Ted Talk - How to Improve Your Self

Hi! I’m April Yvonne Abelgas.  I stand in front of you today to turn you to be the better version of yourself for the next ten minutes. Are you ready? But first I want you to look at person at your right, then to your left, in front of you and behind you.  You can describe your classmate right? Some of us known each other since grade school, high school or even the day we’ve born.  Now look at the person on your right. Now, I want you to close your eyes and reminiscence the first day you’ve met the person you’re facing right this very moment. It doesn’t matter if you just met him or her on first day of school. Just try to remember. Think and observe every little thing from him or her. From his inner or outer personality, physical, attitude… try to remember. Okay.. Now, I want you to open your eyes and look carefully to that person.  Do you observe some changes from him or her?  Do those changes show improvements? Or some developments? Development is different from improvement.  Development can be like you’re just developing something that can be positive or negative. It is an event causing change.  Somehow Improvement is a positive thing. It’s the process of making something better or of becoming better. Like when you show improvements it’s like taking a step closer to success.  If that person is showing improvements well, that’s a good thing because many of us want to improve in our ways.  We have different point of view that describes an improvement.  Well, me, myself have my own ways to improve.

LEARN.  People need to get new information to keep our brain healthy and trained.  Find a way to learn. Read books, articles, and mostly communicate with people.  Its important to always keep your brain working and eventually it’ll work out some new ideas that can improve your way of thinking because it can lead you to a successful life.  Another thing is that, in the end of the day you’ll somewhat analyze what happen the whole day.  Was this day productive? What shouldn’t I have done today? What should I improve in the next day? When you think of the good things you’ve done that day, it helps you move on doing them tomorrow, the next day, and the following day.  When you think of your mistakes, it prevents you from repeating it.  I want to share a true to life story.  A little girl lived with her grandmother for 12 years. From the day she have been born till 12 years old.  And when she graduated grade 6 her parents took her to live with them.  She’s happy to live with her parents and siblings. Not until she experience her father’s discipline. With one wrong move, her father won’t let it slide. I don’t know how to say this…. he punish her in very painful way.  Sometimes, before going to school she and her brother experience beating and end up going to school with a swollen face just because they argue for something and her father don’t want them to be like that. He doesn’t want them to fight.  Why swollen face? Well he doesn’t slap them himself, he makes them slap each other until their faces got swollen.  And sometimes she cannot sit properly because her thighs [ this part] is swollen.  She feel like she join some sorority and got hazed.  She don’t experience getting hit by a hanger, belt, slipper,… or some typical thing that parent use to discipline their child, usually their dad use PVC, electric wire or sometimes he make them hug each other outside the house for whole night, sleep outside, get chased out, and many more. She said, “Sometimes it doesn’t hurt anymore even I got bruises and wounds all over my body. All I can feel is pain here. But you know what? I didn’t hate my dad in fact I’m thankful that he is my dad.” And here the person standing in front of you is the girl from the story.  What I am today is the product of every hardship from the past. I learned from every hardships and mistakes that I’ve done.  I even learn from mistakes of other people. Every mistakes we make have consequences and in that consequences we learn.   Always remember, The worst thing that could happen might turn out to be the best thing that could happen. Its up to you if you will turn challenges into opportunities. Right? Don’t be afraid to make mistakes what you need to be afraid of is You don’t admit mistakes.

ADMIT YOUR MISTAKES.  Saying “I’m Sorry” won’t kill you.  In fact those words can start a new whole relationship.  Admit your mistakes to yourself.  Mistakes can put us in pain but remember “Without pain, there would be no suffering we would never learn from our mistakes.  To make it right , pain is the key to all windows, without it, there is no way of life.” Angelina Jolie.  

TAKE FAILURE POSITIVELY. Take time to listen to this.  Many people give up on their dreams because it gets too hard.  A lot of students stops chasing their dreams because of one failed test. Many students don’t even try their best because in their mind they already failed the test.  They stop believing themselves and once the belief is killed there is no more dream. It doesn’t matter how many times you fail a test.  Remember that “Failure is not an end to success, it is a part of success.” Life itself is a never ending test.  Sometimes you will fail but failing is not a sign to give up. It’s a sign to keep fighting and get through to every problem. I myself think that I am a failure before. When I was in high school, I almost got a failing subjects due to absences and low grades.  I lose confidence and see myself as an idiot who can’t even pass the exam on mathematics. Then I realize, “Why they can do it, but I can’t?” Then I start to seek for motivations and try to study harder.  And that time I am very happy because I did it! Even though I cant be like them who get line of 9 on their report card, I know I got better from before.  There’s a time that darkness will surround us and that darkness will make us shine because light cannot be seen without darkness. And when the darkness came you should shine brightly.  And when you do that,  YOU BELIEVED IN YOURSELF. You need to believe in the possibilities, You’ve got to believe that tomorrow can be better.  There isn’t a skill that you can’t learn, there isn’t a discipline that you can’t try, there isn’t a subject that you can’t pass, there isn’t a book you can’t read. Just set Goals, start the process and have courage to do it.  As we reach for our goals, WE NEED TO USE OUR TIME WISELY. We only have 86400 seconds a day and most people take this time for granted.  Most people let this time pass by just sitting in their sofa, puffing cigarettes, playing video games and other things without even thinking their future.  We must use the time wisely. We must use our time to set up our life, so we can spend our future doing the things we want to do.  There are some people that always hang out with their friends even there is something that should be taken off first.   You should be thankful because your parents are giving you allowance when some students works really hard at night or in their vacant because they need money for school that their parents cannot give to them.  The sad part is, some of those students who got money from their parents just use it for nonsense things.  Instead of wasting your time for meaningless things, use it to learn new things.  You show me your friends, I’ll show you your future. Know what this means? It means that the people who you let to influence you really matters.  And if the people around you is bad influence well, I’m saying this to you… You are wasting your time to be a better person. You are wasting your time trying to be a person you want to be because you will never be with those people around you.  You must choose wisely!

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