Now, my subject is success, so people sometimes call me a "motivational speaker."

因為我的演說主題是成功，所以人們有時會稱我為 「激勵型講者」。

But I want you to know right up front, I'm not a motivational speaker.

但我要開門見山地跟大家講，我並不是一位勵志型講者。

I couldn't pass the height requirement.

因為我身高不夠。

And I couldn't motivate anybody.

而且我無法激勵任何人。

My employees actually call me a de-motivational speaker.

事實上，我的員工都叫我「反勵志型講者」。

What I try to be is an informational speaker.

我真正想做的是當一位能提供資訊的演講者。

I went out and found out some information about success, and I'm just here to pass it on.

我在外收集關於成功的資訊，然後來這裡分享給大家。

And my story started over 10 years ago, on a plane.

故事要從十年前開始，當時我在一架飛機上。

I was on my way to the TED Conference in California, and in the seat next to me was a teenage girl, and she came from a really poor family but she wanted to get somewhere in life.

我正要去參加 TED 的會議，一位青少女坐在我旁邊，她雖然來自很窮困的家庭，但她很想在一生中有所成就。

And as I tapped away on my computer, she kept asking me questions, then out of the bush it. she asked, "Are you successful?"

當我正敲擊著我的鍵盤時，她不斷地問了我一些問題；突然間她問說：「你是一個成功的人嗎？」

I said, "No, I'm not successful."

我回答：「我並不算是。」

Terry Fox, my hero, now there's a big success.

我的英雄 Terry Fox 才算成功人士。

He lost a leg to cancer, then ran thousands of miles and raised millions for cancer research.

他因癌症失去了一條腿，後來跑了好幾千哩的慈善馬拉松，以此幫癌症研究募了好幾百萬美元。

Or Bill Gates, a guy who owns his own plane and doesn't have to sit next to some kid asking him questions.

或是比爾蓋茲，他有自己的私人飛機，這樣就不會有小孩坐在旁邊一直問他問題。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

But then I told her about some of the stuff I'd done.

之後我跟她講了些我做過的事情。

I love communications, and I've won lots of awards in marketing.

我喜歡人際溝通，且贏過很多行銷獎項。

I love running, and I still sometimes win my age group—old farts over 60.

我熱愛跑步；我時不時還會在 60 歲以上老爺爺組的比賽中得獎。

My fastest marathon is 2 hours and 43 minutes.

我最快的正規馬拉松比賽成績是 2 小時 43 分。

To run the 26 miles, or 42 kilometers.

跑完 26 英哩，也就是 42 公里。

I've run over 50 marathons, in all seven continents.

我在七大洲上跑過 50 場以上的馬拉松。

This was a run my wife and I did up the Inca trail to Machu Picchu in Peru.

這是我和我老婆在祕魯的印加古道跑步的照片。

And to qualify for the seven continents, we had to run a marathon in Antarctica.

為了跑滿七大洲，南極大陸成了不可或缺的一環。

But when we got there, it didn't look nice and calm like this.

但當我們到那時，海面並不像這張照片一樣平靜優美。

It looked like this—the waves were so high we couldn't get to the shore.

而是像這樣波濤洶湧。正因如此，我們無法登陸。

So we sailed 200 miles further south to where the seas were calm, and ran the entire 26-mile marathon on the boat.

於是我們向南開了 200 英哩，找到了一個風平浪靜的海域，而後開始在船上跑 26 英哩的馬拉松。

Four hundred and twenty-two laps around the deck of that little boat.

在甲板上跑 422 圈。

My wife and I have also climbed two of the world's seven summits.

我和我老婆也登過世界七大最高峰的其中兩座。

The highest mountains on each continent.

分別都是各洲的最高峰。

We climbed Aconcagua, the highest mountain on the American continent.

我們爬過阿空加瓜山，也就是南美洲的最高峰。

And Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.

還有非洲的最高峰吉力馬扎羅山。

Well, to be honest, I puked my way to the top of Kilimanjaro.

坦承個小祕密，在爬吉力馬扎羅山時我一路狂吐。

I got altitude sickness, I got no sympathy from my wife.

那時我得了高山症，但我老婆一點也不同情我。

She passed me and did a lap around the top while I was still struggling up there.

