Jermaine Lachica

TED Talk - Richard St. John’s 8 secrets of success (Applause) This is really a 2-hour presentation I give to high school students, cut down to 3 minutes. And it all started one day on a plane, on my way to Ted, seven years ago. And in a seat next to me was a high school student, a teenager and she came from a really poor family. And she wanted to make something of her life and she asked a simple little question. She said, ​“What leads to success?” ​And I felt really badly, because I couldn’t give her a good answer. So I get off the plane and I come to TED. And I think, geez, I’m in a middle of a room of successful people! So why don’t I ask someone what helped them succeed and pass it on to kids? So here we are, 7 years, 500 interviews later, and I’m gonna tell you what really leads to success and makes TEDsters tick. And the first thing is ​passion​​. Freeman Thomas says “I’m driven by my passion”. TEDsters do it for love, they don’t do it for money. Carol Colleta says, “I would pay someone to do what I do” The interesting thing is if you do it for love, the money comes anyway. Work!​​ Ruport Murdoch said to me, “It’s all hard work. Nothing comes easily. But I have a lot of fun.” Did he say fun? Rupert? Yes! (laughter) Tedsters do have fun working and they work hard. I figured they’re not workaholics, their workafrolics. (laughter) Good! ​Elvis Garden says, “To be successful, put your nose down in something and get damn good at it.” There is no magic, it’s practice, practice, practice. And it’s ​focus. ​Norman Jewison said to me, “I think it all has to do with focusing yourself on one thing.” And push. David Gallo said, “Push yourself. Physically, mentally, you gotta push, push, push.” You got to push through shyness and self-doubt. Goldie Hawn says, “I always had self-doubts. I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t smart enough. I didn’t think I’d make it.” Now, it is not always easy to push yourself that is why they invented Mothers. (laughter) Frank Gehry said to me, “My mother push me”. Serve. ​Sherwin Nuland says, “It was a privilege to service as a doctor” Now, a lot of kids tell me that they want to be millionaires. And the first thing I say is: “Ok, well, you can’t serve yourself. You gotta serve other something of value. Because that is the way people really get rich.” Ideas! ​Tedster Bill Gates says, “I had an idea - founding the first micro-computer software company.” I’d say, it was a pretty good idea. And there’s no magic to creativity in coming up with ideas - it’s just doing some very simple things. And I give lots of evidence. Persist! ​Joe Kraus says, ”Persistence is the number one reason for our success.” You got to persist to a failure. You got to persist through crap! Which of course means “Criticism, Rejection, Assholes and Pressure”. (laughter) So the big answer to this question is simple: Pay 4000 bucks and come to TED. (laughter) Or failing that, do the eight things - and trust me, these are the eight big things that lead to success. Thank you Tedsters for all your interviews! (applause) Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN79-Tv5GHY