The Key to Unlock your Full Potential | Nadia Damaso | TEDxHSG

what is it that makes your eyes sparkle what is it that puts a smile on your face and what would you do if you could do anything anything you wanted I was always a little bit different always wanting to do things the other way around with my thoughts I was anywhere else where I was supposed to be you know living in my own world my own reality where trees were made of water and flowers made of bubblegum I was usually the one asking weird questions at school like do you believe in a lottery game or why does one plus one equal to and not 574 or in the middle of math class I would ask a teacher what's your favorite vegetable and because of that a lot of times I felt like I wasn't really taken seriously not I didn't feel understood because to me it made sense but I always embraced who I was and I never wanted to let anything come into the way of that I knew that as long as I keep trusting myself and stay true to myself I'll be able to do exactly what I love with all my heart and soul so hello everybody my name is Nadia and I've been passionate about life and smiling and everything that has to do with food and the kitchen since 1995 yep so let's throwback to twelve years ago when it was about ten years old I found my love and passion for cooking through a simple prepackaged box of brownies you know the ones where you only have to add butter eggs milk whisk it up bacon and done so I tried to make them according to the recipe on the back but I didn't like them so I tried again but nope still did not like them with all the pocket money I left I got myself a third package and I came home and I simply added whatever I felt like you know like roasted nuts round almond cinnamon vanilla drizzle some honey on top and they turn out and that taught me that there's always a way just find your own and make it unique and ever since that day I never use a recipe again the kitchen became my place of freedom a place where I was able to let my imagination run wild a place with no limitations and rules a place where I was able to express my creativity and my emotions out of the box out of the brownie box I would lock myself into the kitchen for hours and hours and cook for kurz menus for my family but to me was never just about creating an experience for the tastebuds it was always about creating this experience for all senses about letting my family have a seat in my world so write down the menu on a big piece of paper hang it up on the wall I would light up candles and play music in the background and I would serve the food as if it was my painting and what brought me even more joy was to see the happy smiles on my family's faces the joy the love the connection I loved every minute of it and I never forgot to say I cook you clean thanks mom let's just say we had a lot of explosions in our kitchen but good thing a lot of them were taste explosions so up until this point in my life I learned two very important messages lessons messages whatever you want to call them so first do things that are hard for as long until they become easy and turn your fears and your weaknesses into your biggest strengths so the feeling that I felt when I was younger that I wasn't taken seriously enough could have make me feel very unwell and insecure which it did to certain points but I decided to use it for my own good and turn it into positive energy because positive energy is the only thing that can uplift negative energy in every aspect of life and then use it as motivation to prove to people that you can be different and that you can do your own thing number two was you can do anything anything you want and be good at it and no degree can change anything about it as long as you're passionate about it as long as you have to trust the motivation the dedication and the focus to really do it that's all you need that's all you need but you got to give it a hundred percent and not just ninety-nine point nine because that's a huge difference so dedication trust motivation work hard boom you got it all but a hundred percent by the age of 16 I moved to Canada for six months I was still cooking a lot you know always wanting to create this human connection around food but um I also came back home with about ten kilos more in my hips and I wasn't moving my body as much I used to as I grew up very active as a as a child and I was probably focusing my diet a lot of it too much on eating muffins and cheese cakes and toast with peanut butter a lot of peanut butter you know when he could can put a little bit of butter or a lot of butter on your toast I was opting for that one and I didn't even realize at first that I had gained weight but you know coming back home to Switzerland settling back into the normal life at one point I simply didn't feel comfortable in my skin anymore and I didn't like that I didn't like how that limited my way of living my freedom so I decided to change something about it not for anybody else to sake but for my own and my focus was always on I want to feel good and comfortable in my own skin again it was never on I want to weigh this much or that much I want to be this size or that size and I never really wanted to gonna died because they usually have to do with restrictions and rules and they only work sure to him and they're not fun like come on did every anyone ever tell you hey I'm on a diet and it's so much fun no right so I wanted to find out for myself what works for me and make my own experience and change something that on the long-term that is fun that I can enjoy so with a lot of dedication and effort and motivation I decided to start working out again and I changed my eating habits and holy smokes I was getting so excited because very quickly I did not only feel better physically but also mentally and emotionally and the more conscious I became of the choices I made the more I started to appreciate myself but not just myself everyone and everything everyone and everything around me so much more and I realized that it's a huge huge privilege to even have the choice of what you want to eat and what not so why not make the best best choice for yourself and what had started from replacing white sugar with honey had then turned into a lifestyle a lifestyle that is filled with joy and love and deliciousness a lifestyle that is is is about a balance between your body mind and soul whether in your guard oh of your daily life your your diet your fitness your mindset because it's not about how you look it's about how you feel and if you feel good in here boom you're gonna radiate that to the outside like a shining star and of course I have the urge to share that with people to share with people that in order to feel good in your own skin it has nothing to do with restrictions and rules and cheat days it's about living feeling and eating better and not less the healthy food can be so delicious and fun and easy it's not complicated it can ease be easy and simple so in order to share that with people I decided to bring in another one of my big passions which is photography and I remember very well the first photo I took of one of my breakfast creations I was just so amazed by how you can really capture the emotions of food just as much as you can capture them of people so I started sharing my photos and recipes every single day on social media and I got a lot of engagement quickly and of course all the comments in like that like stay got me motivated to keep going but after a few months I was like hah something seems to be missing something very fundamental I just didn't fulfill me you know something that I can share with people one-to-one and not just over screen something that I can show my kids one day and something that is unique and irreplaceable and that brings me to my next topic do or create something that is unique or irreplaceable and I think the only way to do that is to authentically and unapologetically be yourself because nothing nothing nothing and no one in the world can replace that there's only one you we're all superhumans with our own superpowers I see a spider-man there a Wonder Woman down here yeah you we're all super humans but it's up to us whether we use our