8 traits of successful people - Richard St. John

1 00:00:14,0 --> 00:00:16,46 Now, my subject is success, 2 00:00:16,70 --> 00:00:20,516 so people sometimes call me a "motivational speaker." 3 00:00:20,540 --> 00:00:23,251 But I want you to know right up front I'm not a motivational speaker. 4 00:00:23,275 --> 00:00:26,710 I couldn't pass the height requirement. 5 00:00:26,734 --> 00:00:28,656 (Laughter) 6 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:30,706 And I couldn't motivate anybody. 7 00:00:30,730 --> 00:00:33,673 My employees actually call me a de-motivational speaker. 8 00:00:33,697 --> 00:00:34,698 (Laughter) 9 00:00:34,722 --> 00:00:36,336 What I try to be is an informational speaker. 10 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,333 I went out and found out some information about success, 11 00:00:39,357 --> 00:00:41,976 and I'm just here to pass it on. 12 00:00:41,0 --> 00:00:44,6 And my story started over ten years ago, on a plane. 13 00:00:44,30 --> 00:00:47,976 I was on my way to the TED conference in California, 14 00:00:47,0 --> 00:00:50,976 and in the seat next to me was a teenage girl, 15 00:00:50,0 --> 00:00:54,816 and she came from a really poor family, but she wanted to get somewhere in life. 16 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:57,76 And as I tapped away on my computer, she kept asking me questions, 17 00:00:57,100 --> 00:01:00,496 and then out of the blue, she asked, "Are you successful?" 18 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:03,976 I said, "No, I'm not successful." 19 00:01:03,0 --> 00:01:07,756 Terry Fox, my hero, now there's a big success. 20 00:01:07,780 --> 00:01:10,776 He lost a leg to cancer, then ran thousands of miles 21 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:12,416 and raised millions for cancer research. 22 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,206 Or Bill Gates, a guy who owns his own plane 23 00:01:15,230 --> 00:01:18,416 and doesn't have to sit next to some kid asking him questions. 24 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:20,976 (Laughter) 25 00:01:20,0 --> 00:01:23,576 But then I told her about some of the stuff I'd done. 26 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:26,286 I love communications, and I've won lots of awards in marketing. 27 00:01:26,310 --> 00:01:30,866 I love running, and I still sometimes win my age group, 28 00:01:30,890 --> 00:01:31,466 old farts over 60. 29 00:01:31,490 --> 00:01:32,490 (Laughter) 30 00:01:33,514 --> 00:01:36,546 My fastest marathon is two hours and 43 minutes 31 00:01:36,570 --> 00:01:39,406 to run the 26 miles, or 42 kilometers. 32 00:01:39,430 --> 00:01:42,976 I've run over 50 marathons, in all 7 continents. 33 00:01:42,0 --> 00:01:46,336 This was a run my wife and I did up the Inca trail to Machu Picchu in Peru. 34 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,546 And to qualify for the 7 continents, 35 00:01:49,570 --> 00:01:51,976 we had to run a marathon in Antarctica. 36 00:01:51,0 --> 00:01:54,404 But when we got there, it didn't look nice and calm like this, 37 00:01:54,428 --> 00:01:56,762 it looked like this. 38 00:01:56,786 --> 00:01:58,256 The waves were so high, we couldn't get to shore. 39 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,666 So we sailed 200 miles further south to where the seas were calm 40 00:02:02,690 --> 00:02:05,516 and ran the entire 26-mile marathon 41 00:02:05,540 --> 00:02:06,809 on the boat. 42 00:02:06,413 --> 00:02:09,419 422 laps around the deck of that little boat. 43 00:02:10,984 --> 00:02:13,76 My wife and I have also climbed two of the world's seven summits, 44 00:02:13,100 --> 00:02:15,16 the highest mountains on each continent. 45 00:02:15,40 --> 00:02:18,296 We climbed Aconcagua, the highest mountain on the American continent, 46 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,606 and Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. 47 00:02:21,630 --> 00:02:24,446 Well, to be honest, I puked my way to the top of Kilimanjaro, 48 00:02:24,470 --> 00:02:26,416 I got altitude sickness. 49 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:28,476 I got no sympathy from my wife. 50 00:02:28,500 --> 00:02:31,350 She passed me and did a lap around the top 51 00:02:31,374 --> 00:02:33,405 while I was still struggling up there. 