TED2009
Richard St. John: Success is a continuous journey
Richard St. John: "Succes er en evig rejse"
Filmed:
Readability: 3.1
4,347,745 views
På hans typiske ligefremme måde, minder Richard St. John os om, at succes ikke er en ensrettet gade, men en evig rejse. Han bruger historien om hans virksomhed i vækst og fald til at illustrere en værdifuld lektie -- når vi holder op med at stræbe slår det fejl.
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. Full bio
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.
00:18
Why do so many people reach success and then fail?
0
0
5000
Hvorfor opnår så mange mennesker succes, hvorefter de fejler?
00:23
One of the big reasons is, we think success is a one-way street.
1
5000
4000
En af de vigtige årsager er, at vi tænker på succes som om det er en ensrettet gade.
00:27
So we do everything that leads up to success,
2
9000
2000
Vi gør alle de ting, der fører til succes.
00:29
but then we get there. We figure we've made it,
3
11000
2000
Men så får vi det. Vi tror vi har klaret det,
00:31
we sit back in our comfort zone,
4
13000
2000
så læner vi os tilbage i magelighed,
00:33
and we actually stop doing everything that made us successful.
5
15000
3000
og vi holder med at gøre alle de ting, der gav os succes.
00:36
And it doesn't take long to go downhill.
6
18000
2000
Og tilbagegang tager ikke lang tid.
00:38
And I can tell you this happens,
7
20000
2000
Jeg kan sige jer, at det sker.
00:40
because it happened to me.
8
22000
3000
For det skete for mig.
00:43
Reaching success, I worked hard, I pushed myself.
9
25000
3000
For at få succes arbejdede jeg hårdt. Jeg pressede mig selv.
00:46
But then I stopped, because I figured, "Oh, you know, I made it.
10
28000
3000
Men så holdt jeg op, for jeg tænkte "Så nu klarede jeg det.
00:49
I can just sit back and relax."
11
31000
2000
Jeg kan læne mig tilbage og slappe af."
00:51
Reaching success, I always tried to improve and do good work.
12
33000
4000
På vejen til succes prøvede jeg altid at forbedre mig og lave et godt stykke arbejde.
00:55
But then I stopped because I figured, "Hey, I'm good enough.
13
37000
3000
Men så stoppede jeg fordi jeg tænkte "Hey, jeg er god nok.
00:58
I don't need to improve any more."
14
40000
2000
Jeg behøver ikke forbedre mig mere."
01:00
Reaching success, I was pretty good at coming up with good ideas.
15
42000
4000
På vej til succes var jeg ret god til at komme på nye ideer.
01:04
Because I did all these simple things that led to ideas.
16
46000
3000
Fordi jeg gjorde alle disse simple ting, som ledte mig til ideerne.
01:07
But then I stopped, because I figured I was this hot-shot guy
17
49000
3000
Men så stoppede jeg. Jeg tænkte, at jeg var denne store mand
01:10
and I shouldn't have to work at ideas, they should just come like magic.
18
52000
3000
og jeg behøvede ikke arbejde for at få ideerne. De burde bare komme på magisk vis.
01:13
And the only thing that came was creative block.
19
55000
2000
Og det eneste der kom var en kreativ blokade.
01:15
I couldn't come up with any ideas.
20
57000
3000
Jeg kunne ikke komme på nogen ideer.
01:18
Reaching success, I always focused on clients and projects,
21
60000
3000
På vejen til succes fokuserede jeg altid på kunder og projekterne
01:21
and ignored the money. Then all this money started pouring in.
22
63000
3000
og ignorerede pengene. Så begyndte pengene at strømme ind.
01:24
And I got distracted by it.
23
66000
2000
Jeg blev distraheret af det.
01:26
And suddenly I was on the phone to my stockbroker and my real estate agent,
24
68000
3000
Og pludselig talte jeg i telefon med min aktiehandler og min ejendomsmægler,
01:29
when I should have been talking to my clients.
25
71000
3000
når jeg burde have talt med mine kunder.
01:32
And reaching success, I always did what I loved.
26
74000
3000
På vejen til succes lavede jeg alt det jeg holdt af.
01:35
But then I got into stuff that I didn't love,
27
77000
2000
Men så begyndte jeg på alt det jeg ikke holdt af,
01:37
like management. I am the world's worst manager,
28
79000
3000
såsom ledelse. Jeg er verdens dårligste leder.
01:40
but I figured I should be doing it, because I was, after all,
29
82000
2000
Men jeg tænkte at jeg burde gøre det. For når det kom til stykket, var jeg
01:42
the president of the company.
30
84000
2000
chef for virksomheden.
01:44
Well, soon a black cloud formed over my head
31
86000
3000
Nå, men snart formede der sig en sort sky over mit hoved
01:47
and here I was, outwardly very successful,
32
89000
2000
og her var jeg. Udadtil meget succesfuld,
01:49
but inwardly very depressed.
33
91000
2000
men inderst inde meget deprimeret.
01:51
But I'm a guy; I knew how to fix it.
34
93000
4000
Men jeg er en mand, og jeg ved hvad man skal gøre.
01:55
I bought a fast car.
35
97000
2000
Jeg købte en hurtig bil.
