Richard St. John: 8 secrets of success (TED Talk)

[I discovered this TED Talk from its mention in “How to Deliver a TED Talk” by Jeremey Donovan] In his 2005 TED Talk “8 Secrets of Success,” Richard St. John summarizes what he has discovered when looking into what leads to success and presents his framework of “the eight traits successful people have in common.”

Specifically, the traits include: Passion, Work, Focus, Push, Ideas, Improve, Serve, Persist.

These were filtered from St John’s interviews with many “successful” people and serve as a good platform for discussing “success.” I believe there are similar studies done with youth as well. However, these all required that success be pre-defined in order to scope the pool of people to interview.

I am also reminded of Shawn Achor’s point that Happiness should be placed before success so that happiness is ensured as a result of being successful. Actually, St John touches on a similar point in his second TED Talk “Success is a Continuous Journey” from 2009.

Therefore, something more captivating might be learning about the eight traits that happy AND successful people have in common.

As an extension (and if this were something brought into the YCISL program), we should also look at extrinsic factors and perhaps even consider a pre-disposition to reach levels of happiness and success together. In YCISL, we already consider how family, community and environment affects the support one feels while striving for happiness and success.

Video is at http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success.html.

Additional information can be found at http://www.richardstjohn.com.