Finding Inspiration: 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common

Last night I attended a seminar at The Schulich School of Business. The seminar was a guest lecture by Richard St. John the author of The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common. I am addicted to www.ted.com for inspiration speaker sessions and was intrigued that St. John is one of the top downloaded TED talks. This fact alone had me signing up in a heartbeat. The session went through the 8 traits he defines successful people have in common: Passion, Work, Focus, Push, Ideas, Improve, Serve and Persist. I took 8 pages of notes in the session, came home and re-watched his ted talk (see link at bottom)

I went into work today and the only word I can use is INSPIRED.  I am someone who takes my career very seriously and I have goals, plans, motivation to do better, learn more and teach others but sometimes this focus is lost in the hustle and bustle of the office. I walked into work today, typed up a page of key phrases & learnings from the session, printed a copy to put above my desk and walked around visiting my entire team and telling them about the session (having already provided the link to his talk the night before) and handing out my created one-page highlight sheet for their desks. My attitude was contagious today.

I’m sharing my insights on this inspirational speaker (and great author – I’m already 5 chapters in!) because it shows that you need to drive your own success & create that excitement about what you do for yourself. I love what I do but sometimes in the busyness of the day-to-day, I forget to be excited about what I bring to the world. Today had me telling others about this inspirational talk, key takeaways and even emailing friends from around the world my key takeaway tip sheet on the 8 tips. It was inspirational that these tips, my attitude and my drive will create success for me! I was rejuvenated and refocused by the talk & wanting to not only drive my own success but help others be successful themselves. I brought my team management and coaching to a new level today.  My reminder from the session is to look up from the grind, seek to find inspiration & get out into the world to meet others that inspire you. If you do, you will in turn come back to work inspired to motivate others!

Has anyone else read his book or seen St. John speak? Have you recently attended an amazing speaker or read a fabulous book!? Please share to inspire me & others!

Watch Richard St. John's TED session by clicking: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/richard_st_john_success_is_a_continuous_journey.html