Richard St. John knows adventure.
* He spent a year on a ten-speed bike cycling halfway around the world.
* He has run over 50 marathons (26 miles) on all seven continents (fastest time: 2 hours, 43 minutes).
* He and his wife Baiba have climbed Kilimanjaro in Africa, and Aconcagua in South America.
* They have been married for over 35 years, a success in itself these days.
A teenage girl seated beside him on a cross-country plane trip sent him off on his greatest adventure.
She learned that he was a millionaire-business owner and told him she wished she had lots of money just like successful people.
She asked him…
He told her, “I guess so.”
Then she asked him, “What makes people successful?”
He couldn’t give her a simple answer.
His lack of clarity bugged him.
So he set off on what became a ten-year journey to find the answer.
Starting with Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s, St John kept asking the same question, “How did you become a success?” St John says that if he could find that girl again he would thank her for taking him on the greatest adventure of his life.
Eight To Be Great
ONE: Passion: Love what you do.
-> Get out there and explore many paths.
-> Pursue your passion, not money and fame.
TWO: Work: Really hard.
-> Success never comes easy.
-> We overvalue talent and undervalue hard work.
THREE: Focus: On one thing, not everything.
-> Spend an intense amount of time focused on the one activity you really love.
-> Worry about your interest, not your ability.
FOUR: Push: And keep on pushing yourself.
-> If you have self-doubt, you are not alone.
-> Don’t get too comfortable.
FIVE: Ideas. Come up with some good ones.
-> Make mental connection between diverse things.
-> The best way to have a great idea is to have a lot of ideas.
SIX: Improve: Keep improving yourself and what you do.
-> Practice to constantly improve yourself and what you do.
-> Meet the minimum standards on your weaknesses and move on.
SEVEN: Serve: Serve others something of value.
-> Ask, “Who do you serve?” and “What value do you serve them?”
-> Listen to others and serve them something they appreciate.
EIGHT: Persist: Because there is no overnight success.
-> To succeed a lot, it helps to fail a lot.
-> Being criticized is a sign you are on your way to success.
To go more in-depth with the eight traits of successful people, check out this TED-Ed playlist.
APPLICATION: Are these eight traits in your success toolbox? Be the first to leave a comment below.
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