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ENGLISH SPEECH | PRIYANKA CHOPRA: Be Fearless (English Subtitles) - YouTube
Channel: English Speeches
[13]
Thank you.
[14]
Thank you.
[15]
So, my father used to always tell me something
which I want to share with you, that why do
[22]
you want to fit inside a glass slipper?
[25]
You know, like we were told, like Cinderella
did, why do you want to fit inside a glass
[30]
slipper when you can shatter the glass ceiling?
[34]
I want to tell you a little secret.
[36]
I'm not very fond of this phrase, breaking
the glass ceiling.
[41]
Why does it annoy me?
[43]
Because it takes the context of everything
that I have done.
[46]
All my achievements, all my hard work and
puts it into a box as if my ambition was that
[53]
I want to find a glass ceiling and break it.
[55]
Not at all.
[57]
To be really honest, I was never on a mission
to break, to shatter anything.
[62]
All I wanted was to chase my dreams, my ambitions.
[67]
I wanted to evolve.
[69]
I wanted to become the best version of me,
that I could be.
[74]
And of course, in Priyanka Chopra style, along
the way, I wanted to smash and break every
[77]
obstacle that came my way, which I did.
[81]
But that does not mean that the glass ceiling
doesn't exist.
[84]
Of course, it exists.
[86]
And countless of women and men, mostly women
run into it in their professional and personal
[92]
lives.
[93]
And I'm sure a lot of you can vouch for that
right now.
[97]
The Oxford dictionary definition of the glass
ceiling is an unacknowledged barrier to advancement
[105]
in a profession, especially affecting women
and members of minorities from rising beyond
[112]
a certain level in a hierarchy.
[115]
And this metaphor was first coined by feminists
in reference to barriers in the careers of
[120]
high achieving women.
[123]
So, why did I choose it as my topic for today
if I hated it so much?
[129]
Because I hope through my experiences, I can
present to you the tools to live your dream
[136]
and to not make that glass ceiling that is
defined by society, largely patriarchal, as
[143]
your goal.
[145]
I want you to aim higher, because you know
you can, and it's honestly all I did.
[152]
Every step of the way, all I did was set a
higher standard.
[156]
How did I get here?
[158]
By being fierce, by being fearless, and by
being flawed, completely and utterly flawed.
[168]
I'm not perfect.
[170]
Like, none of us are.
[171]
So, tonight I'm going to try and break it
down for you a little bit in a slightly different
[175]
way.
[176]
I present the twelve sure shot, sure fireways
of becoming Priyanka Chopra.
[182]
Would you like that?
[183]
Sorry, I was just kidding.
[187]
Because as millennials, we don't like to be
told what to do.
[190]
So, this is a gentle nudge in the right direction.
[194]
Presenting PCs twelve rules of becoming the
best version of yourself.
[199]
So, here are a few of my favorites from my
list.
[202]
There's only one you, okay, because there's
no one like you.
[207]
And I don't mean the superfluous, superficial
parts.
[211]
I'm talking about the core of you, who you
are inside.
[213]
Your values, your beliefs, your flaws.
[216]
And once you understand who really that person
is, you would have taken the first step in
[223]
finding your unique self.
[225]
And that is the best version of you.
[226]
Who am I really?
[228]
Most often, we don't allow ourselves the ability
to dream beyond our imagination.
[233]
We don't allow ourselves to think about the
future because we are afraid of change.
[237]
We are afraid to move away from what is familiar.
[240]
Either that, or sometimes, you know, we are
too rigid to let our dreams evolve.
[245]
Loosen up, you know, shake it off a little
bit.
[250]
Change is the only constant thing in life,
and you are never too old or never too experienced
[255]
to learn something new.
[258]
Believe that you have everything already as
your Brahmāstra in your will, to be able
[263]
to be and achieve your dreams.
[266]
Be fearless.
[267]
I know I wanted to become an aeronautical
engineer.
[270]
What am I today?
[272]
I'm an actor.
[273]
I'm a singer.
[274]
I'm an author.
[276]
I'm a producer.
[277]
I'm an artist.
[278]
How did I go from becoming an engineer to
all of these things?
[280]
I made choices, the choices that I wanted
for myself.
[284]
So, that is my rule number two, let your dreams
fly.
[290]
Give them wings, be who you want to be just
by being fearless.
[296]
Now, opportunities, that's another important
part of being fearless.
[300]
They are very funny thing, these opportunities,
they don't come very often.
[304]
They come far and few in between.
[307]
But when they do, do we recognize them?
[310]
Our job is to recognize them and make the
most of them.
[314]
I look back on all the things that I've done,
and I marvel at the opportunities that came
[318]
my way.
[320]
Miss India, Miss World.
[322]
When I was in Bareli in army school, my first
film offer, my first music single, the first
[329]
film I actually produced, there was never
a plan ever, more like the universe sort of
[336]
guiding me towards these opportunities.
