What do you want that you have not got? Your talent and effort explain less of why you have certain results and not others. These are important contributors to your success, and sometimes the lack thereof, but they pale in comparison to the strength of your intentions in the face of a world you have little or no effective control over.

On the 26th of June, 1998, Chris Martin proclaimed that, within four years, his barely formed band "Coldplay or whatever we'll be known then", would be on National Television. Cut to four years and three days later, and they are headlining in front of a massive screaming stadium crowd. "Open up your eyes." They have become one of the most successful and enduring bands ever.

The Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman said that his favorite formula is "success = talent + luck". Luck has more impact on success generally than talent: The larger the success, the greater chance that good fortune played a dominant role. There is more talent floating around than there is great success. Apparently favorable conditions do not diminish the manifest destiny of Chris Martin and his friends. There is another key ingredient at play. "I’ve been blessed in life with an ability to not give up. If you really feel that you're supposed to do something, go for it."

My coach of several decades Phil Holcomb says his favorite answer to any question is "intention". Would Phil say that Chris caused his massive success? No (and neither would Chris). But he would say that if you want to know what your intentions are, simply look at your results. They often speak loudly, just, "open up your ears." What I've learned about ownership, I've mostly learned from this great teacher.

Results are the collision of intention and opportunity.

We don't have full control of the environments we operate in and neither do we have full control over the situations that come our way. We mostly have very little. But with strong intention, I choose to frame whatever comes my way as an opportunity to create my dream in some way. It's not always obvious how a setback is in anyway a good thing. The trains keep coming. That's not up to me. Jumping on is all up to me.

Past results tend to attract new opportunities.

It's easy for me to credit my talent for good results and blame other people or external circumstances I had no control over for my bad results. And it's likewise easy for me to credit other people's great results mostly to luck even as I pay a nod to their talent. Everyone has apparent headwinds and tailwinds that help or hurt. Phil takes the position that "all things occur perfectly". Intention is the daily choice to see resources where others see risk, finding a way forward when most people would turn-back.