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
TED2009

Richard St. John: Success is a continuous journey

Richard St. John : « La réussite est un voyage permanent »

Filmed:
4,347,745 views

Avec sa franchise habituelle, Richard St. John nous rappelle que la réussite n’est pas à sens unique, mais un voyage permanent. Il utilise l’histoire de l’ascension et de la chute de son entreprise pour illustrer une leçon précieuse : quand nous cessons d’essayer, nous échouons.

- 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.

00:18
Why do so many people reach success and then fail?
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Pourquoi tant de gens réussissent puis échouent ?
00:23
One of the big reasons is, we think success is a one-way street.
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Une des raisons majeures est que
nous pensons que la réussite est à sens unique.
00:27
So we do everything that leads up to success,
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Nous faisons donc tout ce qui mène à la réussite,
00:29
but then we get there. We figure we've made it,
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mais ensuite nous l'obtenons.
Nous pensons que nous avons réussi,
00:31
we sit back in our comfort zone,
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nous nous reposons dans notre zone de confort,
00:33
and we actually stop doing everything that made us successful.
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et en fait nous arrêtons de faire tout
ce qui nous a conduit à réussir.
00:36
And it doesn't take long to go downhill.
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Et il ne faut pas longtemps pour redescendre.
00:38
And I can tell you this happens,
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Et je peux vous dire que ça arrive,
00:40
because it happened to me.
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parce que ça m’est arrivé.
00:43
Reaching success, I worked hard, I pushed myself.
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Parvenir à la réussite,
j’ai travaillé dur, je me suis donné à fond.
00:46
But then I stopped, because I figured, "Oh, you know, I made it.
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Mais ensuite, j’ai arrêté, parce que je me suis dit :
« Oh, vous savez, j’ai réussi.
00:49
I can just sit back and relax."
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je peux me contenter de me reposer. »
00:51
Reaching success, I always tried to improve and do good work.
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Sur le chemin de la réussite, j’ai essayé
de m’améliorer et de faire du bon travail.
00:55
But then I stopped because I figured, "Hey, I'm good enough.
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Mais ensuite, j’ai arrêté parce que je me suis dit :
« Je suis assez bon.
00:58
I don't need to improve any more."
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Je n’ai plus besoin de m'améliorer. »
01:00
Reaching success, I was pretty good at coming up with good ideas.
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Sur le chemin de la réussite, avoir de bonnes idées
était mon point fort.
01:04
Because I did all these simple things that led to ideas.
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Parce que j’ai fait toutes ces choses simples
qui conduisent aux idées.
01:07
But then I stopped, because I figured I was this hot-shot guy
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Mais ensuite j’ai arrêté, parce que
je me suis dit que j’étais un génie
01:10
and I shouldn't have to work at ideas, they should just come like magic.
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et que je n’avais pas à chercher des idées,
elle devraient venir comme par magie.
01:13
And the only thing that came was creative block.
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Et la seule chose qui est venue,
c’est la page blanche.
01:15
I couldn't come up with any ideas.
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Je n'avais plus aucune idées.
01:18
Reaching success, I always focused on clients and projects,
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Sur le chemin de la réussite, je me suis toujours concentré sur les clients et les projets,
01:21
and ignored the money. Then all this money started pouring in.
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et j'ai ignoré l'argent. Et puis cet argent a commencé à rentrer en masse.
01:24
And I got distracted by it.
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Et il m’a distrait.
01:26
And suddenly I was on the phone to my stockbroker and my real estate agent,
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Et soudain j'étais au téléphone avec mon courtier
et mon agent immobilier,
01:29
when I should have been talking to my clients.
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quand j'aurais dû être en train
de parler avec mes clients.
01:32
And reaching success, I always did what I loved.
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Et sur le chemin de la réussite,
je faisais toujours ce que j'aimais.
01:35
But then I got into stuff that I didn't love,
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Mais ensuite je me suis impliqué dans
des trucs que je n'aimais pas,
01:37
like management. I am the world's worst manager,
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comme la direction.
Je suis le plus mauvais directeur du monde,
01:40
but I figured I should be doing it, because I was, after all,
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mais je me suis dit que je devais le faire,
parce qu'après tout, j'étais
01:42
the president of the company.
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le président de la compagnie.
01:44
Well, soon a black cloud formed over my head
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Très vite, un nuage noire s'est vite formé
au-dessus de ma tête
01:47
and here I was, outwardly very successful,
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et j'étais là, réussite en apparence
01:49
but inwardly very depressed.
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mais au fond de moi très déprimé.
01:51
But I'm a guy; I knew how to fix it.
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Mais je suis un homme ;
je savais comment réparer ça.
01:55
I bought a fast car.
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J'ai acheté un bolide.
01:57
(Laughter)
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(RIres)