[338]
All I had to do was recognize them and make
sure I worked so hard that I squeezed every
[344]
drop out of these opportunities.
[346]
This, ladies and gentlemen is called drive.
[349]
It's called ambition.
[350]
So, no matter where you are in life, rule
number three is you have never arrived enough
[356]
to explore new opportunities.
[360]
And there's nothing wrong with being ambitious.
[362]
Ladies, listen to me.
[370]
Now for all of you guys who like everything
in life, I don't think there's anything wrong
[375]
with wanting to have the whole cake and eat
it too, nothing wrong.
[380]
I want everything, I want everything.
[383]
And there's nothing wrong with that.
[385]
As long as you're not harming someone or doing
something wrong, don't be scared to want more
[390]
for yourself than you ever thought you could.
[393]
I'll give you a small example.
[396]
A few years ago, I was shooting a film called
Don 2, you have heard of that, right?
[403]
So, it was chosen to be shown at the Berlin
Film Festival, Berlinale and my entire team
[408]
was flying for the premiere.
[410]
And it was very exciting time.
[411]
But at the same time, I was invited for the
first time to attend the Grammy Awards in
[416]
LA.
[417]
So, now when I was doing music, it was this
big choice, both the events were literally
[423]
taking place one day apart in completely different
time zones, Berlin and LA.
[428]
My team and everyone around me told me, no,
it can never happen.
[432]
You have to choose what is your priority?
[434]
And you know what I did, I made some insane
connections, Mumbai to London, London to Berlin,
[441]
Berlin to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to LA, LA to
Mumbai in three days.
[445]
And I made it happen.
[451]
I went to both events and I looked great at
both events.
[455]
Even though I hadn't slept, it took a little
bit of extra makeup, but I was fine.
[460]
And that's not the only time I've done it.
[462]
I've done it so many times over and over again.
[464]
Why?
[465]
Because I don't want anyone to tell me I can't
have everything.
[469]
I want to dream of everything, and I'll have
everything.
[472]
So, rule number four, be greedy.
[475]
Be greedy for your ambitions.
[477]
Be hungry for it.
[480]
Don't live on someone else's benchmarks.
[483]
We are told so many times in our life: ‘No
girl should do this, or you are elder boy
[489]
in house, your responsibility is this, this
is who you should be.’
[494]
Who can tell you who you should be?
[497]
Don't let anyone or any situation dictate
to you who you are and who you can be.
[502]
I know it's very much easier said than done.
[504]
I know that because I've done it but fight
for your dreams because no one else is going
[509]
to fight for your dreams, except you.
[512]
I've turned down so many roles, opportunities
because they did not fit into what I thought
[517]
at that time was the right thing for me.
[520]
So, today my path is just my own.
[523]
It belongs to no one.
[525]
My failures, my successes, all of it, mine,
my journey, all of it is mine.
[529]
So, rule number five, do not compromise.
[534]
Do not settle on your dreams.
[538]
Now who likes to fail?
[539]
What, what, at least 15 people raised their
hands, I'm really confused with this audience
[547]
right now.
[549]
And you like to fail, well I'm not talking
to you guys then.
[552]
I'm talking to those guys who hate to fail
because I hate to fail.
[557]
It's really as simple as that, it takes tubs
and tubs of ice cream, lots of tissues, lots
[562]
of tears, lots of dramebazi, my mother, my
best friends, my family, everybody making
[567]
me feel better about it.
[569]
But the one thing that is as certain as night
and day, ladies and gentlemen, is that you
[574]
will fail.
[577]
It's just how it is.
[579]
And there's nothing that you can do to stop
that.
[584]
It's what you do after that will define where
you go.
[589]
When something I've invested...
[591]
Thank you, thank you.
[597]
When something I've invested in my heart and
my soul, which I do with everything that I
[601]
actually put my mind to, if that fails, I
don't just wallow in self-pity.
[609]
I roll myself in it.
[610]
I roll around in it.
[612]
I wrap myself in it, head to toe, self-pity,
self-pity, self-pity, it's not a pretty sight,
[618]
I can tell you that.
[620]
My mother who's sitting right here has witnessed
it many times.
[623]
But then I get up, cry a little, dust myself
off and dive straight back into life.
[630]
Because the only way to push failure aside
is to move ahead, not ignore it, analyze it
[639]
and learn from it.
[640]
Always remember, you will never truly enjoy
success until you have tasted failure.
[647]
And trust me when I tell you, it tastes like
shit, really does.
[652]
So, rule number six, fail, fail, fail again,
and then rise like a Phoenix.
[658]
Now what is life without a little bit of a
risk, right?
[661]
No, I'm not an adrenaline junkie.
[663]
I'm not telling you to go off roller coasters
or anything.
