Hvorfor opnår så mange mennesker succes, hvorefter de fejler? En af de vigtige årsager er, at vi tænker på succes som om det er en ensrettet gade. Vi gør alle de ting, der fører til succes. Men så får vi det. Vi tror vi har klaret det, så læner vi os tilbage i magelighed, og vi holder med at gøre alle de ting, der gav os succes. Og tilbagegang tager ikke lang tid. Jeg kan sige jer, at det sker. For det skete for mig.
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.
For at få succes arbejdede jeg hårdt. Jeg pressede mig selv. Men så holdt jeg op, for jeg tænkte "Så nu klarede jeg det. Jeg kan læne mig tilbage og slappe af."
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."
På vejen til succes prøvede jeg altid at forbedre mig og lave et godt stykke arbejde. Men så stoppede jeg fordi jeg tænkte "Hey, jeg er god nok. Jeg behøver ikke forbedre mig mere."
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."
På vej til succes var jeg ret god til at komme på nye ideer. Fordi jeg gjorde alle disse simple ting, som ledte mig til ideerne. Men så stoppede jeg. Jeg tænkte, at jeg var denne store mand og jeg behøvede ikke arbejde for at få ideerne. De burde bare komme på magisk vis. Og det eneste der kom var en kreativ blokade. Jeg kunne ikke komme på nogen ideer.
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.
På vejen til succes fokuserede jeg altid på kunder og projekterne og ignorerede pengene. Så begyndte pengene at strømme ind. Jeg blev distraheret af det. Og pludselig talte jeg i telefon med min aktiehandler og min ejendomsmægler, når jeg burde have talt med mine kunder.
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.
På vejen til succes lavede jeg alt det jeg holdt af. Men så begyndte jeg på alt det jeg ikke holdt af, såsom ledelse. Jeg er verdens dårligste leder. Men jeg tænkte at jeg burde gøre det. For når det kom til stykket, var jeg chef for virksomheden.
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.
Nå, men snart formede der sig en sort sky over mit hoved og her var jeg. Udadtil meget succesfuld, men inderst inde meget deprimeret. Men jeg er en mand, og jeg ved hvad man skal gøre. Jeg købte en hurtig bil. (Latter) Det virkede ikke. Jeg var hurtigere, men lige så deprimeret.
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.
Så jeg kontaktede min læge, og sagde "Doktor, jeg kan købe alt hvad jeg ønsker. Men jeg er ikke glad. Jeg er deprimeret. Det, de siger, er sandt, og jeg troede ikke på det, før det skete for mig. Penge kan ikke købe lykke." Han sagde, "Nej, men de kan købe Fontex." Så han gav mig antidepressiv medicin. Og den sorte sky blegnede en lille smule. Men det gjorde arbejdet også. Jeg sejlede bare af sted. Jeg kunne ikke være mere ligeglad med om kunderne ringede. (Latter)
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)
Og kunderne ringede ikke. (Latter) For de kunne se at jeg ikke længere arbejdede for dem. Jeg arbejdede kun med mig selv. Så de tog deres penge og deres projekter og gav dem til andre, der ville arbejde for dem.
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.
Nå, men det tog ikke lang tid, før forretningen faldt som en sten. Min partner og jeg, Thom, blev nødt til at fyre vores medarbejdere. Der endte med kun at være os to tilbage, og vi var lige ved at måtte lukke. Og det var fantastisk. For uden nogen ansatte var der ingen jeg skulle lede.
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.
Så jeg vendte tilbage til de projekter, jeg elskede. Jeg havde det sjovt igen. Jeg arbejdede hårdere. Og for at gøre historien kort, gjorde jeg alle de ting, der gjorde mig til en succes igen. Men det var ikke nogen hurtig tur. Det tog syv år.
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.
Men til sidst blev forretningen større end nogensinde. Da jeg vendte tilbage til de disse otte principper, forsvandt den sorte sky over mit hoved helt. Og jeg vågnede en dag og sagde, "Jeg har ikke brug for Fontex mere." Jeg smed dem væk, og jeg har ikke haft brug for dem siden.
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.
Jeg lærte at succes ikke er en ensrettet gade. Det ser ikke sådan ud. Det ser mere sådan her ud. Det er en evig rejse. Og hvis vi vil undgå "succes til fald-syndromet" Så skal vi bare følge disse otte principper. For det handler ikke kun om, hvordan vi opnår succes, men også hvordan vi bevarer den. Held og lykke med jeres evige succes. Mange tak. (Bifald)
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)