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

Translator: Yi-Ting Wen 溫怡婷 Reviewer: Ingrid Lezar

Why do so many people reach success and then fail?

Hoekom bereik so baie mense sukses en dan misluk hulle?

One of the big reasons is, we think success is a one-way street.

Een van die groot redes is, ons dink sukses is ’n eenrigtingstraat.

So we do everything that leads up to success,

So ons doen alles wat lei tot sukses, maar dan kom ons daar uit,

but then we get there. We figure we've made it,

ons dink ons't dit gemaak,

we sit back in our comfort zone,

sit terug in ons gemaksone,

and we actually stop doing everything that made us successful.

en ons hou op om alles wat ons suksesvol gemaak het, te doen.

And it doesn't take long to go downhill.

En dit vat nie lank om afdraand te gaan nie.

And I can tell you this happens,

En ek kan julle sê dat dit gebeur,

because it happened to me.

want dit het met my gebeur.

Reaching success, I worked hard, I pushed myself.

Ek't hard gewerk om sukses te bereik, myself gedruk.

But then I stopped, because I figured, "Oh, you know, I made it.

Maar toe stop ek, want ek't gedink: "Julle weet mos, ek't dit gemaak.

I can just sit back and relax."

Ek kan net terug sit en ontspan."

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

Ek't altyd probeer verbeter en om goeie werk te doen om sukses te bereik.

But then I stopped because I figured, "Hey, I'm good enough.

Maar toe stop ek, want ek't gedink: "Hey, ek's goed genoeg.

I don't need to improve any more."

Ek hoef nie meer te verbeter nie."

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

Op pad na sukses het ek met goeie idees voorendag gekom,

Because I did all these simple things that led to ideas.

want ek't allerhande eenvoudige dinge wat gelei het tot idees gedoen.

But then I stopped, because I figured I was this hot-shot guy

Maar toe stop ek; ek't gedink ek's ’n grootmeneer

and I shouldn't have to work at ideas, they should just come like magic.

en ek hoef nie aan idees te werk nie, hulle moet net vanself kom.

And the only thing that came was creative block.

En al wat gekom het, was kreatiewe blok.

I couldn't come up with any ideas.

Ek kon nie met enige idees opkom nie.

Reaching success, I always focused on clients and projects,

Ek't altyd op kliënte en projekte gefokus om sukses te bereik

and ignored the money. Then all this money started pouring in.

en die geld geïgnoreer.

Toe het al hierdie geld begin invloei.

And I got distracted by it.

En dit het my aandag afgelei.

And suddenly I was on the phone to my stockbroker and my real estate agent,

En skielik was ek met my makelaar en my eiendomsagent op die foon,

when I should have been talking to my clients.

terwyl ek eintlik met my kliënte moes praat.

And reaching success, I always did what I loved.

Op pad na sukses, het ek altyd gedoen waarvoor ek lief was.

But then I got into stuff that I didn't love,

Maar toe begin ek met dinge waarvan ek nie hou nie,

like management. I am the world's worst manager,

soos bestuur.

Ek's die wêreld se swakste bestuurder,

but I figured I should be doing it, because I was, after all,

maar ek't gedink dis my werk, want ek was tog

the president of the company.

die president van die maatskappy.

Well, soon a black cloud formed over my head

Wel, ’n swart wolk het gou om my kop gevorm,

and here I was, outwardly very successful,

en hier was ek, uiterlik baie suksesvol,

but inwardly very depressed.

maar innerlik baie depressief.

But I'm a guy; I knew how to fix it.

Maar ek's ’n man; ek kon die saak beredder.

I bought a fast car.

Ek't ’n vinnige kar gekoop.

(Laughter)

(Gelag)

It didn't help.

Dit het nie gehelp nie.

I was faster but just as depressed.

Ek was vinniger, maar net so depressief.

So I went to my doctor. I said, "Doc,

Toe gaan ek dokter toe. Ek sê: "Dok, ek kan als koop wat ek wil hê,

I can buy anything I want. But I'm not happy. I'm depressed.

maar ek's nie gelukkig nie. Ek's depressief.

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

Dis waar wat hulle sê, ek't dit nie geglo tot dit met my gebeur nie,

But money can't buy happiness."

maar geld kan nie geluk koop nie."

He said, "No. But it can buy Prozac."

Hy sê toe: "Nee. Maar dit kan Prozac koop."

And he put me on anti-depressants.

En hy sit my op antidepressante.

And yeah, the black cloud faded a little bit, but so did all the work,

Die swart wolk lig toe bietjie, maar so ook al die werk,

because I was just floating along. I couldn't care less if clients ever called.

want ek't net aangedobber.

Ek kon nie minder omgee of kliënte ooit bel nie.

(Laughter)

(Gelag)

And clients didn't call.

En kliënte het nie gebel nie.

(Laughter)

(Gelag)

Because they could see I was no longer serving them,

Hulle kon sien dat ek hulle nie dien nie;

I was only serving myself.

ek't net myself gedien.

So they took their money and their projects to others who would serve them better.

Toe vat hulle hul geld en projekte na ander mense toe,

wat hulle beter kon dien.

Well, it didn't take long for business to drop like a rock.

Wel, dit het nie lank gevat vir besigheid om soos ’n rots te val nie.

My partner and I, Thom, we had to let all our employees go.

Ek en my vennoot, Thom, moes al ons werknemers laat gaan.

It was down to just the two of us, and we were about to go under.

Dit was net ons twee, op die punt om onder te gaan.

And that was great.

En dit was puik.

Because with no employees, there was nobody for me to manage.

Want met geen werknemers, was daar niemand vir my om te bestuur nie.

So I went back to doing the projects I loved.

Toe keer ek terug na projekte waarvoor ek lief was.

I had fun again, I worked harder and, to cut a long story short,

Ek't weer pret gehad, harder gewerk en, om ’n lang storie kort te maak,

did all the things that took me back up to success.

al die dinge wat my teruggeneem het na sukses, gedoen.

But it wasn't a quick trip.

Maar dit was nie ’n pretstappie nie.

It took seven years.

Dit het sewe jaar gevat.

But in the end, business grew bigger than ever.

Maar uiteindelik het besigheid groter as ooit gegroei.

And when I went back to following these eight principles,

En toe ek weer hierdie agt beginsels gevolg het,

the black cloud over my head disappeared altogether.

het die swart wolk oor my kop heeltemal verdwyn.

And I woke up one day and I said,

Toe word ek eendag wakker en sê:

"I don't need Prozac anymore."

"Ek't nie meer Prozac nodig nie."

And I threw it away and haven't needed it since.

Ek't dit weggegooi en nooit weer nodig gehad nie.

I learned that success isn't a one-way street.

Ek't geleer dat sukses nie ’n eenrigtingstraat is nie.

It doesn't look like this; it really looks more like this.

Dit lyk nie só nie;

dit lyk só.

It's a continuous journey.

Dis ’n voortdurende reis.

And if we want to avoid "success-to-failure-syndrome,"

En as ons "sukses-na-mislukkingsindroom" wil vermy,

we just keep following these eight principles,

hou ons net aan om hierdie agt beginsels te volg,

because that is not only how we achieve success,

want dis nie net hoe ons sukses bereik nie,

it's how we sustain it.

dis hoe ons dit volhou.

So here is to your continued success.

So op julle voortdurende sukses.

Thank you very much.

Baie dankie.

(Applause)

(Applous)