The real comfort here lies in Powell's insistence that success leaves *clues*—it isn't mystical or reserved for the specially gifted. What sets this apart from mere "work hard" platitudes is the triangulation: preparation and hard work alone produce only exhaustion unless you're actively converting your failures into usable knowledge. A surgeon who performs the same procedure ten thousand times without analyzing her mistakes remains far less skilled than one who performs it a hundred times while scrutinizing every complication, and Powell understood that distinction. That's why his words stick—not because they're encouraging, but because they're accurate about the machinery underneath achievement.