Can you reconcile (professional) ambition with buddhism? I have been a practicioner of mindfulness and vipassana for a few years. I have felt that buddhism is at odds with striving towards professional success and ambition. Ambition and professional success inherently has elements of attachment and passion, which are at odds with the fundamental virtues of buddhism (such as equanimity). On one hand, I would like to be my best self in professional life and make significant contributions to my field, but when I have this mindset I experience negative emotions like insecurity, impatience. 

Do you think that these two things are at odds with each other and if not, why?
In AN 8.54, the Buddha teaches the four qualities that lead to a lay person's happiness and well-being in this life: consummate (or accomplished) in initiative, consummate in vigilance, admirable friendship and maintaining livelihood in tune. The four qualities that lead to a lay person's happiness and well-being in lives to come include consummate in conviction, consummate in virtue, consummate in generosity and consummate in discernment.

Trying to be the best that you can be in your profession is actually being consummate or accomplished in initiative. This is a good thing for lay persons.

The negative emotions like impatience, insecurity, envy etc. can be overcome with the latter four qualities: consummate in conviction, consummate in virtue, consummate in generosity, consummate in discernment. Especially, becoming consummate in virtue and discernment will lead to skillful thinking and skillful living, away from the three poisons of greed, aversion and delusion.

So, trying to be the best that you can be in your profession is a good thing and is not contradictory to Buddhism. However, having negative thoughts like insecurity and impatience is contradictory to Buddhism and the root cause of these needs to be understood and weeded out.

From AN 8.54:


  [The Blessed One said:] "There are these four qualities, TigerPaw,
  that lead to a lay person's happiness and well-being in this life.
  Which four? Being consummate in initiative, being consummate in
  vigilance, admirable friendship, and maintaining one's livelihood in
  tune.
  
  "And what does it mean to be consummate in initiative? There is the
  case where a lay person, by whatever occupation he makes his living —
  whether by farming or trading or cattle tending or archery or as a
  king's man or by any other craft — is clever and untiring at it,
  endowed with discrimination in its techniques, enough to arrange and
  carry it out. This is called being consummate in initiative.
  
  "And what does it mean to be consummate in vigilance? There is the
  case when a lay person has righteous wealth — righteously gained,
  coming from his initiative, his striving, his making an effort,
  gathered by the strength of his arm, earned by his sweat — he manages
  to protect it through vigilance [with the thought], 'How shall neither
  kings nor thieves make off with this property of mine, nor fire burn
  it, nor water sweep it away, nor hateful heirs make off with it?' This
  is called being consummate in vigilance.
  
  "And what is meant by admirable friendship? There is the case where a
  lay person, in whatever town or village he may dwell, spends time with
  householders or householders' sons, young or old, who are advanced in
  virtue. He talks with them, engages them in discussions. He emulates
  consummate conviction in those who are consummate in conviction,
  consummate virtue in those who are consummate in virtue, consummate
  generosity in those who are consummate in generosity, and consummate
  discernment in those who are consummate in discernment. This is called
  admirable friendship.
  
  "And what does it mean to maintain one's livelihood in tune? There is
  the case where a lay person, knowing the income and outflow of his
  wealth, maintains a livelihood in tune, neither a spendthrift nor a
  penny-pincher, [thinking], 'Thus will my income exceed my outflow, and
  my outflow will not exceed my income.' Just as when a weigher or his
  apprentice, when holding the scales, knows, 'It has tipped down so
  much or has tipped up so much,' in the same way, the lay person,
  knowing the income and outflow of his wealth, maintains a livelihood
  in tune, neither a spendthrift nor a penny-pincher, [thinking], 'Thus
  will my income exceed my outflow, and my outflow will not exceed my
  income.' If a lay person has a small income but maintains a grand
  livelihood, it will be rumored of him, 'This clansman devours his
  wealth like a fruit-tree eater.' If a lay person has a large income
  but maintains a miserable livelihood, it will be rumored of him, 'This
  clansman will die of starvation.' But when a lay person, knowing the
  income and outflow of his wealth, maintains a livelihood in tune,
  neither a spendthrift nor a penny-pincher, [thinking], 'Thus will my
  income exceed my outflow, and my outflow will not exceed my income,'
  this is called maintaining one's livelihood in tune.
  
  "These are the four drains on one's store of wealth: debauchery in
  sex; debauchery in drink; debauchery in gambling; and evil friendship,
  evil companionship, evil camaraderie. Just as if there were a great
  reservoir with four inlets and four drains, and a man were to close
  the inlets and open the drains, and the sky were not to pour down
  proper showers, the depletion of that great reservoir could be
  expected, not its increase. In the same way, these are the four drains
  on one's store of wealth: debauchery in sex; debauchery in drink;
  debauchery in gambling; and evil friendship, evil companionship, evil
  camaraderie.
  
  These are the four inlets to one's store of wealth: no debauchery in
  sex; no debauchery in drink; no debauchery in gambling; and admirable
  friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie. Just as if
  there were a great reservoir with four inlets and four drains, and a
  man were to open the inlets and close the drains, and the sky were to
  pour down proper showers, the increase of that great reservoir could
  be expected, not its depletion. In the same way, these are the four
  inlets to one's store of wealth: no debauchery in sex; no debauchery
  in drink; no debauchery in gambling; and admirable friendship,
  admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie.
  
  "These, TigerPaw, are the four qualities that lead to a lay person's
  happiness and well-being in this life.
  
  "There are these four qualities that lead to a lay person's happiness
  and well-being in lives to come. Which four? Being consummate in
  conviction, being consummate in virtue, being consummate in
  generosity, being consummate in discernment.
  
  "And what does it mean to be consummate in conviction? There is the
  case where a disciple of the noble ones has conviction, is convinced
  of the Tathagata's Awakening: 'Indeed, the Blessed One is worthy and
  rightly self-awakened, consummate in knowledge and conduct, well-gone,
  an expert with regard to the world, unexcelled as a trainer for those
  people fit to be tamed, the Teacher of divine and human beings,
  awakened, blessed.' This is called being consummate in conviction.
  
  "And what does it mean to be consummate in virtue? There is the case
  where a disciple of the noble ones abstains from taking life, abstains
  from stealing, abstains from illicit sexual conduct, abstains from
  lying, abstains from taking intoxicants that cause heedlessness. This
  is called being consummate in virtue.
  
  "And what does it mean to be consummate in generosity? There is the
  case of a disciple of the noble ones, his awareness cleansed of the
  stain of miserliness, living at home, freely generous, openhanded,
  delighting in being magnanimous, responsive to requests, delighting in
  the distribution of alms. This is called being consummate in
  generosity.
  
  "And what does it mean to be consummate in discernment? There is the
  case where a disciple of the noble ones is discerning, endowed with
  discernment of arising and passing away — noble, penetrating, leading
  to the right ending of stress. This is called being consummate in
  discernment.
  
  "These, TigerPaw, are the four qualities that lead to a lay person's
  happiness and well-being in lives to come."