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.

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.

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.

“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