When Action Becomes the Engine of Achievement
Created at: September 21, 2025
It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things. — Leonardo da Vinci
The Call to Agency
Da Vinci’s observation reframes accomplishment as an act of authorship rather than accident. Instead of waiting for fortune to smile, the accomplished person rewrites the script, turning circumstances into material. This shift from passivity to agency is subtle yet decisive: it moves us from asking what will happen to us toward asking what we will make happen. Consequently, success appears less like a lottery and more like a craft—one built through deliberate choices, experiments, and iterations.
Leonardo’s Renaissance Method
Fittingly, Leonardo modeled the posture he praises. Apprenticed in Verrocchio’s workshop, he did not merely observe; he took tools in hand, dissected cadavers to map anatomy, and filled notebooks with designs for flying machines and hydraulics. The Codex Atlanticus (c. 1478–1519) shows a mind that tested the world by poking at it—sketching, measuring, recalibrating. Even his phrasing, “It had long since come to my attention,” signals disciplined noticing that provokes action. In an age of exploration, he explored not only continents but constraints, turning curiosity into a systematic engine for discovery.
History Rewards Initiators
Moreover, the pattern repeats across eras. Florence Nightingale entered the filth of Crimean War hospitals and imposed sanitation protocols, then codified them in Notes on Nursing (1859), transforming a field rather than waiting for it to reform. Frederick Douglass escaped slavery, published Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), and toured relentlessly; he did not wait for justice to arrive—he summoned it. Likewise, Marie Curie sought out pitchblende and, through grueling refinement, announced polonium and radium with Pierre Curie (1898). In each case, they went out and happened to things, leaving the world reconfigured in their wake.
Psychology Behind Proactive Success
Contemporary psychology explains why initiating behavior multiplies results. Julian Rotter’s locus of control (1966) links an internal sense of influence to persistence and performance; when people believe their actions matter, they act more and longer. Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory (1977) adds that confidence grows from mastered tasks, creating a virtuous cycle of action and ability. Peter Gollwitzer’s implementation intentions (1999)—if-then plans—convert vague goals into triggers that launch behavior. Finally, Carol Dweck’s growth mindset (2006) frames setbacks as data, not verdicts, encouraging further experiments. Together, these findings translate da Vinci’s maxim into mechanisms we can practice.
Designing Systems That Create Momentum
Turning initiative into outcomes requires scaffolding. Clear problem statements, fast prototypes, and tight feedback loops reduce the cost of action and increase learning. Practical routines help: time-blocking for protected work, weekly reviews to reset priorities, and David Allen’s Getting Things Done (2001) to externalize commitments so attention stays free for execution. Many teams cultivate a bias for action—shipping small, reversible changes to accelerate discovery. As these systems compound, they convert intention into cadence, making it easier to keep happening to things even when motivation dips.
Ethics as the Steering Wheel of Action
At the same time, velocity without values courts harm. Action should be steered by empathy, evidence, and accountability. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963) argues for creating “constructive nonviolent tension” to catalyze negotiation—an ethical model of happening to events with moral purpose. Similarly, the Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA (1975) showed scientists can proactively set guardrails before scaling breakthroughs. Thus, da Vinci’s charge is not mere hustle; it is responsibility in motion, aligning initiative with the good.
A Modern Mandate to Build
Finally, the landscape today rewards those who move first and learn fast. Open-source maintainers who start useful tools, climate innovators piloting low-carbon materials, and civic technologists improving public services all demonstrate how small, concrete acts can ripple widely. Begin where you stand: draft the proposal, run the pilot, ship the smallest useful version. Results may not arrive on schedule, but learning will. In that steady practice, da Vinci’s insight becomes habit—each day, you go out and happen to things until momentum, and then mastery, answers back.