Eight to Be Great: The 8-Traits That Lead to Great Success

by Richard St. John

St. John spent ten years interviewing over 500 successful individuals in many different fields, including Martha Stewart, Russell Crowe, and the Google founders. After analyzing all the data, St. John discovered the top eight factors that lead to greatness and shares them with readers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Business, Personal Growth, Human Development

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Richard St. John is a nationally published poet whose books include The Pure Inconstancy of Grace (Truman State University Press, 2005), runner up in the 2004 T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, and Shrine (2011), a chapbook. His work has also appeared in The Sewanee Review, Poet Lore, and Chautauqua, as well as many other periodicals and anthologies. He has given readings across the country, connecting not only with literary audiences but also with listeners new to poetry. He has degrees in English from Princeton University and the University of Virginia. In 2002, he completed a mid-career Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University. He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Kate.

Reviews

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, of course. The more you work, the more talended you are. Or, rather, appear. And many other frankly inspiring tidbits.
Lots of platitudes but, BUT:
> packaged in a newish way,
>> expressed as cool-sounding mottoes,
>>> adorned with examples of truly inspiring people from all walks of life,
>>>> all along supplemented with cool graphics and nice structure of the text.
Anyway, reread, reread, reread!

[Rizky Januar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book after watching videos by its author Richard St. John on YouTube. He has done very remarkable jobs by doing 500 interviews with successful people and extracting them into this book. Before buying this book, I was wondering what qualities that make people successful. It came to my mind the answer was between soft skills and hard skills. Sometimes I heard from people around me that soft skills were much more important than hard skills. Deep in my thought I would disagree with that opinion but I couldn't support my disagreement. Until I found this book and finished reading it, the 8 traits explained in this book enlightened my mind.
The author puts 8 traits (passion, work, focus, push, ideas, improve, serve, and persist) as the heart of success. The other skills including soft and hard skills are considered secondary. By maintaining these 8 traits, no matter what fields you are in, you can become a successful person in a field you're working on. The explanation about each trait is practical and also makes sense. Some explanations give you new insights and fix false intuitions that lead you to be unsuccessful. You can apply those 8 traits into yourself and that is what I'm going to do.
However, after reading this book I need to think a little bit and make connections between these 8 traits. One thing I consider extreme in this book is about working hard. If you want to be a successful person you have to work very hard and forget about yourself and your family. Perhaps, because this book's perspective is about successful at your job, not others. This is very surprising to me. In my opinion, having a great family and good health is a success. Raising children and supporting them to become successful people is also a success. In the chapter about "persist", you can find that you can't have success and life balance at the same time, so you have to make a choice. But, you can switch between life balance and job success repeatedly so at the long run you can achieve life balance and job success altogether.

[Rian · Rating 4 out of 5]

After seeing his TED talk, i decided to buy his book and read more about his research. Today i have finished his book and i would like to share some insights about his book.

I recommend it. The book is written great and the content is very interesting. I decided to read this book to get the gist of 500 interviews with succesful people and i have gained a lot!

His book is a big collection of relatively basic insights and thats why i love it. The more simple something is, the greater the genius behind it must be. At least that is something i believe.

I recommend this book because it has given me a lot of reference material for past and future experiences.

[Jin Kok · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is underrated, I am surprise it has low awareness on it, the author took a decade of his lifetime to answer a curious girl who ask him a simple question that shaped his future thoughts and every readers for life: What makes people successful?

And that send him on a trip to interview many successful people and what does make them ticks?

For one, it open my mind on how hard the creators or Disney, Simpsons, Star Wars worked to make theur creation come a live, they worked beyond the 9-5pm, and taking little break, and that makes them a genius.

[Anastasiia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy and enjoyable to read. A book for beginners, for those who are just getting interested in business/ self-improvement kinda thing. Explains how great (successful) people became successful.

[Uros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book. Using the analysis in a wonderful explanations, the book gives the reader a sense of what to do or which traits to evolve. It shows you how passion, work, focus, push, ideas, improve, serve and persist influence our success or maybe have influenced the success of the people that were interviewed. A must read for anyone aiming for success!

[Henry Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read so far on motivation

[Adler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listen to his TEDtalk and do the work instead of reading the book. It's an easy and fun read, but it's repetition and jokes become boring, in my opinion.

