2023年6月24日发(作者：)

Richard St. John: "Success is a continuous journey"

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About this talk

In his typically candid style, Richard St. John reminds us that success is not a one-way street, but a

constant journey. He uses the story of his business' rise and fall to illustrate a valuable lesson --

when we stop trying, we fail.

About Richard St. John

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…

Transcript

Why do so many people reach success and then fail? One of the big reasons is, we

think success is a one-way street. So we do everything that leads up to success. But

then we get there. We figure we've made it, we sit back in our comfort zone, and we

actually stop doing everything that made us successful. And it doesn't take long to go

downhill. And I can tell you this happens. Because it happened to me.

Reaching success, I worked hard, I pushed myself. But then I stopped, because I

figured, "Oh, you know, I made it. I can just sit back and relax."

Reaching success, I always tried to improve and do good work. But then I stopped

because I figured, "Hey, I'm good enough. I don't need to improve any more."

Reaching success, I was pretty good at coming up with good ideas. Because I did all

these simple things that led to ideas. But then I stopped. Because I figured I was this

hot-shot guy and I shouldn't have to work at ideas. They should just come like magic.

And the only thing that came was creative block. I couldn't come up with any ideas.

Reaching success, I always focused on clients and projects, and ignored the money.

Then all this money started pouring in. And I got distracted by it. And suddenly I was

on the phone to my stockbroker and my real estate agent, when I should have been

talking to my clients.

And reaching success, I always did what I loved. But then I got into stuff that I didn't

love, like management. I am the world's worst manager. But I figured I should be

doing it. Because I was, after all, the president of the company.

Well, soon a black cloud formed over my head and here I was, outwardly very

successful, but inwardly very depressed. But I'm a guy, I knew how to fix it. I bought

a fast car. (Laughter) It didn't help. I was faster but just as depressed.

So I went to my doctor. I said, "Doc, I can buy anything I want. But I'm not happy. I'm

depressed. It's true what they say, and I didn't believe it until it happened to me. But

money can't buy happiness." He said, "No. But it can buy Prozac." And he put me on

anti-depressants. And the black cloud faded a little bit. But so did all the work.

Because I was just floating along. I couldn't care less if clients ever called. (Laughter)

And clients didn't call. (Laughter) Because they could see I was no longer serving

them, I was only serving myself. So they took their money and their projects to others

who would serve them better.

Well, it didn't take long for business to drop like a rock. My partner and I, Thom, we

had to let all our employees go. It was down to just the two of us, and we were about

to go under. And that was great. Because with no employees, there was nobody for me

to manage.

So I went back to doing the projects I loved. I had fun again. I worked harder. And to

cut a long story short: did all the things that took me back up to success. But it wasn't

a quick trip. It took seven years.

But in the end, business grew bigger than ever. And when I went back to following

these eight principles, the black cloud over my head disappeared altogether. And I

woke up one day and I said, "I don't need Prozac anymore." And I threw it away and

haven't needed it since.

I learned that success isn't a one way street. It doesn't look like this. It really looks

more like this. It's a continuous journey. And if we want to avoid "success to failure

syndrome", we just keep following these eight principles. Because that is not only

how we achieve success, it's how we sustain it. So here is to your continued success.

Thank you very much. (Applause)