Real English Conversations: What leads to success?
Posted on April 26, 2007
Filed under Listening, Real English conversations, Upper intermediate | 27 Comments
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Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from betteratenglish.com. In today’s conversation, my British friend Michael and I discuss our reactions to a presentation about “What leads to success,” given by Michael St. John. Everyone wants to be successful, right? But have you ever wondered what it is that leads to success? Richard St. John spent several years interviewing hundreds of successful people, asking them about the factors that led to their success. In a three-minute presentation at the TED conference, he presented his findings, some of which you might find surprising. I highly suggest that you watch the video either before or after listening to this episode. I have embedded the video on our web site, www.betteratenglish.com. You can also find it on the TED web site, www.ted.com.
By the way, the technical difficulties that I mentioned last week have supposedly been resolved now — please do let me know if you have any further problems downloading our audio files.
OK, here we go!
Conversation transcript
Lori: I have a lot of business English students when I teach in the classroom and a lot of times we end up talking about things like success and what leads to success, and it’s interesting that many of them mention the element of luck.
Michael: Right, OK.
L: That luck is important to success but as you know, since you’ve seen that fantastic video on the TED Talks web site by Richard St John…
M: Sure.
L: He doesn’t mention luck at all.
M: Right, I’m a firm believer that people can make their own luck. I mean what people regard as being luck, you know, you can actually create to a degree.
L: Right, right. I think a lot of what people consider luck is…is really…it’s down to how you respond to the opportunities that come your way.
M: Yes, very good point, yeah.
L: Seizing the opportunities. But was there any point in the video that you thought was particularly interesting?
M: Umm…yes, actually there was. Something very close to my heart is a lot of people think in the same way that you say that these folks are saying they think that luck is important, that people think that innate talent is something that you have to have to be successful. And in the video that we saw, the point about getting good at something, and it’s not about…umm…having some innate talent, it’s all about practise, practise, practise.
L: Mmm, definitely yeah.
M: You know, and creating your own, you know, if you want to be good at something then you practise you…and you make yourself skillful at doing something; it’s not that, you know, people are all…err…you know, born that way it’s just…
L: Right.
M: It’s hard work and that’s what you do, you know?
L: Yeah, there…I mean, talent of course, if you have…umm…a predisposition that favours a certain talent or…
M: Yeah.
L: …of course that’s going to help. But at the end of the day, you really do need to put your nose to the grindstone and do the work and get really, really good at what you do.
M: Sure.
L: Umm…I thought one of the interesting things in the video was the idea of passion being so important.
M: Oh yeah, yeah definitely.
L: And that people who really love what they do — of course you’re going to tend then to want to work harder and put the time and effort into it — and the funny thing is that if you love what you do and are really passionate about it and work really hard, the money kind of comes automatically.
M: Well, yeah I…I think with that point as well is that if you really love what you’re doing, then hard work doesn’t actually seem like hard work.
L: No, that’s another point he takes up that it could actually, you know, that that the people he interviews — all of these 500 successful people — that they do work very hard but that they have fun while they’re working.
M: Right, right.
L: Yeah, and another thing that I thought was important was the idea that you have to push yourself through all kinds of setbacks and hard times.
M: Yeah umm…I mean that’s…that’s something…err…all the time…is that like the motivational sort of thing? You’ve got to always keep going and regardless of all the things that get in your way; it’s not going to be a smooth ride is it? So…
L: Yeah. you have to be prepared for setbacks and all kind of problems that get in your way and if you just give up when things get tough…
M: Yeah.
L: You will never succeed.
M: I’m sure in a lot of cases, people who’ve been successful, it’s not the first idea that they had or it’s not the first person that they brought it to that took them on and financed them or helped them, you know? I mean, how many venture capitalists said no before, you know, umm, finally one said yes?
L: Yeah I’m sure that there’s a lot in that…that a lot of successful businesses have pushed through setbacks and hard times and just not given up.
M: Yeah, it’s not like you succeed and — I mean, sure, maybe some people succeed first time — but I don’t think that’s very common.
L: Exactly…umm…yeah. And then another thing that I thought was really interesting was the idea of having to focus.