[MinhTu Thomas Hoang · Rating 2 out of 5]

I took this pill of optimism even though I know it’s placebo. There are so so many empirical proofs that this pill works, but there’s no science here...

[Ali ghoneim · Rating 5 out of 5]

لدى الفتاه حدث رائع عندما رأت ريتشارد سان جون فى جلسته كأنه مليونير ناجح ،، وسألته عن سبب نجاحه ،، الأمر الذى نزل عليه بالصاعقه ،، فهو عباره عن شخص ذاكر ونجح فى مواد وفشل فى الأخرى وتخرج بعد عناء وفى يوم وليليه اصبح من انجح الشخصيات
لكن ماهو السبب او مجموعه من الاسباب ليصبح هكذا ناجحآ ،، الامر الذى ارقه 10 سنوات للبحث عن اسباب النجاح
قام من خلالها بعمل ما يقارب من 500 مقابله شخصيه مع اشخاص ناجحين امثال بيل جيتس ووالت ديزنى وغيرهم وانتج منها حوالى 300 صفه من صفات النجاح
إستطاع ان يختذلها فى 8 صفات فقط للنجاح،، نعم .صدق او لا هناك 8 صفات فقط لتكون ناجحآ
8 to be great

[Almegdad · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب رائع بكل المقاييس ، من أفضل ما قرأت في مجال تطوير وتنمية الذات
بدأت فكرة الكتاب عندما سألت فتاة مراهقة الكاتب وهو على متن طائرة السؤال التالي:
"ما العوامل التي تؤدي حقاْ للنجاح؟"
لم يعرف الكاتب حينها انه سيستغرق عشر سنوات من البحث للإجابة على هذا السؤال ،
وأنه سيجري 500 مقابلة وجها لوجه مع اشخاص حققوا نجاحا باهرا امثال :
بيل جيبس ، ريتشارد برانسون ، مارثا ستيوارت،ومؤسسوا شركة جوجل
بعد اجراء عدد كبير من البحوث والمقابلات وجد الكاتب ان هنالك 8 عوامل صرح معظم الأشخاص بأنها ساعدتهم على النجاح اكثر من اي شيء اخر ، وهذه العوامل التي هي موضوع الكتاب:
1- الشغف : فالناجحون يحبون عملهم
2- العمل: ويعملون بجد
3- التركيز:ونصب تركيزهم على شيء واحد ، وليس الكثير من الأشياء
4- القوة الدافعة: ويواظبون على دفع انفسهم
5- الأفكار: ويبتكرون افكارا نيرة
6- القدرة على تطوير الذات:ويواظبون على تطوير ذواتهم وما يفعلون
7- خدمة الأخرين:ويخدمون غيرهم بإمدادهم بشيء ذي قيمة
8- المثابرة:ويتمتعون بالمثابرة في اي وقت وخاصة اوقات المحن والفشل

قراءة ممتعة اتمناها لكم...

[Kresimir Mudrovcic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, definitely worth reading some parts, or at least the short summary of the book, but the way it is written is totally missed in my opinion. 90% of the book he is quoting different people, there is no scientific background or some controlled survey that he asked each and every one of the >500 people he interviewed.
He just had chats with lots of them and took common denominator in all of them.

So, all in all, really useful to read the book and it gave me some ideas, but I expected more scientific approach to this 10 year research. At least that he presented the same list of questions that he asked all of them and how he did the analysis later would be useful.

I would recommend mostly posters from his site, but not the whole book for sure.

[Zenduba Halimana · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there is nothing particularly new or profound in the book it is still a good reminder of the traits/habits required for success. I'd imagine that a person who has only started reading personal development books would get the most value out of it, for the seasoned reader it can serve as more of a reminder than anything else. I personally found the manner in which it is written to be somewhat distracting - it is not a difficult read but the perpetual quotes every few lines was distracting and ended up minimizing the book's impact. That and how it seems to be aimed at a much younger audience, i.e. illustrations and cartoons.

A quick read but unfortunately not one I would recommend that you put at the top of the pile.

[Jason Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a charming and delightful read! I picked this book up after seeing Richard St. John's TED talk and finished it in one setting. St. John collects his interviews of a few hundred celebrities/successful people and asks them what it takes to be successful. This book is a summary of their collective stories and wisdom organized into 8 'keys' to success.

