Email This
New talks are released daily. Be the first to know!
Video RSS
|
Additional RSS Options You either have JavaScript turned off or have an old version of the Adobe Flash Player. To view this video you
need to get the latest Flash player.
If you are on a mobile device, you may be able to download the video to play.
If your browser allows only "trusted sites" to execute Javascript, you should add the "googleapis.com" domain to your whitelist to allow our Flash detection to work properly.
TED Conversations
Got an idea, question, or debate inspired by this talk? Start a TED Conversation, or join one of these:
-
How does one decide to chase a dream?
Started by Michael South 3 Comments -
What is the best advice you received in your life?
Started by Vlad Fiscutean 73 Comments -
If you could teach the world 1 valuable thing you learned, what would it be and why?
Started by Mike L 307 Comments -
What is the best advice you've ever received?
Started by Tarek Seif el nasr 14 Comments -
What advice would you give for someone's first week in their new job?
Started by Tarek Seif el nasr 10 Comments
Interactive Transcript
Click on any phrase to play the video from that point.
This is really a two-hour presentation I give to high school students, cut down to three minutes. And it all started one day on a plane, on my way to TED, seven years ago. And in the seat next to me was a high school student, a teenager, and she came from a really poor family. And she wanted to make something of her life, and she asked me a simple little question. She said, "What leads to success?" And I felt really badly, because I couldn't give her a good answer. So I get off the plane, and I come to TED. And I think, jeez, I'm in the middle of a room of successful people! So why don't I ask them what helped them succeed, and pass it on to kids? So here we are, seven years, 500 interviews later, and I'm gonna tell you what really leads to success and makes TED-sters tick. And the first thing is passion. Freeman Thomas says, "I'm driven by my passion." TED-sters do it for love; they don't do it for money. Carol Coletta says, "I would pay someone to do what I do." And the interesting thing is: if you do it for love, the money comes anyway. Work! Rupert Murdoch said to me, "It's all hard work. Nothing comes easily. But I have a lot of fun." Did he say fun? Rupert? Yes! TED-sters do have fun working. And they work hard. I figured, they're not workaholics. They're workafrolics. Good! Alex Garden says, "To be successful put your nose down in something and get damn good at it." There's no magic; it's practice, practice, practice. And it's focus. Norman Jewison said to me, "I think it all has to do with focusing yourself on one thing." And push! David Gallo says, "Push yourself. Physically, mentally, you've gotta push, push, push." You gotta push through shyness and self-doubt. Goldie Hawn says, "I always had self-doubts. I wasn't good enough; I wasn't smart enough. I didn't think I'd make it." Now it's not always easy to push yourself, and that's why they invented mothers. (Laughter) Frank Gehry -- Frank Gehry said to me, "My mother pushed me." Serve! Sherwin Nuland says, "It was a privilege to serve as a doctor." Now a lot of kids tell me they want to be millionaires. And the first thing I say to them is: "OK, well you can't serve yourself; you gotta serve others something of value. Because that's the way people really get rich." Ideas! TED-ster Bill Gates says, "I had an idea: founding the first micro-computer software company." I'd say it was a pretty good idea. And there's no magic to creativity in coming up with ideas -- it's just doing some very simple things. And I give lots of evidence. Persist! Joe Kraus says, "Persistence is the number one reason for our success." You gotta persist through failure. You gotta persist through crap! Which of course means "Criticism, Rejection, Assholes and Pressure." (Laughter) So, the big -- the answer to this question is simple: Pay 4,000 bucks and come to TED. Or failing that, do the eight things -- and trust me, these are the big eight things that lead to success. Thank you TED-sters for all your interviews!
About The Speaker
A self-described average guy who found success doing what he loved, Richard St. John spent more than a decade researching the lessons of success -- and distilling them into 8 words, 3 minutes and one successful book.
Full bio and more links
About This Talk
Why do people succeed? Is it because they're smart? Or are they just lucky? Neither. Analyst Richard St. John condenses years of interviews into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success.
What to Watch Next
Subscribe to TED
Related Themes And Tags
We want you to share our Talks!
Just follow the guidelines outlined under our Creative Commons license.
This comment will be attributed to . Not ? Sign out.