slow, [02:30] leading some people who can afford to step back to replace [02:34] corporate ladder climbing in favor of more, [02:37] satisfying, social family or personal lives, think about ambition [02:46] and burnout on an individual level because anybody who has a job [02:50] is working within a larger economy and a larger system, [02:53] so things like inflation and wages, not keeping Pace with that. [02:57] Things like workplace is not prioritizing worker, [03:00] safety during the pandemic. [03:01] Things like income inequality, all of that contributes to [03:05] the way that we think about our work and we think about [03:08] our ambition. So to a large extent, [03:10] ambition is defined by the place. [03:13] You work in the country working. [03:15] Just as much as it is by yourself workers. [03:18] Questioning the purpose of their jobs, in a row work, [03:22] should claim their lives is nothing new. [03:24] However, According to some experts and maybe it's that many [03:29] people are thinking, critically about work, and in some cases [03:32] to think of Alex [03:35] A lot of psychological research suggests that if you can focus [03:38] on goals that are important to you and that you find internally [03:42] motivating that your work can actually serve your mental health [03:46] instead of hurting. [03:46] So, maybe that would be focusing on how good it will feel to finish [03:51] a task or learn a new skill as opposed to just driving for the [03:55] next promotion or the next Rays. [03:57] So it's the extent that you can focus on things that you personally [04:00] find meaningful and not external markers of success. 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