52 00:02:33,429 --> 00:02:38,800 In spite of that, we're still together and have been for over 35 years. 53 00:02:38,824 --> 00:02:39,825 (Applause) 54 00:02:39,849 --> 00:02:42,856 I'd say that's a success these days. 55 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:43,976 So I said to the girl, 56 00:02:43,0 --> 00:02:46,976 "Well, you know, I guess I have had some success." 57 00:02:47,604 --> 00:02:49,475 And then she said, "Okay, so are you a millionaire?" 58 00:02:49,499 --> 00:02:51,586 (Laughter) 59 00:02:51,610 --> 00:02:52,127 Now, I didn't know what to say, 60 00:02:52,151 --> 00:02:55,126 because when I grew up, it was bad manners to talk about money. 61 00:02:55,150 --> 00:02:57,836 But I figured I'd better be honest, 62 00:02:57,860 --> 00:02:59,737 and I said, "Yeah. I'm a millionaire. 63 00:02:59,761 --> 00:03:00,395 But I don't know how it happened. 64 00:03:00,419 --> 00:03:04,656 I never went after the money, and it's not that important to me." 65 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:06,996 She said, "Maybe not to you, but it is to me. 66 00:03:06,20 --> 00:03:08,842 I don't want to be poor all my life. 67 00:03:08,866 --> 00:03:11,563 I want to get somewhere, but it's never going to happen." 68 00:03:11,587 --> 00:03:12,146 I said, "Well, why not?" 69 00:03:12,170 --> 00:03:15,546 She said, "Well, you know, I'm not very smart. 70 00:03:15,570 --> 00:03:16,242 I'm not doing great in school." 71 00:03:16,266 --> 00:03:20,486 I said, "So what? I'm not smart. I barely passed high school. 72 00:03:21,510 --> 00:03:23,835 I had absolutely nothing going for me. 73 00:03:23,859 --> 00:03:27,715 I was never voted most popular or most likely to succeed. 74 00:03:27,304 --> 00:03:30,336 I started a whole new category -- most likely to fail. 75 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:35,926 But in the end, I did okay. So if I can do it, you can do it." 76 00:03:35,390 --> 00:03:37,326 And then she asked me the big question: 77 00:03:37,350 --> 00:03:41,766 "Okay, so what really leads to success?" 78 00:03:41,790 --> 00:03:43,456 I said, "Jeez, sorry. I don't know. 79 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,476 I guess somehow I did it. I don't know how I did it." 80 00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:49,976 So I get off the plane and go to the TED conference, 81 00:03:49,0 --> 00:03:52,236 and I'm standing in a room full of extraordinarily successful people 82 00:03:52,260 --> 00:03:55,142 in many fields -- business, science, arts, 83 00:03:55,166 --> 00:03:58,522 health, technology, the environment -- 84 00:03:58,546 --> 00:03:59,606 when it hit me: 85 00:03:59,630 --> 00:04:01,976 Why don't I ask them what helped them succeed, 86 00:04:01,0 --> 00:04:05,646 and find out what really leads to success for everyone? 87 00:04:05,670 --> 00:04:08,386 So I was all excited to get out there and start talking to these great people, 88 00:04:08,410 --> 00:04:10,976 when the self-doubt set in. 89 00:04:10,0 --> 00:04:13,936 I mean, why would people want to talk to me? 90 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,116 I'm not a famous journalist. I'm not even a journalist. 91 00:04:16,140 --> 00:04:19,236 So I was ready to stop the project before it even began, 92 00:04:19,260 --> 00:04:22,976 when who comes walking towards me but Ben Cohen, 93 00:04:22,0 --> 00:04:25,916 the famous co-founder of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. 94 00:04:25,940 --> 00:04:26,464 I figured it was now or never. 95 00:04:26,488 --> 00:04:28,52 I pushed through the self-doubt, 96 00:04:28,76 --> 00:04:30,9 jumped out in front of him, and said, 97 00:04:30,33 --> 00:04:32,677 "Ben, I'm working on this project. 98 00:04:32,701 --> 00:04:33,386 I don't even know what to ask you, 99 00:04:33,410 --> 00:04:36,556 but can you tell me what helped you succeed?" 100 00:04:36,580 --> 00:04:38,186 He said, "Yeah, sure, come on. Let's go for a coffee." 101 00:04:38,210 --> 00:04:41,926 And over coffee and ice cream, Ben told me his story. 