BEYOND THE BELL | Jonia Mathew | TEDxSJS Abu Dhabi Youth

Key Concepts:

• Entrepreneurship
• Extracurricular activities ("Beyond the Bell")
• Hard work and persistence
• Identifying talents and gifts
• Learning from failures
• Strategic planning
• Self-confidence
• Leadership

1. Introduction and Background

• John Matthew, founder of Red Dot Events and Exhibitions in Abu Dhabi (established 10 years prior and recently sold) and Style Diva networking group, introduces herself.
• She was a board member of Abu Dhabi Indian School for four years and president of a ladies association for another four years.
• The talk focuses on the "secret to being an entrepreneur" in relation to the theme "beyond the bell," which refers to activities outside the prescribed syllabus.

2. Early Life and Extracurricular Activities

• Raised in Mumbai in a family of four girls, with a strong emphasis on academics and extracurricular activities.
• Enrolled in traditional dance class in grade four but didn't enjoy it.
• Switched to taekwondo after being captivated by a class, despite initial reservations from her mother.

3. Overcoming Failure and Achieving Success in Taekwondo

• Experienced a humiliating defeat in her first taekwondo tournament, leading her mother to want her to quit.
• Despite physical pain and pressure to quit, she persisted due to her inner drive.
• Six years later, she won a gold medal at the All India National level for taekwondo.
• Success was attributed to "tremendous hard work," including rigorous training involving thousands of kicks, hundreds of push-ups, and 14-kilometer barefoot runs.
• She woke up at 5:00 a.m. to exercise and run before school, then attended special training, leaving her exhausted.

4. Lessons Learned from Taekwondo

• Achievability: Anything is achievable with patience, persistence, and hard work.
• Talent Identification: It's easier to achieve goals when leveraging natural talents and gifts.

5. Broad Range of Extracurricular Involvement

• Participated in harmonium, casio, guitar, singing, art, basketball, cocoa, table tennis, poetry recitations, storytelling, and essay writing.
• Accumulated numerous certificates by the end of college, which aided in curating events in Abu Dhabi.

6. College Election Failure and Subsequent Success

• Lost a college election miserably, receiving only two votes (her own and a friend's).
• The loss was humiliating and damaging to her self-confidence.
• Initially decided not to contest any future elections.
• Later, had to stand for elections at her workplace.
• Her husband advised her to treat the college experience as a training ground, strategize based on past mistakes, and plan for success.
• She followed this advice, contested five times, and won all five times.

7. Business Ventures: Failure and Learning

• Before Red Dot Events, she had a company called Classico Events with three partners.
• Classico Events closed within a year due to partners relocating.
• The experience provided valuable lessons on running a company and facing business challenges.

8. Key Arguments and Perspectives

• Embrace Failure: Don't reject or be disappointed by failure; use it as training.
• Persistence and Courage: Be persistent and courageous in pursuing goals.
• Embrace Uniqueness: It's okay to be different; different people often become leaders.
• Understand Your Calling: Identify and pursue your true calling.

9. Notable Quotes

• (Teacher about John in dance class) "Oh, she's sleeping at the corner."
• (John's husband) "Your college was your training ground to prepare you for something fabulous in future. Write down all the things that you did not do on that day. Strategize, plan, and you will win."

10. Synthesis/Conclusion

The speaker emphasizes the importance of embracing extracurricular activities ("beyond the bell") to develop skills and resilience. She highlights the value of hard work, persistence, and learning from failures. Identifying and leveraging one's talents, strategic planning, and embracing uniqueness are also crucial for success in entrepreneurship and other endeavors. The journey involves overcoming setbacks and using them as stepping stones toward achieving goals.