01:57
(Laughter)
36
99000
3000
(Latter)
02:00
It didn't help.
37
102000
2000
Det virkede ikke.
02:02
I was faster but just as depressed.
38
104000
2000
Jeg var hurtigere, men lige så deprimeret.
02:04
So I went to my doctor. I said, "Doc,
39
106000
3000
Så jeg kontaktede min læge, og sagde "Doktor,
02:07
I can buy anything I want. But I'm not happy. I'm depressed.
40
109000
4000
jeg kan købe alt hvad jeg ønsker. Men jeg er ikke glad. Jeg er deprimeret.
02:11
It's true what they say, and I didn't believe it until it happened to me.
41
113000
3000
Det, de siger, er sandt, og jeg troede ikke på det, før det skete for mig.
02:14
But money can't buy happiness."
42
116000
3000
Penge kan ikke købe lykke."
02:17
He said, "No. But it can buy Prozac."
43
119000
3000
Han sagde, "Nej, men de kan købe Fontex."
02:20
And he put me on anti-depressants.
44
122000
2000
Så han gav mig antidepressiv medicin.
02:22
And yeah, the black cloud faded a little bit, but so did all the work,
45
124000
4000
Og den sorte sky blegnede en lille smule. Men det gjorde arbejdet også.
02:26
because I was just floating along. I couldn't care less if clients ever called.
46
128000
4000
Jeg sejlede bare af sted. Jeg kunne ikke være mere ligeglad med om kunderne ringede.
02:30
(Laughter)
47
132000
3000
(Latter)
02:33
And clients didn't call.
48
135000
2000
Og kunderne ringede ikke.
02:35
(Laughter)
49
137000
1000
(Latter)
02:36
Because they could see I was no longer serving them,
50
138000
2000
For de kunne se at jeg ikke længere arbejdede for dem.
02:38
I was only serving myself.
51
140000
2000
Jeg arbejdede kun med mig selv.
02:40
So they took their money and their projects to others who would serve them better.
52
142000
3000
Så de tog deres penge og deres projekter og gav dem til andre, der ville arbejde for dem.
02:43
Well, it didn't take long for business to drop like a rock.
53
145000
4000
Nå, men det tog ikke lang tid, før forretningen faldt som en sten.
02:47
My partner and I, Thom, we had to let all our employees go.
54
149000
4000
Min partner og jeg, Thom, blev nødt til at fyre vores medarbejdere.
02:51
It was down to just the two of us, and we were about to go under.
55
153000
2000
Der endte med kun at være os to tilbage, og vi var lige ved at måtte lukke.
02:53
And that was great.
56
155000
2000
Og det var fantastisk.
02:55
Because with no employees, there was nobody for me to manage.
57
157000
4000
For uden nogen ansatte var der ingen jeg skulle lede.
02:59
So I went back to doing the projects I loved.
58
161000
3000
Så jeg vendte tilbage til de projekter, jeg elskede.
03:02
I had fun again, I worked harder and, to cut a long story short,
59
164000
4000
Jeg havde det sjovt igen. Jeg arbejdede hårdere. Og for at gøre historien kort,
03:06
did all the things that took me back up to success.
60
168000
3000
gjorde jeg alle de ting, der gjorde mig til en succes igen.
03:09
But it wasn't a quick trip.
61
171000
2000
Men det var ikke nogen hurtig tur.
03:11
It took seven years.
62
173000
2000
Det tog syv år.
03:13
But in the end, business grew bigger than ever.
63
175000
3000
Men til sidst blev forretningen større end nogensinde.
03:16
And when I went back to following these eight principles,
64
178000
3000
Da jeg vendte tilbage til de disse otte principper,
03:19
the black cloud over my head disappeared altogether.
65
181000
3000
forsvandt den sorte sky over mit hoved helt.
03:22
And I woke up one day and I said,
66
184000
2000
Og jeg vågnede en dag og sagde,
03:24
"I don't need Prozac anymore."
67
186000
2000
"Jeg har ikke brug for Fontex mere."
03:26
And I threw it away and haven't needed it since.
68
188000
2000
Jeg smed dem væk, og jeg har ikke haft brug for dem siden.
03:28
I learned that success isn't a one-way street.
69
190000
3000
Jeg lærte at succes ikke er en ensrettet gade.
03:31
It doesn't look like this; it really looks more like this.
70
193000
3000
Det ser ikke sådan ud. Det ser mere sådan her ud.
03:34
It's a continuous journey.
71
196000
2000
Det er en evig rejse.
03:36
And if we want to avoid "success-to-failure-syndrome,"
72
198000
3000
Og hvis vi vil undgå "succes til fald-syndromet"
03:39
we just keep following these eight principles,
73
201000
2000
Så skal vi bare følge disse otte principper.
03:41
because that is not only how we achieve success,
74
203000
3000
For det handler ikke kun om, hvordan vi opnår succes,
03:44
it's how we sustain it.
75
206000
2000
men også hvordan vi bevarer den.
03:46
So here is to your continued success.
76
208000
2000
Held og lykke med jeres evige succes.
03:48
Thank you very much.
77
210000
2000
Mange tak.
03:50
(Applause)
78
212000
2000
(Bifald)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Richard St. John - Marketer, success analystA 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.
Richard St. John | Speaker | TED.com