From External to Internal: The Shift That Will Change Your Life | Fathima Hayaa | TEDxYouth@AMPS
now let's warmly welcome our next speaker Fatma haa who will speak about from external to internal the shift that will change your life IG CSC that felter acronym determines our future doesn't the pressure get to you the number above 9561 100 that's the number of entries for igsc in 2024 alone yet only 18 .4% gain NES how do they do that in a world filled with endless to-do list and AI generated cat videos finding focus seems nearly impossible but what if I told you the key to success lies and shifting your attention from all of this external noise to your internal priorities you know it's funny a few months ago if you asked me to do a talk like this I would have been a mess and I'm being completely honest here overwhelmed lost and right now instead of finishing my conclusion I'll be trying to learn Kung Fu from Kung Fu Panda that's the thing we often lose sight on what's truly important but only we have the power to change that how let me share with you a personal story I was struggling to find the balance between my extracurriculars and schoolwork everyone told me you need to focus prioritize your task I was done done from hearing them I needed a break so I opened up YouTube and Bam I stumbled upon a powerful analogy that changed everything for me the Rocks Pebbles and sand imagine you have a jar you need to fill it with rocks Pebbles and sand the Rocks they're your main priorities the big stuff the stuff that truly matters the Pebbles they're your personal growth you know like learning a new language or finally figuring out how to cook something other than instant Ramen and the sand they your distractions the time wasters now let's say we're going to fill our jar with sand first and now it's time to put the rocks and O there's no room for anything else but let's switch things up let's start by putting our rocks first then our sand then our Pebbles and finally our sand and tada everything fits perfectly into place we need to start applying this analogy into our daily lives we need to identify what's our rocks what's our Pebbles and what's just sand in order to achieve internal Clarity and make decisions that align with our values we need to start prioritizing our rocks and Pebbles to stay focused on what truly matters and I'm not alone of this I've seen this work for my friends family and even teachers but it's not not always easy is it let's talk about the elephant in the room the elephant in the room is Miss I love your outfit wait sorry the elephant in the room is our distractions Accord we live in a world that's constantly designed to get us distracted according to a study by the university according to the study by the University of California intervene it takes an average of 23 minutes and 50 15 seconds for a person to get back on task after an interruption that's nearly a half an hour loss every single time we get distracted but what's the solution to all this well the solution lies in the word itself distraction the solution lies in the word itself distraction go ahead shout out the answer what do you think the opposite of the word distraction isent concentration Focus I've heard that a lot and honestly it makes sense right I've been talking about Focus this entire time but what if I tell you we've all been fooled the real opposite of distraction is traction t r a c t i o n traction so what is traction traction is where productivity meets purpose it's all about moving towards a certain goal it's the stuff that actually gets you somewhere it's those times where you're so fully absorbed into what you're doing you tend to lose track of time so constantly ask yourself how can I gain more traction right now right here well simply put you need to start setting boundaries you need to set no no to things that don't serve you and yes to things that bring you Joy and fulfillment it's about being intentional with your time make it's about being intentional with your time make goals set schedules prioritize your tasks do not let social media dictate your day instead use it as a tool to connect with others or share your ideas and finally it's about being kind to yourself remember that you're human and it's okay to make mistakes don't be so hard on yourself when you slip up and if don't be so hard on yourself if you slip up and instead learn from those mistakes and move forward AKA have traction so I want to leave with you a final thought finding your inner focus is a journey not a destination it takes time and effort but the rewards they're so well worth it I encourage you to take the first step today identify what's your rocks what's your Pebbles and what's just sand fill your jar with things that bring you Joy fulfillment and finally make you feel alive isn't it about time we start prioritizing effectively thank you [Applause]