Success is never an accident!

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.” – John Ruskin (1819 – 1900)

I wrote down this quote when I was a student while attending one of the (compulsory) courses on quality. I didn’t like the course that much, yet this quote struck a chord. I carried it around, changed courses and did nothing with it.

Until now, 10 years later. I found the quote again while cleaning up stuff at home. I read it again, and it struck a chord again. But this time I knew why. I got a pen and replaced “Quality” with “Success” to get:

“Success is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”

I know, it’s just one word, but how powerful is this! And quality and success are not that far apart anyway. There’s so much value in this quote and I’m going by every part of it separately.

Success is never an accident…
Never an accident! Remember that part please. Now I know, you instantly think: “And what about those people who win the lottery? How is that not accidental?” Well…they did buy the ticket right? So it wasn’t really an accident…

Yet winning a fortune is far from what we would call a success. Success is the accomplishment, or as the dictionary says: the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors. Success is the prosperous result of endeavors.

Without endeavors there can be no success. To endeavor is, according to the dictionary again: to exert oneself to do or effect something. An endeavor is never without direction, it has a goal, a desired outcome. So if success cannot be achieved without endeavors and endeavors require goals, then success requires goals as well.

So what about those goals? Well, back to dictionary.com again: Goals are the result or achievement toward which effort is directed. And that concludes the circle. Success requires endeavors, endeavors require direction or goals, and goals are the desired outcome.

If your life’s goal is to win the lottery, and you put all your effort in to accomplish that goal, well then winning it might be called a success. But I advice you to choose wiser goals.

…it is always the result of high intention…
Intention: an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result. So success is the result of a high level of mental determination upon actions or results. What does this mean? The way I look at it, this means two things.

First, this means that you have to visualize what the desired result is going to be. What is the success that you’re after? This is a mental process, imagine how life would look like if you already achieved what you want to achieve. Picture this in your mind’s eye, listen to the sounds, how does it feel? And do this often to strengthen your vision.

Second it means deciding upon taking action. You can visualize all you want and list goals on long ambitious lists, but unless you decide to take action, nothing will happen. Decide to do it!

…sincere effort…
…but a decision to do something is not enough. You have to put in the energy. Action is the only way to get going and to achieve change. Sincere effort! You really need to want to achieve your goals. I know, this sounds absurd, why wouldn’t you want to achieve your goals?

But are you willing to pay the price? Are you willing to put in the effort? Are you really? If you are willing to pay the price, congratulations! If you’re not, maybe you want to rethink your goals. Success is not about the magnitude of your goals, it’s about achieving them.

…intelligent direction…
So you’ve set your goals, you’ve decided to take action and you took action. Now start planning. The goal is the destination, and this part of the quote is about how to get there. There are many roads that lead to Rome, as the saying goes, but there are a lot of roads that are unwise to take.

Find role models that have accomplished what you’re aiming for. How did they get from where they were to where they are? What mistakes did they make, what setbacks did they have? Analyze them and prevent them from happening to you. Also look at what they did that made the difference that brought them closer to their goals and learn from their success. You’re not the first to go after this, why make mistakes others already made for you? Search this knowledge and use it wise.

…and skillful execution;…
And while you’re studying how these role models achieved their goals, also find out how they did it. What did they do, think, feel, see, believe and so on. Contact one of those people and interview them or take up an “internship” to see how they perform their magic. Trust me, it’s not magic when you see it from close by. Magic is skillful execution, or skillful execution equals magic.

Not everything needs to be directly in the direction of your goal. There also a lot of supporting actions that set the right perimeters and the right conditions for your ability to achieve it. But whatever it is you need to do, do it the best way you can.

…it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.
It does, doesn’t it? If we look back at all the different aspects of achieving success, it really is a wise choice of many alternatives. In short, what you’ve done: