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: Sucesso é uma jornada contínua

Filmed:
4,347,745 views

Em seu estilo tipicamente franco, Richard St. John nos lembra que o sucesso não é uma via de mão única, ma\s uma jornada constante. Ele usa a história da ascenção e queda do seu negócio para ilustrar uma lição valiosa -- quando nós paramos de tentar, nós fracassamos.
- 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?
0
0
5000
Por que tantas pessoas atingem o sucesso e então fracassam?
00:23
One of the big reasons is, we think success is a one-way street.
1
5000
4000
Uma das grandes razões é, pensamos que o sucesso é uma via de mão única.
00:27
So we do everything that leads up to success,
2
9000
2000
Então fazemos tudo que leve ao sucesso.
00:29
but then we get there. We figure we've made it,
3
11000
2000
Mas então chegamos lá. Percebemos que conseguimos,
00:31
we sit back in our comfort zone,
4
13000
2000
nos acomodamos em nosso conforto,
00:33
and we actually stop doing everything that made us successful.
5
15000
3000
e realmente paramos de fazer tudo que nos fez bem sucedidos.
00:36
And it doesn't take long to go downhill.
6
18000
2000
E não demora muito para descambar.
00:38
And I can tell you this happens,
7
20000
2000
E eu posso afirmar que isto acontece.
00:40
because it happened to me.
8
22000
3000
Porque aconteceu comigo.
00:43
Reaching success, I worked hard, I pushed myself.
9
25000
3000
Alcançando o sucesso, trabalhei duro, me esforcei.
00:46
But then I stopped, because I figured, "Oh, you know, I made it.
10
28000
3000
Mas então eu parei, porque me dei conta, "Ah, sabe, consegui.
00:49
I can just sit back and relax."
11
31000
2000
Posso sentar e relaxar."
00:51
Reaching success, I always tried to improve and do good work.
12
33000
4000
Alcançando o sucesso, eu sempre tentei melhorar e fazer um bom trabalho.
00:55
But then I stopped because I figured, "Hey, I'm good enough.
13
37000
3000
Mas então parei porque vi, "Ei, já sou bom o suficiente.
00:58
I don't need to improve any more."
14
40000
2000
Não preciso melhorar mais."
01:00
Reaching success, I was pretty good at coming up with good ideas.
15
42000
4000
Alcançando o sucesso, eu era muito bom em ter boas ideias.
01:04
Because I did all these simple things that led to ideas.
16
46000
3000
Porque eu fazia todas estas coisas simples que me levam a ideias.
01:07
But then I stopped, because I figured I was this hot-shot guy
17
49000
3000
Mas então eu parei. Porque vi que era este cara genial.
01:10
and I shouldn't have to work at ideas, they should just come like magic.
18
52000
3000
e não deveria me esforçar para ter boas ideias. Elas deveriam aparecer como mágica.
01:13
And the only thing that came was creative block.
19
55000
2000
E a única coisa que apareceu foi bloqueio criativo.
01:15
I couldn't come up with any ideas.
20
57000
3000
Eu não conseguia mais ter ideias.
01:18
Reaching success, I always focused on clients and projects,
21
60000
3000
Alcançando sucesso, eu sempre tive foco nos clientes e projetos,
01:21
and ignored the money. Then all this money started pouring in.
22
63000
3000
e ignorei o dinheiro. Então todo aquele dinheiro começou a aparecer.
01:24
And I got distracted by it.
23
66000
2000
E eu fui distraído por ele.
01:26
And suddenly I was on the phone to my stockbroker and my real estate agent,
24
68000
3000
E subitamente eu estava no telefone com meu corretor e minha imobiliária,
01:29
when I should have been talking to my clients.
25
71000
3000
quando deveria estar falando com meus clientes.
01:32
And reaching success, I always did what I loved.
26
74000
3000
E alcançando o sucesso, sempre fiz o que amava.
01:35
But then I got into stuff that I didn't love,
27
77000
2000
Mas então eu me meti em coisas que não amava,
01:37
like management. I am the world's worst manager,
28
79000
3000
como gestão. Eu sou o pior gestor do mundo.
01:40
but I figured I should be doing it, because I was, after all,
29
82000
2000
Mas achei que eu devesse fazer. Porque eu era, afinal,
01:42
the president of the company.
30
84000
2000
o presidente da empresa.
01:44
Well, soon a black cloud formed over my head
31
86000
3000
Bem, logo uma nuvem escura se formou sobre minha cabeça
01:47
and here I was, outwardly very successful,
32
89000
2000
e aqui estava eu, externamente bem sucedido,
01:49
but inwardly very depressed.
33
91000
2000
mas internamente muito deprimido.
01:51
But I'm a guy; I knew how to fix it.
34
93000
4000
Mas eu sou o cara, eu sabia como consertar isso.
01:55
I bought a fast car.
35
97000
2000
Eu comprei um carro veloz.
01:57
(Laughter)
36
99000
3000
(Risos)
02:00
It didn't help.
37
102000
2000
Não ajudou.
02:02
I was faster but just as depressed.
38
104000
2000
Eu corria mais, mas estava igualmente deprimido.
02:04
So I went to my doctor. I said, "Doc,
39
106000
3000
Então fui ao médico. Eu disse, "Doutor,
02:07
I can buy anything I want. But I'm not happy. I'm depressed.
40
109000
4000
eu posso comprar o que quiser. Mas não estou feliz. Estou deprimido.
02:11
It's true what they say, and I didn't believe it until it happened to me.
41
113000
3000
É verdade o que dizem, e eu não acreditava até acontecer comigo.
02:14
But money can't buy happiness."
42
116000
3000
Mas dinheiro não compra felicidade."
02:17
He said, "No. But it can buy Prozac."
43
119000
3000
Ele disse, "Não. Mas pode comprar Prozac."
02:20
And he put me on anti-depressants.
44
122000
2000
E me pôs sob antidepressivos.
02:22
And yeah, the black cloud faded a little bit, but so did all the work,
45
124000
4000
E a nuvem negra dissipou um pouco. Mas também todo o trabalho.
02:26
because I was just floating along. I couldn't care less if clients ever called.
46
128000
4000
Porque eu estava disperso. Eu não me importava se os clientes ligavam.
02:30
(Laughter)
47
132000
3000
(Risos)
02:33
And clients didn't call.
48
135000
2000
E os clientes não ligavam.
02:35
(Laughter)
49
137000
1000
(Risos)
02:36
Because they could see I was no longer serving them,
50
138000
2000
Porque eles viam que eu não mais servia a eles,
02:38
I was only serving myself.
51
140000
2000
eu servia apenas a mim mesmo.
02:40
So they took their money and their projects to others who would serve them better.
52
142000
3000
Então levaram seu dinheiro e seus projetos para outros que os serviriam melhor.
02:43
Well, it didn't take long for business to drop like a rock.
53
145000
4000
Bem, não demorou muito para o negócio afundar como uma pedra.
02:47
My partner and I, Thom, we had to let all our employees go.
54
149000
4000
Meu sócio e eu, Tom, tivemos de dispensar nossos funcionários.
02:51
It was down to just the two of us, and we were about to go under.
55
153000
2000
Ficamos só nós dois, e estávamos em vias de cair mais.
02:53
And that was great.
56
155000
2000
E isso foi ótimo.
02:55
Because with no employees, there was nobody for me to manage.
57
157000
4000
Porque sem funcionários, não havia ninguém para eu gerenciar.
02:59
So I went back to doing the projects I loved.
58
161000
3000
Então eu voltei a fazer os projetos que amava.
03:02
I had fun again, I worked harder and, to cut a long story short,
59
164000
4000
Eu me divertia de novo. Eu trabalhei ainda mais duro. E resumindo a história:
03:06
did all the things that took me back up to success.
60
168000
3000
fiz todas as coisas que me levaram de volta ao sucesso.
03:09
But it wasn't a quick trip.
61
171000
2000
Mas não foi uma viagem curta.
03:11
It took seven years.
62
173000
2000
Demorou sete anos.
03:13
But in the end, business grew bigger than ever.
63
175000
3000
Mas no fim, o negócio cresceu mais que antes.
03:16
And when I went back to following these eight principles,
64
178000
3000
E quando eu voltei a seguir estes oito princípios,
03:19
the black cloud over my head disappeared altogether.
65
181000
3000
a nuvem escura sobre minha cabeça desapareceu completamente.
03:22
And I woke up one day and I said,
66
184000
2000
E eu acordei um dia e disse,
03:24
"I don't need Prozac anymore."
67
186000
2000
"Não preciso mais de Prozac."
03:26
And I threw it away and haven't needed it since.
68
188000
2000
E eu joguei ele fora e não precisei nunca mais desde então.
03:28
I learned that success isn't a one-way street.
69
190000
3000
Eu aprendi que o sucesso não é uma via de mão única.
03:31
It doesn't look like this; it really looks more like this.
70
193000
3000
Ele não se parece com isso. Ele se parece mais com isto.
03:34
It's a continuous journey.
71
196000
2000
Uma jornada contínua.
03:36
And if we want to avoid "success-to-failure-syndrome,"
72
198000
3000
E se quisermos evitar a "síndrome do sucesso-fracasso."
03:39
we just keep following these eight principles,
73
201000
2000
Precisamos continuar seguindo estes oito princípios.
03:41
because that is not only how we achieve success,
74
203000
3000
Porque não é apenas como atingimos o sucesso,
03:44
it's how we sustain it.
75
206000
2000
é como o sustentamos.
03:46
So here is to your continued success.
76
208000
2000
Então, ao seus sucessos contínuos.
03:48
Thank you very much.
77
210000
2000
Muito obrigado.
03:50
(Applause)
78
212000
2000
(Aplausos)
Translated by Fabio Ceconello
Reviewed by Gustavo Pulcherio

▲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