Eight things to consider if you want to succeed

While everyone else seems to be talking about the need to balance work and the rest of life, Richard St. John is convinced the real key to success is work.

Lots of it.

You cant achieve success with moderation, said St. John, author of Stupid, Ugly, Unlucky and Rich (Train of Thought Arts Inc., $34.95) and president of the St. John Group, a Toronto communications company.

You cant have balance and success at the same time. Im not saying you cant have both you just cant have them at the same time.

Its not just his own theory, even if it sounds a little radical. St. John interviewed 500 successful, rich people over 10 years and examined their experiences to figure out how they achieved success.

The group includes a Nobel prize-winner, a Hollywood actor, an astronaut and a billionaire. He identified eight common elements among the groups members.

These achievers share a commitment to hard work and long hours doing jobs they love. When they take a break, its often a long one.

No one wants to hear you have to work hard, but if you dont put in the hours, youre not going to have as much success, said St. John.

Lots of kids think its easy theyll just get rich. They dont think about working hard. But if you love what you do, you dont think about it as hard work.

St. John said the successful people he interviewed were ordinary-looking, considered themselves of average intelligence and had suffered their share of bad luck. This was not at all what he expected to learn when he started his research.

He wrote the book with himself as a teenager in mind. As he finished high school and faced his future, St. John had no idea what to do next or how to decide.

His book is graphic, written in easy-to-read sections with a cartoon character named Spike to guide readers.

From his research, here are St. Johns top factors for success:

1. Passion. Find the work youre passionate about, and money will follow. Dont expect it to be easy you may have to try a lot of jobs before you figure out what you love.

2. Work. Successful people work hard, but they love it. Theyre workafrolics, St. John says, because they have fun working.

3. Focus. Become single-minded in pursuit of your goal and develop the ability to ignore distractions.

4. Push. Dont allow shyness or self-doubt to sabotage your goal. Find ways and other people to push you toward success.

5. Ideas. Anybody can come up with good ideas instead of thinking of them as creative, think of ideas as things to solve problems. Dont forget to write them down.

6. Improve. Successful people constantly look for ways to improve. Strive to become the best at what you do. Focus on your strengths and practise, practise, practise.

7. Serve. Even if you find your passion and work hard, you wont succeed unless you provide something of value to people. Its not about charity, its about delivering a service or product others need or want.

8. Persist. Never give up, dont expect quick results and think of the failures as detours along the road to success. Be prepared to make a lot of mistakes.



Vancouver Province