superpowers or not but the more you are in your power the more you start to trust and believe in yourself and the more you trust them leaving yourself the less you compare yourself to others because comparing yourself to others is like massaging your soul with toxic and it's not comfortable so built up a strong relationship with yourself take that time invest that time and no time is never an excuse it's always a choice my choice to create something that is 100% me was to create my own book my own cookbook I was 19 back then and I did not really have any intentions behind it other than wanting to put it as much love and passion and emotions into it hoping that that would be the first thing to burst out of the burst out of the book as soon one opens a book and of course and hope to inspire people to become their very own artist in the kitchen and to give them the chance to feel better in their own skin so besides acting school which is what I did after high school you know putting myself into different characters there I was working on my book non-stop day and night putting myself putting myself into my own character so from you know coming up with over 100 new recipes from writing to the text to to pretty much everything or teaching myself everything like lay adding editing taking photos whatever everything on the way that I needed to do the book exactly the way I want it I created the book within four months and right after it was released pretty much like a week later it became a number one bestseller to my own surprise I have to say but yeah things been kind of crazy ever since then so I quit Phil acting school I founded my own company and I turned my passion into my everyday life so to do what you love might take a lot of courage and you might have to sacrifice one thing for another but if you do what you love if your passion is your everything it won't feel like a job or work it will just feel like you're living and I don't think you need a day off of living I hope you don't so please please do everything you possibly can everything you possibly can to do what you love and why because you don't deserve anything less you don't deserve any as no one does you know people might think I was lucky that I was at the right place and the right time and maybe I was but never judge something where you don't see behind the scenes it can take a long time to become an overnight success and it took me 10 years to get there you know so going pretty much non-stop over the past three years going from one thing to another sometimes feeling like I was everywhere but no we're really having moments where I was doubting myself and questioning what I was doing I just need it to take a step back and reflect which I find so important to always remind yourself to reflect and I implemented two very important things into my life that I now consider with every decision that I make to help me to stay true to myself and I hope they can be helpful for you too so number one always always always put quality above quantity we're bombarded with information and opinions and opportunities from all directions it seems like we want to do everything but not miss out on anything and we tend to give up quickly because it just didn't work out or because the next best thing is already around the corner but if you want to stay true to your self-worth only ever do things that allow you to be and express you for who you are and then do whatever it is that you do with as much love and passion and do it in your best and most honest and real and authentic way possible because then you'll be able to touch people and make an impact and it doesn't matter whether it's on a big scale or whether you're simply touched a single person because if it's real honest and raw and authentic that's all that matters so the more quality the more value you give to yourself the more value you can get to the others for me putting quality above quantity has always paid off especially if you think long term if you want to built up I don't know a business a brand a relationship over the long term putting quality above quantity will always be worth it and number two always ask yourself why do I do what I do the simple question why do I do what I do or what and who does it serve can give you so much clarity about yourself the thing I love so much about food and cooking is that you can't just hear it see it smell it or touch it those are just the tools to express it with what I really love about it is what I can transmit through it the purpose behind it which is to make people feel people might forget who you are what you did how much money you had all this status stuff you know they might forget that but people are never gonna forget how you made them feel and you can only make people feel if it comes from your heart and what comes from your heart is most likely linked to your why to your purpose so in order to find your why the purpose behind what it is that you do it's so so important to be fully fully fully and 100% honest with yourself ask yourself over and over again why do I do what I do why do I do I do what I do and maybe there's a second why hidden beneath the first why and a third why hidden beneath the second why just ask yourself for so long until you can say yep that's why I do it that is my honest truth the last thing you need is validation from outside or from anyone else the only validation you need is the one from yourself and if you ever have times when you feel like huh everything's just going completely the wrong way and you feel stuck and lost this might help you because it helps me we are nature and nature is always perfectly aligned with the universe but a flower doesn't bloom all year so don't expect yourself to do so either but in order to keep it alive you have to nurture the soil with love and care and respect no matter what season that's going through so that it can start grow and bloom again so if you ever have a hard time just think of yourself as a flower let me ask you again what would you do if you could do anything anything you wanted in the world and why what is it that puts a big big smile on your face and what is it that really makes your eyes sparkle we all have it within us that sparkle each and every one some might have to dig a little bit deeper than the others to find it but we all have it is right there don't base your reality on what you were taught to believe is right or wrong good or bad plaque or white and don't let anyone tell you what you should do and what you shouldn't do make up your own mind and don't see the structures of our society as limits but see them as chances to break through because it's in the unknown where the potential of our growth lies don't hold back and think out of the box out of the brownie box because the biggest risk you can take is not taking a risk at all so fight for it for it be you and do you I always had this trust inside of me and it guided me through my whole life by not following the norm by not letting my imagination and creativity be limited by anyone or anything by having the most amazing parents are yes ever that always supported me I was able to follow my passions and only through following my passions I was able to find my purpose behind it which is to spread as much joy and love and happiness as possible and I just want to make people happy I'm sorry I'm getting emotional but to make me ha ha let's make people happy with what makes me happy honestly you can see it like that's what fills my heart so my purpose has turned into a vision and I'll do everything everything I possibly can I'll give a hundred percent and not just 99.9% to turn that vision bring it into action and I can only do that through expressing whatever it is as passionately as I can and that to me is the key to unlock the door to live up to my full potential so trust yourself find that sparkle light it up make sure to keep it alive and inspire everybody else to do just the same thank you [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 45,217

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Life, Goal-setting, Self improvement

Id: dusSOVwq-Lg

Length: 21min 36sec (1296 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 22 2019