M: Yeah…umm…I mean if you’re going to…if you’re going to do something…I mean I think they’re all kind of connected in some way, these things…I mean, the idea about getting good at something…umm…it’s not just enough to be good…umm…at doing something; you’ve got to apply yourself…
L: Right.
M: ..and really concentrate.
L: Yeah, and there’s the idea of being a jack-of-all-trades, master of none!
M: Oh…
L: You know, trying to be too good at too many things; it’s never going to work, It’s better to pick the thing that you really are passionate about and that you really, really want to devote yourself to.
M: Yeah, that was a good one, yeah.
L: Yeah and…and just push. So I thought that was really interesting…umm.
M: Nice and positive as well.
L: Yeah, I really love…it’s a fan-…don’t you think it’s a great presentation?
M: Yeah, I mean I thought it was very concise and to the point and also…
L: Yeah.
M: …the positive message, because the idea about luck and innate talent is a bit disheartening to people because you have…there’s nothing much you can do about those things.
L: Right. Well, the background is that he goes around to high schools and gives this talk and normally, I guess it takes him about 2 hours, but at TED he condensed it down to 3 minutes, which I…I was actually quite impressed…
M: Yeah, me too.
L: …by that. But I think his slides are really great too; you know you don’t see…I mean there are some bullet points, but it’s not heavy. There’s not too many words on the slides and he’s got nice images and it’s…it’s just a really tight, interesting and funny presentation as well.
M: Yeah. Well it’ll be good for our…our…our…listeners can take a look at the…
L: Yeah, yeah I hope so!
M: …at the video
L: And I hope that the…the video, if they do watch it that it will inspire them as much as it inspired me.
M: OK!
L: Yeah!
That’s all for today. If you found today’s topic interesting, we’d love to hear your comments. You can leave a comment at our web site, www.betteratenglish.com, or e-mail us at info@betteratenglish.com. And remember, your continued donations make our shows possible. Bye for now!
Vocabulary notes
down to
If X is down to Y, then X is the main reason for Y, or the main thing that is important for doing Y.
close to my heart
If something is close to your heart, it means that it is very important to you.
innate
If something is innate, it is something you were born with, not something you learned.
predisposition
To be predisposed to/towards something means that you are likely to behave in a particular way or to exhibit certain characteristics.
put your nose to the grindstone
The idiom to put one’s nose to the grindstone means that you work very hard for a long time.
setbacks
A setback is something that causes delays in success or prevents you from making progress.
a smooth ride
The idiom a smooth ride means having an easy, trouble-free time doing something. The opposite is a bumpy ride, which means facing lots of difficulties and problems.
venture capitalists
Venture capitalists help start-up companies by investing money in them.
given up
If you give up, you stop trying.
jack-of-all-trades
A jack-of-all-trades is someone who can do many different jobs.
heavy
In this context, heavy means tedious and boring.
slides
In presentation software such as Powerpoint, each “page” is called a slide.
tight
If you describe a talk or presentation as tight, it means that it was concise and well constructed, with no unneeded parts or excess.
Bonus links
• See the original video and many other great presentations on the TED website.
• Richard St. John’s webpage about success, and another video presentation.
• You can even buy his book about success on Amazon.
Comments
27 Responses to “Real English Conversations: What leads to success?”
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Hi!!!!!
I want to tell you that the conversations are very nice and it has help me very much to understand many things that i didn’t know.
I hope to give you a donation soon.
Thanks for all. You’re the best.
It’s a very interesting video and a very interesting conversation
I think that people tell themselves that success is a matter of luck and talent to have an alibi. If you say that everybody can get success and you don’t get it then it’s your fault. So, instead of that, you say that you are unlucky or ugly or something similar…
hey everyone,
i wasn’t really interested in this subject but the other subjects are dead intereting!!
Suggestion: I’m interested in what do the english people think when they talk about German, spanish, French…and so on…
e.g.: german people are eating “bavarian veal sausage” all the time, spanish are dancing flamenco every day and french are eating baguette every morning… in short: some funny prejudice about some (in the eyes of english people) foreigners.
That would be really fantastic!!!!
Jule
Your podcast helps me to improve my english. I use to read the vocabulary words before i listen the audio and that’s enough for me to follow and understand the conversation.
Thank you very much.
Note: I think the conversations could be 2 or 3 minutes longer.Around 8 minutes.
i think that short conversations are perfect to keep the attention. Good job and thank you again.