I'm normally not a fan of any of these '10 steps to XXX', but I find these 8 qualities to be quite universal. The book is written in a really easy/simple format. St. John is extremely concise, as to not slow down the pace of reading. I definitely recommend this to anyone.

[إيمَانْ · Rating 4 out of 5]

في البداية لم أري الكتاب سوي مجموعةٍ من الإقتباسات التي لا هدفَ لها سوي التحفيز ولكن مع الإستمرارِ في القراءة وجدت أنه كتابٌ رائع .
أن ترغب في النجاحِ وتسعي إليه يعني أن تستمع لقصص الناجحين وأن تعرف خصالهم وزلاتهم كي تعدل مسارك أو تثبت عليه .
مما يلفت النظر أن الناجحِين الذين أجري الكاتب معهم المقابلات ناجحون بكل المجلاتِ وبكل الإختصاصات تأكيداً عَلي أن النجاح لا يقتصر علي فئة أو وظيفة معينة ..
من أروعِ ما جرت عليه عيناي

[Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful illustrations that would make excellent posters or cards also. Quotes galore, from people I actually am aware of. Convincing points that make success doable - for everyone. I will be re-reading this.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great advice, easy to read. Author did extensive research, interviewing hundreds of successful business men and women, athletes, artists and authors, compiling the top 8 traits they all have in common.

[Dominique Caisse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good notion of success principles

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is pretty good. quite short and simple, but full of awesome quotes from many people.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple really - passion, work, focus, push, ideas, improve, serve, persist...

[Clara Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had the chance to read this book in high school or at least before my failed attempt at a PhD.
Great book.

[Raquib · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

This book serves it purpose. After reading the book, you will understand main thing needed for success. Author explains the material beautifully​

[Harinder Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best self-help, motivational books.
The effort put by author in writing this book is commendable.
Worth a read.

[Milap]

Awesome book....!
difficult and complex things are made very simple by the author.
simple and very powerful.
i read it one time and for deeply understanding planning to read 2 time more.

[Suvansit kumar jaiswal · Rating 4 out of 5]

8 to be Great, By Richard St. John

I came to know about this book, when I watched a TED talk given by the author of this book on YouTube in late 2019,
Initially, I was very reluctant to read this book, thought of it as one of those similar mass selling self-help books, but once while browsing through Amazon.in, I got it on sale and bought it for my cousin to gift it, on her 17th birthday. But thanks to Covid 19, I was able to read it before giving it to her during lockdown period,


The mission of this book is to impart wisdom on the most sought-after topic by every person on this world, the question of 'How to be great/successful in any of your desired area/field.'


NOTE: Here the Author has differentiated success with earning money or fame and termed it as 'achieving perfection in any area/skill of your desire.'


To write this book author did a herculean task of interviewing face to face around 500 extraordinary successful people in about time period of about 10 year from every Arena and sphere, people like Bill Gates, Lance Armstrong, Donald Trump, Oprah and other successful person e.tc. from various streams like sport, science, management, and administration etc. and he has cited several extracts of those interviews in form of quotes, principles, philosophy, slogans e.t.c everywhere in book.



The language used in writing this book is very easy which make it convenient to read in one go, the life stories and vivid interesting anecdotes of several successful people made this book more enticing to read and it will sometime feel like brief of several biography book compiled in a book with a script and skeleton of its own, to be read easily, and also graphic used to denote the crux of every chapter is very handy and make reading joyful ( as i have personally used a graphic cartoon from last chapter as a poster for my desk to remind me of persistence in work)



The core of this book is 8 traits namely
1) Passion
2) Work
3) Focus
4) Push
5) Ideas
6) Improve
7) Serve
8) Persist


The author has dedicated each Chapter to each trait and further in sub-chapter gave several lessons; few of my favourite lessons among them are:


“Passion turn underachievers into super-achievers” in (Chapter 1)

”Forget TGIF, Think TGIW” in (Chapter 2)

“IID- Interest Deficit Disorder” in (Chapter 3)

“Write down ideas before they fly away” in (Chapter 5)

“REPS: Repetition to excess produce success” in (Chapter 6)

Whole, Chapter 7 “the philosophy of serving other”,
and “How and why to persist” by far are my favourite Chapters in this book.

