Playlist: Redefining success

Redefining success (10 talks)

Success is: feeling that tingle of excitement about what you do, sticking with what matters through hard times, living a life you can feel proud of in retrospect. These talks say it all.

• 1.

  11:41

  Now playing

  Sarah Lewis Embrace the near win

  Posted Apr 2014

  At her first museum job, art historian Sarah Lewis noticed something important about an artist she was studying: Not every artwork was a total masterpiece. She asks us to consider the role of the almost-failure, the near win, in our own lives. In our pursuit of success and mastery, is it actually our near wins that push us forward?
• 2.

  3:57

  Now playing

  Richard St. John Success is a continuous journey

  Posted Jun 2009

  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.
• 3.

  16:51

  Now playing

  Alain de Botton A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

  Posted Jul 2009

  Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure — and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.
• 4.

  7:18

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  Elizabeth Gilbert Success, failure and the drive to keep creating

  Posted Apr 2014

  Elizabeth Gilbert was once an "unpublished diner waitress," devastated by rejection letters. And yet, in the wake of the success of 'Eat, Pray, Love,' she found herself identifying strongly with her former self. With beautiful insight, Gilbert reflects on why success can be as disorienting as failure and offers a simple — though hard — way to carry on, regardless of outcomes.
• 5.

  17:36

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  John Wooden The difference between winning and succeeding

  Posted Mar 2009

  With profound simplicity, Coach John Wooden redefines success and urges us all to pursue the best in ourselves. In this inspiring talk he shares the advice he gave his players at UCLA, quotes poetry and remembers his father's wisdom.
• 6.

  17:39

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  Chip Conley Measuring what makes life worthwhile

  Posted Jun 2010

  When the dotcom bubble burst, hotelier Chip Conley went in search of a business model based on happiness. In an old friendship with an employee and in the wisdom of a Buddhist king, he learned that success comes from what you count.
• 7.

  18:24

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  Rory Sutherland Perspective is everything

  Posted May 2012

  The circumstances of our lives may matter less than how we see them, says Rory Sutherland. At TEDxAthens, he makes a compelling case for how reframing is the key to happiness. (Filmed at TEDxAthens.)
• 8.

  3:30

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  Richard St. John 8 secrets of success

  Posted Dec 2006

  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.
• 9.

  6:12

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  Angela Lee Duckworth The key to success? Grit

  Posted May 2013

  Leaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success.
• 10.

  5:01

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  David Brooks Should you live for your résumé ... or your eulogy?

  Posted Apr 2014

  Within each of us are two selves, suggests David Brooks in this meditative short talk: the self who craves success, who builds a résumé, and the self who seeks connection, community, love — the values that make for a great eulogy. (Joseph Soloveitchik has called these selves "Adam I" and "Adam II.") Brooks asks: Can we balance these two selves?