--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If a person is working toward a…" description: "\"If a person is working toward a predetermined goal and knows where to go, then that person is successful. If a person does not know which direction the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/890/earl-nightingale-1728_doe_if-a-person-is-working-toward-a-predeter_262469.png" --- # If a person is working toward a predetermined goal and… ![“If a person is working toward a predetermined goal and knows where to go, then that person is successful. If a person does not know which direction they want to go in life, then that person is a failure.” quote by Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/890/earl-nightingale-1728_doe_if-a-person-is-working-toward-a-predeter_262469.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/890/earl-nightingale-1728_doe_if-a-person-is-working-toward-a-predeter_262469.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/890/earl-nightingale-1728_doe_if-a-person-is-working-toward-a-predeter_262469.png) > “If a person is working toward a predetermined goal and knows where to go, then that person is successful. If a person does not know which direction they want to go in life, then that person is a failure.” [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Success is defined by having clear goals and direction; lacking purpose is framed as failure. **In simple terms:** Know your direction to succeed. Key Takeaway Set clear goals and pursue them. Themes goal setting purpose success Mood determined reflective Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - career planning - personal development - education - life coaching Key Concepts self‑determination motivation direction Questions to Reflect On - What purpose drives you? - How can you discover direction? A Different Perspective Purpose can be fluid; not knowing may be a phase, not a failure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Know Direction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-direction-490068/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Person Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person-failure-789367/) [Person Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person-successful-295181/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Predetermined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/predetermined/) [Predetermined Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/predetermined-goal-2584426/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Successful person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful-person/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) ## Related quotes > [Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one's better abilities or ideas, to take a calculated risk - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-maltz/often-the-difference-between-a-successful-person-and-a-failure-is-not-2/) [Maxwell Maltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-maltz/) > [Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/often-the-difference-between-a-successful-person-and-a-failure-is-not/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [Courage is all you need to be a successful person. 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You are NOT a failure!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-groeschel/failure-is-an-event-not-a-person-you-are-not-a-failure/) [Craig Groeschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-groeschel/) > [“That person is a failure who steals the science of a scientist and claims that he is the owner.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamaran-ihsan-salih/that-person-is-a-failure-who-steals-the-science-of-a-scientist-and/) [Kamaran Ihsan Salih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamaran-ihsan-salih/) > [No marriage is one person's failure any more than it's one person's success, so it works best to see a marriage that has ended…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merle-shain/no-marriage-is-one-person-s-failure-any-more-than-it-s-one-person-s/) [Merle Shain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merle-shain/) > [I believe that every person's failure is their fault, every single time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-taffer/i-believe-that-every-person-s-failure-is-their-fault-every-single-time/) [Jon Taffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-taffer/) > [I think if you know one direction, then you can feel the other one. 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I know it happened to me when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-carson/there-comes-a-time-or-a-moment-when-you-know-in-which-direction-you/) [Johnny Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-carson/) > [When you're starting up a show, you don't really know what direction it's going to go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-dratch/when-you-re-starting-up-a-show-you-don-t-really-know-what-direction/) [Rachel Dratch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-dratch/) > [When you get a record deal, you got to be pretty headstrong, know your direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martie-maguire/when-you-get-a-record-deal-you-got-to-be-pretty-headstrong-know-your/) [Martie Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martie-maguire/) > [“Sometimes when your life seems most out of control, you know there's a direction. 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Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, just when you finally begin to plan something, get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/life-is-funny-isn-t-it-just-when-you-think-you-ve-got-it-all-figured/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) ## More by Earl Nightingale > [It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/it-s-difficult-for-people-to-come-to-the-understanding-that-only-a/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Open your ears before you open your mouth, it may surprise your eyes!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/open-your-ears-before-you-open-your-mouth-it-may-surprise-your-eyes/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [People don't have great attitudes because of great success, they have great success largely because of great attitudes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/people-don-t-have-great-attitudes-because-of-great-success-they-have/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Now, success is not the result of making money; making money is the result of success - and success is in direct proportion to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/now-success-is-not-the-result-of-making-money-making-money-is-the/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/the-more-intensely-we-feel-about-an-idea-or-a-goal-the-more-assuredly/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light.\[so we can see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/we-all-walk-in-the-dark-and-each-of-us-must-learn-to-turn-on-his-or/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [We tend to minimize the things we can do, the goals we can accomplish, and for some equally strange reason we think other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/we-tend-to-minimize-the-things-we-can-do-the-goals-we-can-accomplish/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [You can predict a person?s future and divine his bank balance if you know two things: the books he reads, the people he associates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/you-can-predict-a-person-s-future-and-divine-his-bank-balance-if-you/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [The amount of money we receive will always be in direct ratio to the demand for what we do; our ability to do it;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/the-amount-of-money-we-receive-will-always-be-in-direct-ratio-to-the/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [“And the greatest teacher of them all, the carpenter from the plains of Galilee, gave us the Secret time and time again, "As ye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/and-the-greatest-teacher-of-them-all-the-carpenter-from-the-plains-of/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Do what experts since the dawn of recorded history have told you you must do: pay the price by becoming the person you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/do-what-experts-since-the-dawn-of-recorded-history-have-told-you-you/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [A success is anyone who is doing deliberately a pre-determined job, because that's what he decided to do deliberately. 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