02:00
It didn't help.
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Ça n'a pas aidé.
02:02
I was faster but just as depressed.
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J'étais plus rapide, mais tout aussi déprimé.
02:04
So I went to my doctor. I said, "Doc,
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Alors je suis allé voir mon médecin.
J'ai dit : « Docteur,
02:07
I can buy anything I want. But I'm not happy. I'm depressed.
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je peux acheter tout ce que je veux.
Mais je ne suis pas heureux. Je suis déprimé.
02:11
It's true what they say, and I didn't believe it until it happened to me.
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C'est vrai ce qu'on dit, et je ne l'ai pas cru
tant que ça ne m'est pas arrivé à moi.
02:14
But money can't buy happiness."
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Mais l'argent n'achète pas le bonheur. »
02:17
He said, "No. But it can buy Prozac."
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Il a dit : « Non. Mais il achète du Prozac. »
02:20
And he put me on anti-depressants.
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Et il m'a mis sous anti-dépresseurs.
02:22
And yeah, the black cloud faded a little bit, but so did all the work,
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Et oui, le nuage noir s'est un peu effacé,
mais tout mon travail aussi,
02:26
because I was just floating along. I couldn't care less if clients ever called.
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parce que je me laissais flotter.
Je me fichais que les clients appellent ou non.
02:30
(Laughter)
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(RIres)
02:33
And clients didn't call.
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Et les clients n'appelaient pas.
02:35
(Laughter)
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(RIres)
02:36
Because they could see I was no longer serving them,
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Parce qu'ils voyaient que je ne les servais plus,
02:38
I was only serving myself.
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et que je ne servais que moi-même.
02:40
So they took their money and their projects to others who would serve them better.
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Alors ils ont transporté leur argent et leurs projets
vers d'autres qui les serviraient mieux.
02:43
Well, it didn't take long for business to drop like a rock.
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Et bien, ça n'a pas pris longtemps pour que
les affaires plongent.
02:47
My partner and I, Thom, we had to let all our employees go.
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Mon associé et moi, Thom,
nous avons dû laisser partir tous nos employés.
02:51
It was down to just the two of us, and we were about to go under.
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Il ne restait plus que nous deux,
et nous allions couler.
02:53
And that was great.
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Et c'était génial.
02:55
Because with no employees, there was nobody for me to manage.
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Parce que sans employés,
il n'y avait plus personne à diriger. (Rires)
02:59
So I went back to doing the projects I loved.
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Alors je me suis remis à faire les projets que j'aimais.
03:02
I had fun again, I worked harder and, to cut a long story short,
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Je m'amusais de nouveau,
je travaillais plus dur et, en bref,
03:06
did all the things that took me back up to success.
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je faisais tout ce qui m'avait amené à la réussite.
03:09
But it wasn't a quick trip.
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Mais ça n'a pas été rapide.
03:11
It took seven years.
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Ça a pris 7 ans.
03:13
But in the end, business grew bigger than ever.
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Mais au final, les affaires marchaient
mieux que jamais.
03:16
And when I went back to following these eight principles,
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Et quand je suis revenu à suivre ces 8 principes,
03:19
the black cloud over my head disappeared altogether.
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le nuage noir au-dessus de ma tête
a complètement disparu.
03:22
And I woke up one day and I said,
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Et je me suis réveillé un jour et j'ai dit :
03:24
"I don't need Prozac anymore."
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« Je n'ai plus besoin de Prozac. »
03:26
And I threw it away and haven't needed it since.
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Et je l'ai jeté et n'en ai plus eu besoin depuis.
03:28
I learned that success isn't a one-way street.
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J'ai appris que la réussite n'est pas à sens unique.
03:31
It doesn't look like this; it really looks more like this.
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Elle ne ressemble pas à ça;
en fait, elle ressemble plutôt à ça.
03:34
It's a continuous journey.
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C'est un voyage sans fin.
03:36
And if we want to avoid "success-to-failure-syndrome,"
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Et si nous voulons éviter le
« syndrome de la réussite à l'échec »,
03:39
we just keep following these eight principles,
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contentons-nous de suivre ces 8 principes,
03:41
because that is not only how we achieve success,
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parce que non seulement c'est ainsi
qu'on parvient à la réussite,
03:44
it's how we sustain it.
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mais c’est ainsi qu'on la garde.
03:46
So here is to your continued success.
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Alors à la santé de votre réussite infinie.
03:48
Thank you very much.
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Merci beaucoup.
03:50
(Applause)
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(Applaudissements)
Translated by Serge Brosseau
Reviewed by Julie Lespourcy

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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

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