ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Richard St. John - Marketer, success analyst
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.

Why you should listen

Richard St. John was on his way to the TED conference when a girl on the plane asked him, "What really leads to success?" Even though he had achieved some success, he couldn't explain how he did it. So he spent the next ten years researching success and asking over 500 extraordinarily successful people in many fields what helped them succeed. After analyzing, sorting, and correlating millions of words of research, and building one of the most organized databases on the subject of success, he discovered "The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common" and wrote the bestseller 8 To Be Great.

In his books and talks,he shares a wealth of wisdom from the world's most successful people -- knowledge that can help others succeed in their own way, whether it's escaping poverty, building a business, raising a family, or changing the world.

More profile about the speaker
Richard St. John | Speaker | TED.com
TED2005

Richard St. John: 8 secrets of success

El-temn srar ntaɛ el-njaḥ ɛend Richard St. John

Filmed:
14,410,517 views

Ɛlah el-nas ynejḥu? Zeɛma laxaṭerš faṭnin? Wella ġir mezharin? Ḥetta waḥda. El-'analist Richard St. John lemm men beɛd šḥal men ɛam ɛayṭa ntaɛ 'intervyu w lexxeṣhum f waḥed el-muḥaḍara ma tnexlefš, ntaɛ 3 dqayeq, ɛla: el-srar el-ḥeqqaniyin ntaɛ el-njaḥ.
- Marketer, success analyst
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

