Motivation Speech at SJEC 10/2/16

I see that there are participants and winners in this audience. All young between 17 and 20 I would guess?  Who the winners will be today we as yet we don’t know, but I guess each one of the participants here wants to win…. Is there anyone that does not want to win?

Lemons and Apples which fruit do you like more?  The Apple? Why?

Which is costlier in the Market? Why? So the Apple is the winner by far? Correct?

But both have health benefits, lovely colors, shapes and what the lemon can do the apple cant. Can it?

I drink lime juice in warm water in the morning, while my wife eats an apple in the mornings – both of us do what we do for different health reasons.  The Lime and the Apple both win, they don’t compete against  others – they compete from within – to give the best they can to the consumer.

Today all of you have come over to compete against others – whom you believe are similarly placed as you… But there is more important competition going on here – the competition against yourself…. Today you may win or lose against another – its unpredictable, but please ensure that you win against yourself. 

I  did not win a single similar competition until I entered my post graduation phase.  I would participate, but with diffidence, sure I would not win and I did not.  I would get frustrated and rave at the judges and the winners, until I learnt that I won….against myself.

All of you know what an egg looks like. When u break its shell from the outside, you kill  a life, when it breaks from the inside – a life is born. That is the difference – competing against others and competing against yourself – Your fears, your insecurities,  your diffidence, your inhibitions, and your perceived inabilities.

Think about it. Competition can break your shell from the outside, but what I want each one of you to do is break your shell from the inside.

Message 1. Get out of your comfort zone

Exercise – Raise your hand and wave three times from side to side.  Right hand left hand – Comfort Zone.

If you want to compete, against yourself,  you  have to exit your comfort zone.

What is this comfort Zone.  Simple – Lets say u are in an air-conditioned room the whole day, and you have to step out and walk to the market.  Its April and hot and humid… you are stepping out of your comfort zone – physically to get to where you want to go. Emotionally, your ego is hurt and you want to hurt the person who pricked your ego, you control your anger – you are stepping out of a comfort zone, because that’s what u want to do. You have never participated in a competition of this type before, yet u are here today, you are stepping out of your comfort zone.  You have never stood in front of an audience of impatient youngsters like you and addressed them like I am addressing you today – You are stepping out of your comfort zone as I am doing now, because I want to pass on an important message.

If you want to step out of your comfort zone – you must want to. You must have a goal, a vision, something that will make you do the difficult things in life – with the goal that life can get better.

That’s a common goal. All of us want to be happy in life. We all want to live a perfect life. We want that great job or a successful business. We want to be married to Mr. Right or Mrs Perfect. We want to have great kids. We want to have friends that stick by us come rain or shine. We want to be able to have all the material things life has to offer and have all our problems just disappear.

Everybody wishes for good life. It may be at different levels. One person may define a good life one way and another may describe it another way. For one person a good life may be just having three meals a day and a roof over their head. For another it may be having a huge mansion and a couple of million dollars in the bank.

But we want all of this easy  and quick. Especially Generation Y & Z like you. I come across many youngsters, who want to have the good life but easily. That is a normal human expectation. Nobody likes to struggle through life. Nobody wants to step out of his or her comfort Zone.

But Life is hard – your head of department, your lecturer, your teacher may not appreciate your efforts the way u see it. Or for that matter your parents too. You wont always get the marks you think you deserved.

Life is hard -  your boss will not always be the nicest person in the world. Your job will have challenges that you did not foresee. Your workmates will sometimes be a pain. You won’t always get the salary and recognition that you want and deserve at work. Your clients may not be the nicest people in the world.

Life is hard – your friends may not always be your friends and support you. You may fall in love, but not marry your love.

Life is hard -  Your wife or husband may not be as perfect as you thought they were when you married them – in fact I can guarantee you they are not. Your home may not be the ideal place you would want it to be. You may not the perfect wife or husband that you once thought you were.

Life is hard – running a business is not as easy as you thought it would be. No one is lining up to bring money to your business, even though you are a really nice person and your business has great products to offer.

That is because, you expected that things will fall in place as you planned. And when it doesn’t, you give up. Unfortunately, that is also what may be stopping you from having that great life. The thought of all that work, all that planning, overcoming hurdles and resistance is enough to make a lot of people give up before they even start. 

Even to buy a winning lottery ticket, an investment, an effort is required.

A coin has two sides – Heads and Tails. And life too is nothing but a two faced coin. On the one side are inscribed the words “I am comfortable" inscribed, and on the other is the other – Do I want to be?

Message 2 Be different

The story of the cracked pot - THE CRACKED POT: A STORY FOR ANYONE WHO'S NOT QUITE PERFECT

A waterbearer in India had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole, which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it. While the other pot was perfect, and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the mistress's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to her master's house.

The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream: "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your mistress's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in her compassion she said, "As we return to the mistress's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.

But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?

“That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them.

“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my mistress's table. Without you being just the way you are, she would not have this beauty to grace her house."

Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots.

But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. We've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them.

There's a lot of good out there.

The Story of Manjula as narrated by a school principal on whats app

Exercise - Now let me ask you to choose a fruit

WHAT DOES BEING DIFFERENT MEAN really?

Being different means:- Not being afraid to challenge the norm.- Being willing to take a chance.- Asking why.- Making your own track, not just following the well trodden path.- Charting your own course and destiny.- Being the person that you were meant to be.

I believe that everyone is born unique. But through the years we work very hard to be like everyone else. We conform to society’s so-called “common-sense." Unfortunately it is just that – “common sense." That does not mean its “good sense."

THE FOLLY OF EDUCATION.

Most people think once they have a qualification that’s it. They have arrived. Is it any wonder they don’t grow? They are stagnant. Stuck at 18! Don’t make that mistake.

Most of us won’t even read unless there’s an exam in sight. But you know what? Everyday of your life is an exam. Everyday you either pass or fail the test of life. Everyday is an opportunity to grow beyond your present barriers and circumstances. Everyday is a chance to become a better person.

The saddest part is most of people don’t realize this. If they had to be graded at the end of their lives you know what they’d get? D, D and more D’s. And yet they thought they were doing very well. They let society’s “common sense" grade them.

MY ADVICE?

If I can leave you with one piece of advice it would be this: READ

Message 3 - Small Steps

The Story of how I gave up smoking  - one day at a time

I wanted to do it, I wanted to be different, and I stepped out

"Just take it one step at a time" As I walked through that unknown and scary world one thought kept going through my mind…It was… “Just take it one step at a time. Doesn’t worry about what will happen later, just think about each step… one small step to success”… That was the idea I hang on to.

 There were also obstacles along the way. But with each small step they were overcome.

There were frustrations, fears and uncertainties. But with each small step they were crushed.

There was hardship and danger, but with each small step and focus on the desired destination it was conquered.Svvo you see, success is no mystery.

Don’t think about what can happen in a month Don’t think about what can happen in a year. Just Focus on the 24 hours in front of you  and do what u can to get closer to where u want to be  - in competition with yourself – to make your life better.

Ill repeat the messages for good measure

1.       Compete against yourself, not against others – You will always be a winner

2.       Get out of your comfort zone.

3.       Don’t be afraid to be different – chart your own course

4.       Take small steps

5.       Good Luck.