Say there were two men, well educated, hard working and ambitious. They both aim to become millionaires and hence throw themselves into their work. Then one day one man wins a 10 million dollar lottery, and another earns 5 million in a corporate deal. Technically they both achieved their ambition, but only one of them is considered successful. You don’t need three chances to figure out who that is. The man who earned his money is considered to be successful and the man who won the lottery is considered to be lucky. An argument can be made that the first man made a conscious decision to enter the lottery being fully aware of the odds. He took a gamble and it paid off. Then why is he considered lucky and not successful in achieving his ambition? This is because he lacked one key factor that determines success; ‘Intent’.

If you never intended to pick the apple, should you be credited with the success of picking it, just because it fell at your feet? This is what happens with most business organizations. Businessmen put in a lot of effort and energy into the business during establishment. This creates momentum and leads to the business garnering immediate success. The natural inertia of an organization in its market leads to continued success. Businessmen often get confused and end up thinking that these successes are due to their efforts. They end up running the business instead of growing the business.

We must always keep in mind that we can only be considered successful if we intended to be so. Always take time to evaluate your intentions. This will give you a better chance of figuring out the best way of fulfilling those intents. Without intent you would be like a ship sailing without a destination, sailing only by the whims of the wind.