Per què tantes persones tenen èxit i després fracassen? Una gran raó és perquè creiem que l'èxit és una via d'un sol sentit. Aleshores fem tot el que ens hi porta. Però llavors hi arribem i pensem que ho hem aconseguit. Ens acomodem i deixem de fer tot allò que ens va donar èxit. I no tarda en decaure. I us asseguro que això passa. Perquè a mi em va passar.
Why do so many people reach success and then fail? One of the big reasons is, we think success is a one-way street. So we do everything that leads up to success, but then we get there. We figure we've made it, we sit back in our comfort zone, and we actually stop doing everything that made us successful. And it doesn't take long to go downhill. And I can tell you this happens, because it happened to me.
Quan perseguia l'èxit vaig treballar dur, em pressionava. Però llavors vaig parar, perquè vaig dir-me: "Saps què? Ho he aconseguit. Puc seure i relaxar-me"
Reaching success, I worked hard, I pushed myself. But then I stopped, because I figured, "Oh, you know, I made it. I can just sit back and relax."
Quan perseguia l'èxit, sempre intentava millorar i fer una bona feina. Però llavors vaig parar perquè vaig pensar: "Ei, soc prou bo, no necessito millorar més."
Reaching success, I always tried to improve and do good work. But then I stopped because I figured, "Hey, I'm good enough. I don't need to improve any more."
Quan perseguia l'èxit, tenir bones idees era el meu fort perquè feia coses simples que donaven bones idees. Però llavors vaig parar, perquè em creia un paio brillant i no m'havia d'esforçar per tenir idees. Apareixien per art de màgia. I l'única cosa que va aparèixer va ser el bloqueig creatiu. No se m'acudia cap bona idea.
Reaching success, I was pretty good at coming up with good ideas. Because I did all these simple things that led to ideas. But then I stopped, because I figured I was this hot-shot guy and I shouldn't have to work at ideas, they should just come like magic. And the only thing that came was creative block. I couldn't come up with any ideas.
Quan perseguia l'èxit, sempre em centrava en els clients i els projectes, i no pensava en els diners. I llavors vaig començar a guanyar diners. I em vaig distraure. I de sobte em vaig trobar parlant per telèfon amb el meu agent de borsa i el meu agent immobiliari, mentre hauria d'haver estat parlant amb els clients.
Reaching success, I always focused on clients and projects, and ignored the money. Then all this money started pouring in. And I got distracted by it. And suddenly I was on the phone to my stockbroker and my real estate agent, when I should have been talking to my clients.
Quan perseguia l'èxit, vaig fer sempre el que m'agradava. Però llavors em vaig endinsar en assumptes que no m'agradaven, com l'administració. Sóc el pitjor director del món. Però vaig pensar que havia de fer-ho, perquè, de fet, jo era el gerent de l'empresa.
And reaching success, I always did what I loved. But then I got into stuff that I didn't love, like management. I am the world's worst manager, but I figured I should be doing it, because I was, after all, the president of the company.
Bé, aviat es va tornar tot negre. I allà estava jo, aparentment amb èxit però deprimit per dintre. Però sóc un home i sabia com solucionar-ho. Vaig comprar un cotxe ràpid. (Riure) No em va ajudar. Anava més ràpid però seguia deprimit.
Well, soon a black cloud formed over my head and here I was, outwardly very successful, but inwardly very depressed. But I'm a guy; I knew how to fix it. I bought a fast car. (Laughter) It didn't help. I was faster but just as depressed.
Així doncs, vaig anar al metge i li vaig dir: "Doctor, puc comprar el que vulgui, però no sóc feliç. Estic trist. És cert el que diuen, i no m'ho vaig creure fins que no em va passar a mi. Els diners no poden comprar la felicitat." Ell va dir: "No, però poden comprar Prozac." I em va receptar antidepressius. I la negror es va dissipar una mica. I també la feina. Perquè estava pels núvols. No m'importava si els clients trucaven. (Riure)
So I went to my doctor. I said, "Doc, I can buy anything I want. But I'm not happy. I'm depressed. It's true what they say, and I didn't believe it until it happened to me. But money can't buy happiness." He said, "No. But it can buy Prozac." And he put me on anti-depressants. And yeah, the black cloud faded a little bit, but so did all the work, because I was just floating along. I couldn't care less if clients ever called. (Laughter)
I els clients no van trucar. (Riure) Perquè van veure que ja no els prestava servei a ells, sinó que em servia només a mi mateix. De manera que van dur els diners i els projectes a d'altres que els donessin un servei millor.
And clients didn't call. (Laughter) Because they could see I was no longer serving them, I was only serving myself. So they took their money and their projects to others who would serve them better.
El negoci no va tardar gaire en enfondrar-se. El meu soci, en Thom, i jo van haver d'acomiadar els empleats. Es va reduir tan sols a nosaltres dos, i estàvem a punt de fer fallida. I va ser genial. Perquè sense empleats no hi havia ningú a qui pogués dirigir.
Well, it didn't take long for business to drop like a rock. My partner and I, Thom, we had to let all our employees go. It was down to just the two of us, and we were about to go under. And that was great. Because with no employees, there was nobody for me to manage.
I vaig tornar als projectes que m'agradaven. I em vaig tornar a divertir. Vaig treballar més dur. En resum: vaig fer tot allò que em va portar de nou a l'èxit. Però no va ser un trajecte ràpid. Va durar set anys.
So I went back to doing the projects I loved. I had fun again, I worked harder and, to cut a long story short, did all the things that took me back up to success. But it wasn't a quick trip. It took seven years.
Però al final, l'empresa va créixer més que mai. I quan vaig tornar a seguir aquests vuit principis, la negror es va esvair del tot. Un dia em vaig llevar i vaig dir-me: "Ja no necessito més Prozac." El vaig llençar, i no l'he necessitat des de llavors.
But in the end, business grew bigger than ever. And when I went back to following these eight principles, the black cloud over my head disappeared altogether. And I woke up one day and I said, "I don't need Prozac anymore." And I threw it away and haven't needed it since.
Vaig aprendre que l'èxit no és una via d'un sol sentit. No ho sembla, però és així en realitat. És un viatge continu. I si volem evitar la "síndrome de l'èxit del fracàs" només hem de seguir aquests vuit principis. Perquè no és només la forma a través de la qual arribem a l'èxit sinó com el mantenim. Així que aquí teniu el vostre èxit continu. Moltes gràcies. (Aplaudiments)
I learned that success isn't a one-way street. It doesn't look like this; it really looks more like this. It's a continuous journey. And if we want to avoid "success-to-failure-syndrome," we just keep following these eight principles, because that is not only how we achieve success, it's how we sustain it. So here is to your continued success. Thank you very much. (Applause)