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

F el-ḥeqq, hadi muḥaḍara ntaɛ saɛtin nmedha l el-ṭalaba ntaɛ el-lisiyat,
00:24
This is really a two-hour presentation
I give to high school students,
0
31
3290
meqṣuṣa hnaya l telt dqayeq
00:27
cut down to three minutes.
1
3345
1251
Kul ši bda f waḥed el-nhar fi ṭeyyara, f ṭriqi beš neḥḍer l TED,
00:28
And it all started one day
on a plane, on my way to TED,
2
4620
2641
hadi sebɛ snin fatet.
00:31
seven years ago.
3
7285
1294
W f el-kursi elli quddami
00:32
And in the seat next to me
was a high school student, a teenager,
4
8603
4373
kanet qaɛda waḥed el-ɛziba, teqra f el-lisi,
00:37
and she came from a really poor family.
5
13000
2007
Ɛaylatha zawaliya w meɛduma b el-bezzaf.
W kanet baġya tdir keš ḥaja fi ḥyatha,
00:39
And she wanted to make
something of her life,
6
15483
2493
00:42
and she asked me a simple little question.
7
18000
2039
w seqsatni swal ṣġir w sahel.
Qaletli: "Weš huwa elli yweṣṣel l el-njaḥ?"
00:44
She said, "What leads to success?"
8
20063
1945
W ḥessit ruḥi ṣeḥḥ kelli tfukert,
00:46
And I felt really badly,
9
22032
1379
laxaṭerš ma qdertš neɛṭilha jwab wafi.
00:47
because I couldn't give her a good answer.
10
23435
2461
'Beɛdatik, nzelt m el-ṭeyyara, w jit l TED.
00:49
So I get off the plane, and I come to TED.
11
25920
2056
00:52
And I think, jeez, I'm in the middle
of a room of successful people!
12
28000
3730
W xemmemt temmatik: Ya el-Zeḥḥ! Rani fi weṣṭ ṣala mɛemra b nas najḥin!
Ɛlah ma nseqsihumš weš elli ɛawenhum beš nejḥu,
00:55
So why don't I ask them
what helped them succeed,
13
31754
2611
w nqerrih l el-drari?
00:58
and pass it on to kids?
14
34389
1714
'Amala, rana hna, sebɛ snin, 500 'intervyu beɛdatik,
01:00
So here we are, seven years,
500 interviews later,
15
36817
3609
w ġadi nqullkum šahuwala ṣeḥḥ elli yweṣṣel l el-njaḥ
01:04
and I'm going to tell you
what really leads to success
16
40450
2940
w yxelli nas TED yezzeġdu.
01:07
and makes TEDsters tick.
17
43414
1365
W el-ḥeyya el-'ewla hiya el-welɛa (ki el-waḥed ykun muluɛ b keš ḥaja)
01:09
And the first thing is passion.
18
45367
1609
Freeman Thomas yqul: "el-welɛa hiya elli tseyyerni."
01:11
Freeman Thomas says,
"I'm driven by my passion."
19
47787
2532
Nas TED ydiru weš rahum ydiru laxaṭerš yebġu weš rahum ywasu; mši ɛla jal el-drahem.
01:14
TEDsters do it for love;
they don't do it for money.
20
50763
2460
Carol Coletta tqul: "Madabiya nxelleṣ keš waḥed ġir beš neqder ndir weš rani nwasi."
01:17
Carol Coletta says, "I would pay
someone to do what I do."
21
53247
3484
W el-ḥeyya el-muhhima hiya:
01:20
And the interesting thing is:
22
56755
1411
lakan tdirha b sebba't el-rešqa, el-drahem yju waḥedhum.
01:22
if you do it for love,
the money comes anyway.
23
58190
2191
Xedma! Rupert Murdoch qalli: "Kulši yji b el-thenbir."
01:24
Work! Rupert Murdoch said
to me, "It's all hard work.
24
60866
3110
01:28
Nothing comes easily.
But I have a lot of fun."
25
64000
3083
Ḥetta ḥaja ma tji sahla. Beṣṣaḥ, netsella b el-bezzaf."
Qal tselya? Rupert? Wah!
01:31
Did he say fun? Rupert? Yes!
26
67107
2870
Nas TED yetsellaw w huwa yexxedmu. W yhenbru.
01:34
(Laughter)
27
70001
1476
01:35
TEDsters do have fun working.
And they work hard.
28
71501
2746
Fhemt belli huma mši henbriyin. Huma meḍrubin ɛla el-xedma.
01:38
I figured, they're not workaholics.
They're workafrolics.
29
74271
2953
01:41
(Laughter)
30
77248
1590
Mliḥ - Mxeyyer! Alex Garden yqul: "Beš tkun najeḥ, dexxel rasek fi keš ḥaja
01:42
Good!
31
78862
1057
01:43
(Applause)
32
79943
1001
01:44
Alex Garden says, "To be successful,
put your nose down in something
33
80968
3346
w redd ruḥek el-mxeyyer fiha."
01:48
and get damn good at it."
34
84338
1246
Ma fiha ḥetta sḥur; tmerren, tmerren, tmerren.
01:49
There's no magic;
it's practice, practice, practice.
35
85608
2842
W hiya gana Terkaz. Norman Jewison qalli:
01:52
And it's focus.
36
88474
1019
01:53
Norman Jewison said to me,
37
89517
1734
" Fi mizi, kul ši merbuṭ b el-terkaz ntaɛek ɛla ḥaja weḥda."
01:55
"I think it all has to do
with focusing yourself on one thing."
38
91275
2992
W zeyyer! David Gallo yqul, "Zeyyer ruḥek.
01:58
And push!
39
94773
1065
02:00
David Gallo says, "Push yourself.
40
96235
1988
F el-kor ntaɛek w fi ɛeqlek, yliqlek tzeyyer, tzeyyer w tzeyyer."
02:02
Physically, mentally,
you've got to push, push, push."
41
98247
2642
Lazemlek tzeyyer ruḥek beš tbeɛɛed el-ḥešma w el-šekk fi datek.
02:04
You've got to push through shyness
and self-doubt.
42
100913
2611
Goldie Hawn tqul: "Dima šekkit fi dati.
02:07
Goldie Hawn says,
