Ambition is a fickle lover. In most cases, it leads to making the most progressive decisions, but also some of the most heinous and atrocious. These polar opposites must coexist in order for the ambitious soul to reach a state of equilibrium.

The ambitious can accomplish great things for themselves and their surroundings, however focusing on what my father calls “the big picture” can cause significant details to slip through the cracks.

Both sides of the coin should be considered when on any path where the destination is higher ground in relation to the origin. Blind ambition is very real and very dangerous. There are countless proverbs about listening to your heart and that all you need is love, but the unfortunate reality is that should you choose to follow your heart, it’s best to keep your head behind it.

I had a very close friend who went to Los Angeles to follow his heart in pursuit of a music career after a near death experience as a marine in Kosovo. Two months later, he was institutionalized for a suicide attempt and I haven’t heard from him since. The entire time I’d known him, he had always been an ambitious man, living by the slogan “you gotta dream big to live large.” The trouble is, I don’t think he ever woke up.

As college students, a majority of us have drive, regardless of whether the direction we’re going. We experience highs and lows, but it’s commonly accepted that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if there is a long way to go. It’s comforting to know that the stress and anxiety from being caught in the gears of the daily grind will ultimately yield something worth the pain. If life is truly what you make it to be, then the result of the hard work will be some sort of happiness. Or at least that’s what we should believe, otherwise we risk losing the motivation to be ambitious.

Although ambition has produced countless examples of greatness, there are extremists in the field, entitling their practice cutthroat ambition. These people have little regard for others, often violating trust and ethical conduct in order to better themselves. The dual nature of ambition is quite clear, and when this is understood, the negatives can be minimalized, allowing for maximum amount of potential to be achieved. And as the generation that’ll inherit this defiled planet, we should be doing everything in our power to ensure that we aren’t sabotaging the path for those following.