Haritosh Srivastav shares advice his grandfather gave him in 1994: stop whining and start shining. He breaks down SHINE into five steps: Smile, Hard work, Imagination, Never give up, Excellence, using examples from Edison and the Wright brothers to show how effort and persistence work.
Please welcome our next speaker, Haritosh Srivastav. Wine or shine? Wine or shine? 1994. A small town in India. Up! Down! Up! Tom! Two young friends, Tom and Harry, were excited, elated, and exhilarated playing on the new seesaw in the community playground. But there was a problem. Tom's mother did not like Harry. She grabbed Tom by the arm and shouted, "Don't you dare to play with this useless Harry again!" He is a poor student studying in public school and doesn't even speak proper English. He won't do anything in life. Stay away from this loser. And they both left. Haritosh Srivastav felt rejected, dejected, and humiliated. I am called Test Master. Friends, have you ever felt rejected, dejected, or humiliated? Haritosh Srivastav immediately rushed to the best life coach at Teliyakunda Post. His Baba, his grandpa. Baba was a calm a calm, wise person and a man of few words. Haritosh Srivastav poured his heart out. Why, Baba? Why me? I haven't done or said anything wrong. Why was I insulted? Baba responded, don't whine. Wine is useless complaining, crying, and feeling sorry for yourself. Anytime life goes south, we wine. Boom! Weather was hot or cold. Boom! Boss gave you a piece of his mind. Boom! Toastmasters launched Pathways. Boom boom! Your spouse gave you? Let's not talk about that. Don't whine. So what should I do, Grandpa? Harry, my son, go there and make yourself shine. Remembered his Baba's word, SHINE. He made each letter mean something. Would you like to know the acronym SHINE Haritosh Srivastav made up? S, Smile. A smile makes us feel good. Did you know a A smile boosts your immunity and health, makes you look attractive, and is a leadership skill. The best part? It doesn't cost you a dime. H— Hard work. We all know nothing replaces hard work, but there is good news. Have you ever felt really pumped up After you did something hard and succeeded, the first icebreaker? The heavy weight training or the complex aggressive exhaustive Zumba. That's because studies show when you work hard and succeed, your body releases dopamine, the feel-good hormone. Which helps you stay motivated, blocks pain, and makes you smarter. So hard work itself helps you to work harder. It's just a matter of getting started. I— Imagination. Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve. Napoleon Hill. The car that we drive, The building we are in and the chair you are sitting on, all of these began with someone's imagination, and then came the hard work to make it happen. You become what you imagine. Do not let anyone stop you from imagining great things. And Never give up. Assume Thomas Edison giving up after thousands of attempts, and we may still not have the light bulb. The Wright brothers tried over and over and over before they succeeded. They didn't give up. Nor did I, practicing this speech again and again and and again. Persistence is the key to success. And that brings us to E— Excellence. Nothing more needs to be said, right? So smile, hard work, imagination, never give up, excellence, shine. Once Harry made this formula, He started applying, studied hard, graduated with an engineering degree, bagged a job in a multinational company, shining. Some more shining and he landed up here in this country of dreams. Still shining as he pursues bigger things. 25 years from that incident. Hari, Haritosh Srivastav, I stand before you, senior manager in IT company, living in America and competing in international speech contest because I chose to shine myself. My dear friends, next time when you feel rejected, dejected, or humiliated. Think of my Baba's advice: Smile, work hard, use your imagination, and never give up striving for excellence. Remember, you always have a choice: whine or shine.