"I always had self-doubts.
43
103548
2428
02:10
I wasn't good enough;
I wasn't smart enough.
44
106000
2096
Ma kuntš mliḥa kima yelzem; ma kuntš faṭna kima yelzem.
Ma ḥsebtš bellli ndirha."
02:12
I didn't think I'd make it."
45
108120
1543
Ḍerwek, mši dima sahla beš tzeyyer ruḥek,
02:14
Now it's not always easy to push yourself,
46
110264
2039
ɛla biha xtarɛu el-yemmayen. (Ḍeḥk)
02:16
and that's why they invented mothers.
47
112327
2088
02:18
(Laughter)
48
114439
1000
02:19
(Applause)
49
115439
1561
02:21
Frank Gehry said to me,
50
117000
2976
Frank Gehry -- Frank Gehry qalli:
02:24
"My mother pushed me."
51
120000
1370
"'Ana, yemma zeyretni."
02:25
(Laughter)
52
121394
1214
Xdem w Dir mziyat! Sherwin Nuland yqul: "Kunt mezhar ki xdemt ṭbib."
02:26
Serve!
53
122632
1016
02:28
Sherwin Nuland says,
"It was a privilege to serve as a doctor."
54
124427
3039
Ḍerwek, bezzaf bzuza yqululi belli rahum ḥabin ywellu málin mlayen.
02:32
A lot of kids want to be millionaires.
55
128093
2110
W el-ḥaja el-'ewla elli nqulhalhum hiya:
02:34
The first thing I say is:
56
130227
1250
"Ṣeḥḥa, ma teqderš texdem ruḥek;
02:35
"OK, well you can't serve yourself;
57
131501
1902
lazelmek texdem (w tdir mziya fi) ġirek b ḥaja fiha qima (fayda)
02:37
you've got to serve others
something of value.
58
133427
2237
Laxaṭerš hadi hiya el-sira elli el-nas twelli biha mrefḥa."
02:39
Because that's the way
people really get rich."
59
135688
2537
Fkar! Men nas TED, yqul Bill Gates: "Kanet ɛendi fekra:
02:43
Ideas!
60
139074
1025
02:44
TEDster Bill Gates says, "I had an idea:
61
140123
2853
02:47
founding the first micro-computer
software company."
62
143000
2976
nṭelleɛ el-šarika el-'ewla ntaɛ el-baramej dyal el-ḥasub el-ṣġir
02:50
I'd say it was a pretty good idea.
63
146000
1976
Neqder nqul kanet fekra mxeyra.
02:52
And there's no magic to creativity
in coming up with ideas --
64
148000
2976
W ma fiha ḥetta sḥur f el-bdaɛ (kreyativite) ki el-waḥed yjib fkar --
02:55
it's just doing some very simple things.
65
151000
2335
hiya, ġir, ki ydir el-waḥed ṣwaleḥ sahlin.
[Smeɛ, Šuf, Kunek qerɛaji, Seqsi, Ḥell el-mašakil, Rbeṭ bin el-ṣwaleḥ]
W nmedd šḥal men bayan.
02:57
And I give lots of evidence.
66
153359
1617
Ɛeṣṣeṣ! Joe Kraus yqul:
02:59
Persist!
67
155291
1114
03:00
Joe Kraus says,
68
156799
1001
"el-teɛṣaṣ huwa el-sebba el-'ewla elli txelli el-waḥed yenjeḥ."
03:01
"Persistence is the number
one reason for our success."
69
157824
2594
Yliqlek tɛeṣṣeṣ mɛa kul xsara. Yliqlek tɛeṣṣeṣ mɛa el-CRAP (xra, ḥbuba)
03:04
You've got to persist through failure.
You've got to persist through crap!
70
160832
3542
elli bayen meɛnatu: "neqd, refḍ, bhalil w ḍeġṭ."
03:08
Which of course means "Criticism,
Rejection, Assholes and Pressure."
71
164398
3515
(Ḍeḥk)
03:11
(Laughter)
72
167937
2766
'Amala el-jwab -- el-kbir, ntaɛ had el-swal... sahel:
03:14
So, the answer to this question is simple:
73
170727
3719
Xelleṣ 4.000 ḥebba (dollars) and rwaḥ l TED.
03:18
Pay 4,000 bucks and come to TED.
74
174470
2125
03:20
(Laughter)
75
176619
1193
W 'ida ma nejjemtš, dir el-temn ṣwaleḥ -- w ṣeddeqni,
03:21
Or failing that, do
the eight things -- and trust me,
76
177836
2738
hadu huma el-temn ṣwaleḥ el-kbar elli ywweṣlu l el-njaḥ.
03:24
these are the big eight things
that lead to success.
77
180598
3220
03:27
Thank you TEDsters
for all your interviews!
78
183842
2719
Ṣeḥḥitu ya nas TED ɛla jal gaɛ el-intervyu ntaweɛkum!
03:30
(Applause)
79
186585
3000

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Richard St. John - Marketer, success analyst
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.

Why you should listen

Richard St. John was on his way to the TED conference when a girl on the plane asked him, "What really leads to success?" Even though he had achieved some success, he couldn't explain how he did it. So he spent the next ten years researching success and asking over 500 extraordinarily successful people in many fields what helped them succeed. After analyzing, sorting, and correlating millions of words of research, and building one of the most organized databases on the subject of success, he discovered "The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common" and wrote the bestseller 8 To Be Great.

In his books and talks,he shares a wealth of wisdom from the world's most successful people -- knowledge that can help others succeed in their own way, whether it's escaping poverty, building a business, raising a family, or changing the world.

More profile about the speaker
Richard St. John | Speaker | TED.com