Alexandre Fournier Machado 04/12/2016

What is the most important characteristic that a person can have to be

successful in life?

Some people believe that ambition is the most important

characteristic, because ambitious persons generally become well succeeded
in life. In contrast, others think that empathy is the principal characteristic for
achieving the success. There is different points of view in this difficult
question, but I think that empathy is a better quality.
Firstly empathy is defined by an individual's objective and insightful
awareness of the feelings and behavior of another person. It’s connected to
altruism, love and the capacity to help other people. When an individual can
feel the pain or the suffering of another, he starts helping and acting following
moral principles. Secondly empathetic people have the power of making effort
for the others could feel good. The kindness of these little acts create an
atmosphere of cooperation, good-fellowship and sympathy. This environment
acts upon the opportunities in job, business or even at home.
On the other hand ambition is the act of going about to solicit or
obtain an office, or any other object of desire. It’s a strong drive for success.
Normally the people moved only by ambition, don’t care about the feelings of
their colleagues when targeting their own objectives. For example, sometimes
ambitious people bypass their co-workers for achieving their goals. This
behavior turns the ambitious a lonely person, without friends.
To sum up, ambitious isn’t a bad quality, the ambitious individual will
continue to fight towards their goals against any adversity or setbacks. They
persevere, nothing is going to stop them from achieving. Although, empathy
brings many more benefits. First, it makes us feel really good. The pleasure
centers of the brain are stimulated when we are empathetic. It also reduces
stress and encourage resilience, trust, healing, personal growth and
creativity. Finally empathy also transforms conflict, and supports sustainable
collaborative action and positive social change.