她超過我後，自己在山頂上跑了一圈，留我一個人在原地掙扎。

In spite of that, we're still together, and have been for over 35 years.

即便如此，三十五年後的今天，我們還是很恩愛地在一起。

I'd say that's a success these days.

不得不說，在現今社會這也算是一種成功。

So I said to the girl: "Well, you know, I guess I have had some success."

於是我跟女孩說：「我猜我也算是有些成功的經驗。」

And then she said: "Okay, so are you a millionaire?"

她回問我：「那你是百萬富翁嗎？」

Now, I didn't know what to say because when I grew up, it was bad manners to talk about money.

當下我有點無語，因為在我那個年代問別人賺多少錢是不禮貌的。

But I figured I'd better be honest, and I said, "Yeah I'm a millionaire, but I don't know how it happened, I never went after the money, and it's not that important to me."

但我還是誠實地回答了：「是的，我是百萬富翁，但我不知道是怎麼發生的。我從來沒有跟著金錢走，而且金錢對我來說也沒那麼重要。」

She said, "Maybe not to you, but it is to me—I don't want to be poor all my life, I want to get somewhere, but it's never going to happen."

她回說：「金錢對你不重要，但對我來說很重要。我不想一生都貧困潦倒；我想有所成就，但好像不太可能。」

I said, "Well, why not?"

我說：「為什麼呢？」

She said, "Well, you know, I'm not very smart, I'm not doing great in school."

她回說：「因為我不是很聰明，所以在學校表現不是很好。」

I said, "So what? I'm not smart—I barely passed high school."

我說：「我也不聰明啊，我高中差點畢不了業。」

I had absolutely nothing going for me, I was never voted most popular or most likely to succeed.

「什麼事情對我來說都不是很順利，我從來就不是註定好的人生勝利組。」

I started a whole new category, most likely to fail, but in the end, I did okay—so if I can do it, you can do it.

「因此，我開啟了一個新的分類：最可能失敗組，不過到最後我表現得還不錯。如果我可以，那你也可以的。」

And then she asked me the big question: "Okay, so what really leads to success?"

後來她問我了一個最重要的問題「所以你到底怎麼成功的？」

I said, "Jeez, sorry, I don't know, I guess somehow I did it, I don't know how I did it."

我回答：「呃...我不知道；我最後成功了，但我不清楚是怎麼辦到的。」

So I get off the plane and go to the TED Conference, and I'm standing in a room full of extraordinarily successful people in many fields—business, science, arts, health, technology, the environment.

我下了飛機，到了 TED 會議地點，那裡都是非凡的人，涵蓋各種領域：商業、科學、藝術、醫療、科技、環境保育。

When it hit me: Why don't I ask them what helped them succeed, and find out what really leads to success for everyone?

我突然想為什麼我不問問他們是怎麼成功的，藉此找出成功的要素。

So I was all excited to get out there and start talking to these great people, when the self-doubt set in.

於是，我很興奮地準備想問大家這個問題，但這時自我懷疑卻在心中竄起。

I mean, why would people want to talk to me?

我問自己，憑什麼他們想跟我聊這件事？

I'm not a famous journalist—I'm not even a journalist.

我並不是個有名的記者，應該說我根本就不是一個記者。

So I was ready to stop the project before it even began, when who comes walking towards me but Ben Cohen, the famous co-founder of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

當我準備放棄時，朝我迎面走來的是大名鼎鼎 Ben and Jerry 冰淇淋的合夥創辦人 Ben Cohen。

I figured it was now or never, I pushed through the self-doubt, jumped out in front of him, and said, "Ben, I'm working on this project."

我當下覺得現在不問，以後就沒機會了。於是我逃出了自我懷疑的漩渦到他面前跟他說：「我現在有個新的研究項目。」

"I don't even know what to ask you, but can you tell me what helped you succeed?"

「雖然難以啟齒，但你可以告訴我是什麼因素才使你成功的嗎？」

He said, "Yeah, sure, come on, let's go for a coffee."

他爽快地答應要我們邊喝咖啡邊談。

And over coffee and ice cream, Ben told me his story.