102 00:04:41,950 --> 00:04:43,96 Now here we are over 10 years later, 103 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,556 and I've interviewed over 500 successful people 104 00:04:46,580 --> 00:04:49,47 face-to-face, and collected thousands of other success stories. 105 00:04:49,71 --> 00:04:53,296 I wanted to find the common factors for success in all fields, 106 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:57,216 so I had to interview people in careers ranging from A to Z. 107 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,826 These are just the careers I interviewed beginning with the letter A, 108 00:05:01,850 --> 00:05:03,736 and in most cases more than one person. 109 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:05,976 I interviewed six successful accountants, 110 00:05:05,0 --> 00:05:09,746 five corporate auditors, five astronauts who had been into space, 111 00:05:09,770 --> 00:05:12,906 four actors who had won the Academy Award for Best Actor, 112 00:05:12,930 --> 00:05:15,566 three of the world's top astrophysicists, 113 00:05:15,590 --> 00:05:17,556 six of the world's leading architects 114 00:05:17,580 --> 00:05:20,976 and, oh yeah, four Nobel Prize winners. 115 00:05:20,0 --> 00:05:23,240 Yeah, I know it doesn't start with A, but it's kind of cool. 116 00:05:23,264 --> 00:05:24,321 (Laughter) 117 00:05:24,345 --> 00:05:26,346 And I want to say a sincere thanks 118 00:05:26,370 --> 00:05:30,756 to all the great people that I've interviewed over the years. 119 00:05:30,780 --> 00:05:34,566 This really is their story; I'm just the messenger. 120 00:05:34,590 --> 00:05:36,976 The really big job was taking all the interviews 121 00:05:36,0 --> 00:05:39,226 and analyzing them, word by word, line by line, 122 00:05:39,250 --> 00:05:43,326 and sorting them into all the factors that people said helped them succeed. 123 00:05:43,350 --> 00:05:48,756 And then you start to see the big factors that are common to most people's success. 124 00:05:48,780 --> 00:05:51,726 Altogether, I analyzed and sorted millions of words. 125 00:05:51,750 --> 00:05:53,976 Do you know how much work that is? 126 00:05:53,0 --> 00:05:56,866 That's all I do, day and night -- sort and analyze. 127 00:05:56,890 --> 00:06:00,547 I'll tell you, if I ever get my hands on that kid on the plane -- 128 00:06:00,571 --> 00:06:01,572 (Laughter) 129 00:06:01,596 --> 00:06:02,449 Actually, if I do, I'll thank her. 130 00:06:02,473 --> 00:06:06,925 Because I've never had so much fun and met so many interesting people. 131 00:06:06,949 --> 00:06:08,306 And now, I can answer her question. 132 00:06:08,330 --> 00:06:12,216 I discovered the 8 traits successful people have in common, 133 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:14,216 or the 8 to be great: 134 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,896 Love what you do; work really hard; 135 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:19,976 focus on one thing, not everything; 136 00:06:19,0 --> 00:06:23,616 keep pushing yourself; come up with good ideas; 137 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:25,766 keep improving yourself and what you do; 138 00:06:25,790 --> 00:06:30,786 serve others something of value, because success isn't just about me, me, me; 139 00:06:30,810 --> 00:06:33,226 and persist, because there's no overnight success. 140 00:06:34,739 --> 00:06:35,466 Why did I pick these? 141 00:06:35,490 --> 00:06:39,726 Because when I added up all the comments in my interviews, 142 00:06:39,750 --> 00:06:41,976 more people said those 8 things helped them 143 00:06:41,0 --> 00:06:42,382 than anything else. 144 00:06:42,406 --> 00:06:46,866 The eight traits are really the heart of success, the foundation, 145 00:06:46,890 --> 00:06:48,976 and then on top we build the specific skills 146 00:06:48,0 --> 00:06:51,76 that we need for our particular field or career. 147 00:06:51,100 --> 00:06:56,189 Technical skills, analytical skills, people skills, creative skills -- 148 00:06:56,213 --> 00:06:58,340 lots of other skills we can add on top, 149 00:06:58,364 --> 00:07:00,976 depending on our field. 150 00:07:00,0 --> 00:07:02,976 But no matter what field we're in, 151 00:07:02,0 --> 00:07:06,976 these eight traits will be at the heart of our success. 152 00:07:06,325 --> 00:07:09,325 (Applause)