It's funny. I feel like I'm insufficiently ambitious in all the traditional career measures. I mean, if I really wanted to, I'm sure I could be an Important Hospital Administrator in 15-20 years, but why would I want to? I'm interested in neither the job nor everything it would take me to get from here to there. And I'm glad I didn't become a doctor or lawyer or any of the things I said I wanted when I was growing up, because I'd have even less time to write. Maybe, MAYBE, if I had my life to live over again I'd get that PhD in paleoanthropology or history...but if you offered me the choice between a professorship at a top university and a successful writing career, I'd take the writing career without a second thought.
OTOH, as I said, I'm very ambitious about my writing, and I'm pretty ruthless with myself or anyone else, even including beloved family and friends, when it comes to protecting my writing time and putting my writing goals ahead of everything else. And one question I often ask myself (and am even exploring through one of the characters in my WIP) is whether it's possible to be hard-driven and hard-driving, single-minded in the pursuit of a cherished goal, while still being, well, a human. I don't want to lose all capacity for love, spontaneity, and compassion...but don't come between me and my books.