在我們享用咖啡和冰淇淋的同時，他告訴了我他的故事。

Now here we are over 10 years later, and I've interviewed over 500 successful people face-to-face, and collected thousands of other success stories.

十年後的今天，我已經訪問了超過 500 位成功人士，面對面的收集了成千上萬個成功故事。

I wanted to find the common factors for success in all fields, so I had to interview people in careers ranging from A to Z.

我想找出這些故事之間的共同因素，不分領域的共同因素，所以我必須把各行各業的人全部都訪問過。

These are just the careers I interviewed beginning with the letter A, and in most cases more than one person.

這些是部分 A 開頭行業的列表，大部份的行業我都訪問了不只一個人。

I interviewed six successful accountants, five corporate auditors, five astronauts who had been into space, four actors who had won the Academy Award for Best Actor, three of the world's top astrophysicists, six of the world's leading architects and, oh yeah, four Nobel Prize winners.

我訪問過六位成功的會計師、五位公司稽核員、五位出過任務的太空人、四位得過奧斯卡最佳演員獎的演員、和三位世界頂尖的天體物理學家、六位優秀的建築師和四位諾貝爾獎得主。

Yeah, I know it doesn't start with A, but it's kind of cool.

雖然諾貝爾獎得主並非 A 開頭 (N開頭)，但因為很酷所以值得一提。

And I want to say a sincere thanks to all the great people that I've interviewed over the years.

在這裡我要鄭重感謝這些年來被我採訪的要角。

This really is their story; I'm just the messenger.

這全他們的故事，我只是傳遞故事的人。

The really big job was taking all the interviews and analyzing them, word by word, line by line, and sorting them into all the factors that people said helped them succeed.

這個研究主題，最主要的難處是把所有的訪談紀錄逐字逐句的分析然後開始按照各種成功因素分類。

And then you start to see the big factors that are common to most people's success.

之後最重要的那些因素就會浮出水面，這些因素是每個受訪者都有提到的。

Altogether, I analyzed and sorted millions of words.

我總共分析分類了幾百萬個字。

Do you know how much work that is?

你可以想像這是多麼浩大的工程嗎？

That's all I do, day and night—sort and analyze.

我就這樣日以繼夜地分析再分析、分類再分類。

I'll tell you, if I ever get my hands on that kid on the plane... actually, if I do, I'll thank her.

如果讓我再碰到飛機上那個女孩，我一定會好好地感謝她。

Because I've never had so much fun and met so many interesting people.

若不是她，我絕對不會有機會享受這樣的樂趣，認識這麼多人。

And now I can answer her question. [What really leads to success?]

現在，我可以回答她的問題了。 [成功的要素到底是什麼？]

I discovered the eight traits successful people have in common, or the eight to be great.

我發現了八個成功人士的共通特性，換句話說，八個通往成功道路的要素。

Love what you do, work really hard.

做你熱愛的工作；並且非常努力。

Focus on one thing, not everything.

專心於一件事，而非什麼都想碰。

Keep pushing yourself, come up with good ideas.

鞭策自己、想出一些好點子。

Keep improving yourself and what you do.

精益求精。

Serve others something of value, because success isn't just about me, me, me.

幫助他人，因為成功並不是只有我、我、我...。

And persist, because there's no overnight success.

努力不懈，因為你不可能一夜成功。

Why did I pick these?

為什麼我挑出了這些因素呢？

Because when I added up all the comments in my interviews, more people said those eight things helped them than anything else.

因為當我把所有訪問內容疊加起來後，我發現大部分的受訪者提到這八個因素的頻率遠遠超越其他因素。

The eight traits are really the heart of success, the foundation, and then on top we build the specific skills that we need for our particular field or career.

這八個特性是邁向成功的基礎核心，在這核心之上，我們需要一些更具體的技能運用到我們所在的領域。

Technical skills, analytical skills, people skills, creative skills—lots of other skills we can add on top, depending on our field.

技術性技能、分析技能、人際關係技能、創意性技能...依照我們各自不同的領域還有許多可以加在這核心上的技能。

But no matter what field we're in, these eight traits will be at the heart of our success.

不過不論我們所選的領域為何，這八個要素都會是幫助我們成功的核心。

(Applause)

(掌聲)