The Secret to a Life Transformation: IIM Grad at TEDx

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop”, now this was phrased by an eminent Chinese who went by the name of Confucius. Now, most know about him but those who don’t then I’d just say that he was a famous Chinese philosopher best known for his teachings that are relevant till date. His name has outlasted his life by thousands of years, making him immortal. Pretty impressive, isn’t it? That’s what everyone seeks, immortality.

But, usually people who have faced some setback or hardship realize the value of life. And only then, do they aspire to be immortals like Confucius. I am no different. During my TEDX event at National Institute of Technology, Rourkela (NIT-R), I had the privilege to share a part of my life with students. When I was in Grade 2, my art professor started to see a spark in me to be different. I had grown fond of arts and had received an award from Camlin. Mr. Dhyani (my sir) had promised to take me to Bal Bhawan if I managed to get the award. And as fate would have had it, he took me there and while returning he met with a fatal accident. The next day it was announced in the morning assembly that he was no more and my friends were looking at me. I remember not reacting to the news and went back to my classroom as if nothing happened. I didn’t take part in that year’s art competition and after 8 months or so, one fine day after returning home from school, I saw the very first drawing which I made in Grade 2 and broke down. It had finally sunk in, that my mentor wasn’t coming back. It was a day of bitter realization for me that things had changed. That day transformed something in me. I realized that I need to live by the promise that I made to him which was to always strive to be better.

Now, that realization is pretty big for a child of 7 years. And till date, I revisit that incident to draw strength from it and to keep myself on track. But, how did this transform me?

The Transformation that Changed it ALL:

You know the time period when I lost him marked an evolution of sorts. With no mentor around me, I was figuring out how to come to terms of his passing. But that was a time when I looked around for inspiration. My classmates were uber competitive in academics. On the other hand I was interested in arts and used to feature in the top 10 in class. At the end of the year, I featured in top 5 and a year later, I made myself visible on the Annual Prize Distribution podium. This got translated to securing seats and merit scholar mentions at prestigious colleges like BVCOE, New Delhi and Indian Institute of Management.

The same approach lies with life. When you feel that you are too tired out or too exhausted to go any further, that is the time when you need to double your efforts to make a mark. It is only the tough times that make you. I have followed the same approach to persistently chase after what I seek and work towards it, taking one step at a time. It is no rocket science, trust me.

The process that I use for deriving motivation is as simple as leveraging upon the opportunity given to you and making it work in your favor. Repeat. That’s it.

During my stints at some leading global and Indian firms like:

I have consciously worked towards developing my own skill sets, something critical to expanding one’s roles and venturing into allied areas of interest. No matter how daunting your KRAs are or how difficult life gets on certain days, the key to growth is to face it and go beyond what intimidates you. That’s exactly how one grows, when faced with a challenge which seems ‘impossible’. In my TEDx salon event interaction at NIT-Rourkela, I spoke about finding motivation even in the face of adversity or making difficult life choices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzH5ugFsi3A&feature=youtu.be

Now landing on TEDx was in itself pretty intimidating for an otherwise introvert person like me. I was never someone who would raise his hand to be a part of a recitation or declamation competition. The only formal exposure that I had was to present case solutions during my tenure as an IIM student. Now, that’s a part and parcel of the typical B school life. If you need better grades, fight it out. And I went ahead and gave it my best. I remember when I was enroute NIT-R for the talk, I was getting goosebumps to stand in front of an audience and share my journey. I had never done that before but as my name was announced, I forgot everything else and charged ahead. That for you my friend, is a live example in itself. Never be afraid to try something new just because you feel how others would perceive you to be, ever let the ‘what if’ bug pop up your in your mind and if it does then spray the confidence potion on it with the words,

“I will DO this, no matter what!”.

Belief is what shapes you. So give it your best always.