[666]
I've always believed that you have to take
risks, calculated, educated risks to evolve.
[673]
Because if you've not truly explored the full
extent of your possibilities, you'll always
[677]
remain stagnant.
[680]
People have written me off several times in
my career.
[684]
Sometimes they didn't agree with my choices.
[686]
When I played a negative character in my film
Aitraaz, very early in my career, I was told
[691]
I'll be a vamp and no one will cast me as
a heroine.
[694]
When I took on a female centric film called
Fashion, again, very early on in my career,
[701]
I was told that was not norm.
[703]
When I signed a US TV show at the height of
my film career in India, each time the risks
[710]
were huge, the stakes were high and the repercussions
could have been, to say not the least, career
[718]
ending.
[719]
Thank God they weren't and I'm still standing
in front of you.
[722]
I really appreciate God.
[724]
I don't know what will happen going forward.
[726]
But as of now, I can say that my risks and
the gamble was worth it.
[731]
You know why?
[733]
Because I backed up those risks with my hundred
percent.
[737]
So, rule number seven, be bold and take these
risks.
[743]
Now, friends, family, the people you work
with, the people around us are our greatest
[751]
influences in your journey to success.
[754]
So, you have to choose very wisely.
[756]
Rule number eight, surround yourself with
the right people, who do not stab you in the
[762]
back.
[764]
Now who's into Social Media.
[766]
Who's on social media.
[767]
Raise your hands.
[769]
Yeah, we like it.
[770]
I like it.
[771]
We can raise our hands.
[773]
Alright, it's almost everyone.
[774]
Now keep your hands raised if you have ever
been upset by like a bad comment that you
[779]
may have read on a photograph or like on Facebook
or when you have posted something.
[784]
And sometimes, you know, you are just like,
why do people have to be mean?
[787]
Yeah.
[788]
So, there's a lot of you, right.
[790]
Guys, please let me just tell you this.
[793]
No matter what you do, someone will always
be unhappy.
[803]
Always.
[805]
Especially in this age of social media, it's
so easy for us to be confused between the
[809]
voices that actually matter, and the opinions
of faceless people writing behind the anonymity
[816]
of what the web offers.
[818]
They don't matter.
[820]
So, rule number nine, you can never please
everyone all the time.
[828]
And the biggest favour that you will all do
to yourselves will be to laugh, at yourself,
[836]
at situations.
[838]
Find a moment to appreciate every single day,
this funny thing called life.
[844]
And that's my most important rule number ten,
don't take yourself too seriously.
[849]
We're not making rockets.
[850]
Alright, calm down, have fun.
[853]
And just enjoy this beautiful journey that
we've been put on.
[857]
I do that.
[861]
In the meanwhile, hi.
[862]
I am here, not going anywhere, two rules are
still left.
[868]
It's really not that hard in my experience
to be kind, to be compassionate, to be human.
[878]
You will never know someone else's full story.
[881]
So, don't be quick to judge.
[883]
My mother who's here tonight with the rest
of my family, this entire front row is very
[888]
Chopra and Akhori right now.
[894]
She taught me when I was very, very young,
that there is always someone who will be less
[899]
fortunate than you, always.
[903]
So, give back wherever you can.
[908]
There's a huge reason I started my foundation,
I lend my voice to UNICEF, Girl Up and causes
[915]
that I'm associated with, because we have
one world and it's ours and we need to heal
[922]
it.
[923]
And that starts with us.
[926]
So, that is my rule number eleven, give back.
[934]
And finally, the most important one, always
remember where you came from.
[940]
It's truly what defines you.
[941]
So, I'm a proud Indian and army's daughter.
[947]
Daughter of two doctors with a middle-class
upbringing and ginormous families, who I love
[956]
on both sides.
[959]
We've seen good times; we've seen bad times.
[961]
We've seen hardships, we've seen pain, laughter,
sadness, but that is what has made me who
[967]
I am.
[968]
And I wear that with pride every day and everywhere
that I go.
[971]
So, last and definitely not the least, rule
number twelve, don't ever forget your roots
[976]
and where you came from.
[983]
I hope you take some of what I have shared
with you today and go into the new year with
[988]
maybe a different perspective on life and
start 2018 with being fierce, fearless, and
[996]
flawed.
[997]
Yeah, that's it.
[998]
That's it.
[1001]
I read this somewhere and it kind of stuck
with me and I hope it will stick with you.
[1005]
Life's journey is not to arrive at your grave
site safely, in a well-preserved body, but
[1012]
rather to skid in sideways, completely worn
out and say, holy shit, that was a ride.
[1018]
That is how I want to go.
[1022]
So, to sum up this incredible journey that
I have been on, I stand before you today,
[1029]
weathered by life, but happy and raring to
do so much more.
[1035]
I'll see you on the other side.
[1037]
Namaste.
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