Hi everyone !
Thank you so much for your podcast!
I’m french and your podcast helps me to improve, to be “better at english”
Helene
ps : Jule’s idea is great ! That would be very funny
I’m a pretty new user of betteratenglish, but I’m really positively surprised by the approach to teching/learning English that you present here. I teach English myself, and would like to express how thankful I am for the inspiration I get visiting your website. I really enjoyed the presentation on “What leads to success” as well as the conversation – my students are going to love it!
Interesting to listen to but REALLY STUPID, sorry!
“…if you love what you do and are really passionate about it and work really hard, the money kind of comes automatically.”
Do you really believe this to be true? What about poor artists, what about the thrid world?
However, I like not only getting to know the language better but also your culture.
Thanks for the nice comments, everyone.
Miguel: 8 minutes is probably a good length for the conversations; the only problem is that our conversations are spontaneous, so we never know how long they will be. But we’ll keep your suggestion in mind in the future.
Norbert: I don’t think that passion and hard work can automatically lead to success for everyone on the planet. That would indeed be wishful thinking. Unfortunately though, I do know plenty of people who give up on their dreams before they’ve even tried because they place too much importance on “luck” or “connections” or other things that they can’t really control.
The only path to certain failure is to give up before you’ve tried.
And of course I didn’t mean poor people in third-world countries who are lacking the opportunities that we have in the industrialized countries. But I think you knew that.
Hi,
It was really interesting subject. I learned some new words and some another things also.
I expect more about this subject.
Thanks very much
Adarsh
i wanna learn english so can any one help me
?i wanna help me plz let me know and send m e some messages
It is very important book about succes: “Think and grow rich” of Napoleon Hill. This book INDEED may help in your career. But one thing is very true: don’t give up! You are right Lori!
Hi Ms. Lori
A million thanks to you and to all the people who became part of building this website; and to all of you who keep sharing your knowledge and efforts. Your so kind for providing this very helpful tool in learning english for free. I’m very thankful indeed coz I’ve learned a lot. That’s why I never had a second thought to shared it to my filipino friends and relatives. And also to some of my foreign friends. You’ve done a great job. This is such a great success. Keep up the good work and God bless you all! I promised you that whatever I learned from you guys, I will share it also to others. Again thank you very very much. 
Thanks so much for your lovely comments, Albert. I’m so glad to hear that you find our site useful. And thanks for recommending us to your friends — the more visitors we have, the more attractive our site will be to potential sponsors. Sponsorship will let us keep B@E free for everyone, and (hopefully) give us more free time to create podcasts and other resources for you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your amazing conversations!! I learn so much from you!
I’d like to learn English…..
Soma….
Soma….
hi ever one i wana to learn english so fast so i want friends to speak with i mean native speaker like british ppl thank you
I felt comfortable when I was trying to download the English conversation tape about How to get success, but I still could not get this source. Would you mind telling me how to get this source?
Kimleang, I would like to help you, but I don’t understand your question…sorry! I’m not sure what you mean by “source.”
hi everybod!i’m really happy when i listen this convesation,thanksomuch!i study English by myself,so can y’all help me how to improve English and how to study English well in a short tim??????please give a message,thanks…….and can i make friend with y’all? ì y’all say ok,,,,,,please send me amessage into my email,,,,,,,thanks again
i really want to learn english , but it;s very hard do it here in my country:(
I appreciate very much the whole thing, and as an English teacher I suggest this presentation to my students in order to offer them a chance to get into the real thing. Thaks a lot.
As Norbert says, it might be stupid to set this steps for success if your goal is, to get rich.
But if your goal is to improve your English (which I believe is the goal for some people here), I am totally convinced: Not stupid “hate”-learning of vocabulary and grammatic, but listen to interesting stories and conversations like these in this podcast. So in fact I really forgot my goal to improve my English and to work hard for it in the moment I hear the so sweet voice of Lori — just for example
and even I overcame my hesitate to write in English (which I know is still not very skilled) not in order to improve it, but just to say “Thank you” (though with a lot more words as just this two)
Klaus Heck
lena
thank u for such topics nd hope to find new topic soon…
Hello
I’m I think that this is an excellent web page for people who want to learn English, it’s very helpful