"The Power of Passion"

CREATIVITY & ACTION

"The Power of Passion"

By Richard St. John at TED-Ed

Ideas Worth Spreading

Why do people succeed? Is it because they're smart? Or are they just lucky? Neither.

Analyst Richard St. John condenses years of interviews into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success.

For love or money? Based on hundreds of interviews and his personal experience, Richard St. John suggests that passion, not money, is one of the key drivers of success.

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 and one successful book.

Why you should listen

Richard St. John was on his way to the TED conference when a girl on the plane asked him, "What really leads to success?" Even though he had achieved some success, he couldn't explain how he did it. So he spent the next ten years researching success and asking over 500 extraordinarily successful people in many fields what helped them succeed. After analyzing, sorting, and correlating millions of words of research, and building one of the most organized databases on the subject of success, he discovered "The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common" and wrote the bestseller 8 To Be Great.

In his books and talks,he shares a wealth of wisdom from the world's most successful people -- knowledge that can help others succeed in their own way, whether it's escaping poverty, building a business, raising a family, or changing the world.

What others say

“It's so great. It's such a boost of confidence. This book really gives you a lot of self-esteem about who you are, and that you really can be somebody.”

— Thomas Fischer, Habitat for Humanity

TED believes passionately that ideas have the power to change attitudes, lives, and ultimately, the world. This underlying philosophy is the driving force behind all of TED's endeavors, including the TED Conferences, TEDx, TEDBooks, the TEDFellows Program, and the TEDTranslations Project. With this philosophy in mind, and with the intention of supporting teachers and sparking the curiosity of learners around the world, TED is excited to launch its newest initiative, TED-Ed.

-Ed’s commitment to creating lessons worth sharing is an extension of TED’s mission of spreading great ideas. Within the growing TED-Ed video library, you will find carefully curated educational videos, many of which represent collaborations between talented educators and animators nominated through the TED-Ed platform. This platform also allows users to take any useful educational video, not just TED's, and easily create a customized lesson around the video. Users can distribute the lessons, publicly or privately, and track their impact on the world, a class, or an individual student.

The Power of Passion