This book is very good for Youngster below 23, especially students, as majority of them are confused nowadays and ask for advice here and there, and at last without any outside help, start considering earning money and getting secured monthly income job as a benchmark of success, similarly people who are struggling in life will find this book as a guiding light for life and can take is as a manual to be again every time, when you are lost in life.

The only bad thing about this book is, that it won't give you complete wisdom of any interviewee and author has cited few interviews more repeatedly then others (I think he might have been influenced by them a lot) and at several instance this book will feel like copy-paste editing done hastily or compilation of several social media post along with graphics!

But, at the end this book will impart the knowledge as quoted in its title! My advice is Go for this book! It’s a must read for every individual.

[Ryan Barretto · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I picked up this book to read, I thought that it would be just another list of things to do to make yourself successful from the author's perspective. It happened to be that and much more. It's research based and not anecdotal.

I love the model this author has shown, particularly the fact that it is based on his research of 500 interviews with successful people (not all are well-known names) on what has made them successful. One of the traits he mentions is Passion, and I would suggest that this be replaced with Purpose. This is simply because passion is a feeling and feelings change frequently. Your purpose keeps you awake at night, and makes you jump out of bed and head to office with a spring in your step even when you know that the day ahead will be very tough.

The book could also double as a book of motivational quotes. They are all wonderful and appropriately placed. I feel the book could have been improved by including the decision making models used by these people as well as how they monitored environmental factors which play a huge role in the success and failure of any venture.

This is strongly recommended for entry level professionals as well as those considering a mid-career shift, particularly entrepreneurship.

I will be frequently refering to this book since I am a Strengths-based career coach

[syifagaida · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Rahasia suatu kesuksesan adalah bahwa tidak ada rahasia menjadi sukses”

Ketika kita mendengar Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Muhamad Ali, Henry Ford dsb, mereka identik dengan orang yang sukses dalam bidangnya, tetapi apa yang membuat mereka sukses? pola pikir atau kebiasaan apa yang dimiliki oleh orang-orang tersebut yang membuat mereka sampai sukses dibidangnya? Apakah benar ada rahasia untuk menjadi sukses?

Maka dengan membaca buku ini kita dapat menemukan jawabannya, bahwa ternyata tidak ada rahasia menjadi sukses, karena sifat-sifat yang dimiliki orang-orang sukses tersebut dapat kita pelajari dan terapkan.
Buku 8 to be Great ini ditulis oleh Richard St. John dengan risetnya selama 10 tahun, beliau menemui 500 orang sukses di berbagai bidang dan mewawancarai mengenai tips suksesnya.

Yang menarik dalam buku ini juga menjelaskan sebuah mitos yang menceritakan bahwa kesuksesan itu diwariskan dari orang tua ke anak-anak mereka, tetapi penelitian yang dilakukannya menujukan bahwa mitos tersebut tidak benar. “Aku telah mewawancarai banyak anak dari orang-orang sukses tetapi hal itu bukan karena sukses bersifat genetis. Akan tetapi karena mereka mengamati orang tua, meniru orang tua, dan secara perlahan mengembangkan delapan sifat sukses dalam diri mereka sendiri.”

[Hemant Malankar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a month to finish this book. It was much needed book to re-initiate my reading habit. I bought this book through my debit card points.
Indeed I have realised that there is no secret behind getting successful. Its like a open secret. Its a journey with vision, faith, practice and persistence, which no one really wants to follow. No wonder there are handful of successful people. We only see tip of the iceberg i.e. their success and not relentless efforts behind the success. Author has presented enough data to support the gist offered in the book. Question I ask myself is whether can I do it?

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first saw Richard St. John on Tedtalks, as I'm sure others have, and really enjoyed it. A few days latter I decided to look the book up and I'm glad I did.
While my job has changed since the first time I've read the book it still helps encourage me to keep striving and keeps me pushing along. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking on advice on how to get them started.

[Sudeep · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gist of the book is explained in the first few pages. Nothing new, but sensible advice.
After that it is collection of just quotes after quotes of people who have used that particular word (name of corresponding chapter) as contributing to their success.
It's a short enough book & yet is a drag without reason.