{"id":33295,"date":"2025-11-19T01:25:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=33295"},"modified":"2025-11-19T01:27:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:27:33","slug":"the-dark-side-of-career-ambition","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-dark-side-of-career-ambition\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dark Side of Career Ambition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I was scrolling through LinkedIn the other day and an unwelcome feeling started growing in the pit of my stomach. As I scanned the profiles of friends and colleagues, many of whom are self-starters, entrepreneurs and side-hustlers, I wondered if I\u2019d somehow missed the boat. I didn\u2019t start my own company by 25, and I don\u2019t have a side hustle spinning cash while I sleep. In that moment, I let career comparison choke the contentment I\u2019d enjoyed just moments before.<\/p>\n<p>If <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boredpanda.com\/generations-obsession-with-established-careers-success\/?utm_source=news.google&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=organic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this recent article<\/a> is any indication, I think many of you can relate. Regardless of the opportunities, hard work and accomplishments you\u2019ve enjoyed, maybe you feel like your accomplishments don\u2019t quite measure up. As soon as you reach a career goal, you wonder if you\u2019ve set your sights too low. A scroll through social media reveals others who are further along. Maybe, like me, you\u2019ve felt comparison squeeze the joy out of a moment of accomplishment.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a good thing to have and work toward goals. It\u2019s good to cultivate a career that will provide for ourselves and our families and give us a way to glorify God through our work. But I am concerned that social media has allowed unique pressures and temptations to influence how we view the temporal blessing of our callings and careers. We need to maintain the perspective that social media cannot provide.<\/p>\n<h4>Jesus\u2019 unexpected career advice<\/h4>\n<p>Jesus taught His disciples an important lesson on this very issue when they had their own taste of success. Luke tells the story of a time early in Christ\u2019s ministry when He appointed 72 to go \u201cinto every town where he himself was about to go\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke%2010%3A1&amp;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">10:1<\/a>). He gave them authority and power to share the good news of Christ\u2019s kingdom \u2014 oh, and to perform a few exorcisms. All in a day\u2019s work, right?<\/p>\n<p>As you might expect, they returned with excitement and amazement. You can picture the scene. They\u2019re hugging, laughing and giving high-fives as they recount demon-possessed people being set free at their word. Certainly, they had never heard of or been part of something so amazing. Yet Jesus used this as a teachable moment.<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cDo not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke%2010%3A20&amp;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Luke 10:20<\/a>). Our Lord was not saying that the disciples shouldn\u2019t ever rejoice in earthly success, but instead was elevating their attention to the eternal blessedness of being one of Christ\u2019s true followers. The highest and best reason we have to rejoice is that we are God\u2019s children, and our future is secure through our faith in Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul put it, \u201cOur citizenship is in heaven\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Phil.%203%3A20&amp;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Phil. 3:20<\/a>) and so we should primarily focus on and rejoice in things that matter eternally.<\/p>\n<h4>The ultimate job description<\/h4>\n<p>When I\u2019m feeling the weight of career comparison and the pressure to <a href=\"https:\/\/boundless.org\/blog\/the-curse-of-ambition\/\">work harder and accomplish more<\/a>, deep down I don\u2019t need another motivational pep talk. In those moments, my deepest need is to remember who and Whose I am \u2014 and to rejoice that my name is written in heaven.<\/p>\n<p>The next time you feel bogged down by the weight of comparison, remember that if you are trusting in Christ alone for your salvation, your name is written in heaven. You are eternally blessed as one of God\u2019s adopted children, which is far more significant than any accomplishment you could ever achieve on this earth.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Copyright 2020 Andrew Hess. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maybe, like me, you\u2019ve felt comparison squeeze the joy out of a moment of accomplishment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":44190,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33295","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-finances"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.8 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Dark Side of Career Ambition - Boundless<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I am concerned that social media has allowed pressures and temptations to set a comparison trap for our callings and careers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-dark-side-of-career-ambition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Dark Side of Career Ambition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Maybe, like me, you\u2019ve felt comparison squeeze the joy out of a moment of accomplishment.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-dark-side-of-career-ambition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Boundless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/boundless.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-19T08:27:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Dark-Side-of-Career-Ambition.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The Dark Side of Career Ambition\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Maybe, like me, you\u2019ve felt comparison squeeze the joy out of a moment of accomplishment.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/magnet-me-JUpaXbh-Fgc-unsplash-1-e1605023922222.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-dark-side-of-career-ambition\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-dark-side-of-career-ambition\/\",\"name\":\"The Dark Side of Career Ambition - Boundless\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-dark-side-of-career-ambition\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-dark-side-of-career-ambition\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Dark-Side-of-Career-Ambition.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-19T08:25:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-19T08:27:33+00:00\",\"description\":\"I am concerned that social media has allowed pressures and temptations to set a comparison trap for our callings and careers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-dark-side-of-career-ambition\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-dark-side-of-career-ambition\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-dark-side-of-career-ambition\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Dark-Side-of-Career-Ambition.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Dark-Side-of-Career-Ambition.webp\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"a woman bored at her computer, stuck in a comparison trap between her job and her friend's job\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-dark-side-of-career-ambition\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog Posts\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Dark Side of Career Ambition\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/\",\"name\":\"Boundless\",\"description\":\"Find your place. 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