Success is Accidental ?

August 25, 2020 Abdallah Alaili

In entrepreneurship, there is no guaranteed formula for success, anyone that tells you otherwise is lying!
Sometimes a product or a business fails 100 times before succeeding the 101’s time. Sometime since day one a company would fly like a rocket, and other times companies stagnate for years before catching a lucky brake …

For personal success, it is a bit different, and will depend on many factors, but mainly your definition of success.

This subject is not as simple and easy to answer, that’s why we have created a special report “Luck & Success” to analyse this matter through several articles.
Including:
10 Examples of Unexpected Lucky Discoveries & Accidental Success

For now, I will try to answer the following important question :

Is Success Accidental ?

I- Is Personal Success Accidental ?

This will depend mostly on your definition of success. Some people are very ambitious and set a very high bar for success, others are more realistic and have success much more attainable. For some people success is even a no- issue normality like being married, having kids, getting a degree, having a job in x or y field …

Thus the way success is perceived depends largely on the person in question …
That’s why, it is good to start with the philosophy of personal success, to do that we will by examining the 3 different viewpoints:

Defined by hard work: For some, success is a path that is paved with hard work, it is the work put to reach this point that defines success, this can be understood clearly by the quotes below:

“The path to success is to take massive, determined action” — Tony Robbins
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it” — Estée Lauder
“Nothing worth having comes easy.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“All roads that lead to success have to pass through hard work boulevard at some point.” – Eric Thomas
“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” – Anonymous

Defined by determination: For others, success is a result of determination. Those that never give up will eventually find success, this is well stated in the few quotes:

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm” — Winston Churchill
“Don’t worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.” —Jack Canfield
“Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” —Oprah Winfrey
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” —Samuel Beckett
“You always pass failure on your way to success.” —Mickey Rooney
“Most great people have achieved their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” —Napoleon Hill

Defined by self-improvement: For few enlightened, success is a state of mind. Improving oneself is the ultimate success goal, this is well stated in the few quotes:

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value” — Albert Einstein
“Success is not what you have, but who you are” — Bo Bennet

Secret to personal success ?

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell

Personal success is not a mystery, however the person should be mature enough to choose a field to focus on. Hard work combined with determination , preparation and learning from mistakes, could allow anyone with normal intelligence to achieve a form of personal success. As long as it is within logic.

What about Luck?

Luck do exist, and it does simplify the road to success and even amplifies success. However it does not determine success! Lucky and unlucky people can be successful, even-though the unlucky ones deserve their success much more! It is no secret that some strokes of luck are behind the biggest success stories of our times, but that does not mean that without this luck people can not be successful.

As a conclusion on personal success!

I personally do not think that personal success is accidental, and also would greatly depend on your definition of success and what you are expecting from this success? Fame, money, recognition, respect, development, or maybe none ?
I would like to hear your opinion, please click on the link to be directed to the discussion section, and let me know whether you think success is accidental or not ? < link

II- Is Business Success Accidental ?

Business success is a much more complicated subject, that i would like to dedicate a separate article for. You will find a link to the article once published here.

III- Accidental Discoveries and Inventions?

I am sure you are not looking for this type of accidental success, but here’s a list of few inventions and discoveries that were completely by chance!

Penicillin was discovered accidentally as a mold by Alexander Fleming.
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes through a failed attempt at making granola.
Pfizer pharmaceutical company was trying to develop a drug useful for high blood pressure and instead the drug was Viagra.
The discovery of X-rays, accidentally discovered by Wilhelm Röntgen
The invention of microwave cooking, discovered by a radar engineer at Raytheon when a chocolate bar melted in his pocket while working with a high powered radar antenna.
Vulcanization of rubber, arguably discovered accidentally by Charles Goodyear by accidentally dropping sulfur into a latex mixture.
The internet …. and many many more

In case you are the visual type, we made a video for you: