The speaker, Aisha Willemoria, shares her inspiring journey from a sickly child without direction to a determined athlete and influencer. She highlights how sports introduced purpose to her life and helped her overcome obstacles. A defining moment occurred in sixth grade when she resolved never to lose a race again after being disqualified. Her perseverance led her to wear India's colors and eventually participate in the World Master Athletics.

Aisha discusses the challenges and commitments she faced, such as balancing multiple jobs while training rigorously to pursue her Olympic dream. Despite hardships, her unwavering goal of reaching the Olympics, along with support from her parents, was her driving force. She emphasizes the importance of resilience and never giving up, even when things become difficult, a lesson she learned through personal experience.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. resilience [rɪˈzɪliəns] - (noun) - The ability to recover quickly from difficulties or setbacks. - Synonyms: (toughness, perseverance, adaptability)

Today's generation has kind of lost that resilience that when they fail, they completely give up.

2. perseverance [ˌpɜːrsəˈvɪrəns] - (noun) - Continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. - Synonyms: (persistence, tenacity, determination)

It's the perseverance, determination, hard work, balance in life and the resilience that has helped me.

3. dedication [ˌdɛdəˈkeɪʃən] - (noun) - The quality of being committed to a task or purpose. - Synonyms: (commitment, devotion, loyalty)

The struggle, the hard work, the discipline, the dedication and the desire, the willpower, you know all these really big words that I can use now, which actually I had no idea of when I was young.

4. tunnel vision [ˈtʌnl ˈvɪʒən] - (noun) - A focus on a single goal or task to the exclusion of everything else. - Synonyms: (focus, concentration, single-mindedness)

I have to be at the Olympics, that's my one single goal. And I'm going to have a tunnel vision.

5. ecosystem [ˈiːkəʊˌsɪstəm] - (noun) - A complex network or interconnected system. - Synonyms: (network, framework, system)

I knew how to build an ecosystem of sports for these young girls.

6. determination [dɪˌtɜːrmɪˈneɪʃən] - (noun) - Firmness of purpose; resoluteness. - Synonyms: (resolve, decisiveness, steadfastness)

This is what determination means. And this is what it looks like when you never give up.

7. exhilarating [ɪɡˈzɪləreɪtɪŋ] - (adjective) - Making one feel very happy, animated, or elated. - Synonyms: (thrilling, exciting, invigorating)

Because running is such a great... Like, I'm sure everybody runs here, right? It's one of the most exhilarating activities that you can do.

8. downfalls [ˈdaʊnˌfɔːlz] - (noun) - A loss of power, prosperity, or status. - Synonyms: (failures, setbacks, defeats)

While playing sport was great, winning was great, but those weren't paying the bills... I had more downfalls than wins.

9. overcome [ˌoʊvərˈkʌm] - (verb) - To succeed in dealing with a problem or difficulty. - Synonyms: (conquer, defeat, master)

She highlights how sports introduced purpose to her life and helped her overcome obstacles.

10. channel [ˈtʃænəl] - (verb) - To direct toward a particular purpose or end. - Synonyms: (direct, focus, guide)

Running can channel so many emotions through your body, your mind.

A Resilient Athlete's Mindset - Ayesha Billimoria - TEDxBDSIS

Good evening, everyone. Okay, we're going to make this a little light. I know you've been through a lot of speeches today, so we're just going to kind of lighten the mood up. You see a picture here? That's baby Aisha. She didn't know what she wanted to do in life. And here's a picture of adult Aisha. She knows exactly what she wants to do in life and she knows exactly where she wants to go.

My journey started very, very young. I don't think I had any plan as a young kid who was sick, always falling ill, always weak, very, very attached to her parents. Everybody almost thought I would not make it in life. And that's pretty much what I believed till sports came to my door and said, this is what you're good at, this is what you're going to excel at, and this is what you should pursue.

These were already, you know, sounds that, oh, now she's already achieved something. So she can say this, but when I was young, these were the three things that probably kept me going. And these were the three things that keep me going even today. I remember in 1998, I was in the sixth grade and I was disqualified from the 200 meters. And I was sitting on the stands at University Stadium with my dad and I held his hand and I was crying knowing that that is probably the first and the last race I have ever lost. And I told my dad, I said, I will never lose another race again, again after this day.

That's the picture of the girl who said she was never going to lose again. This was in the seventh grade, in 1999. I won all the trophies in the school. And that was the first time I met my coach, Savio D'Souza. And he said, you need to come do some athletics with me. And I think you're going to get better from here only. And in the year 2001, when I went to Bangalore for my first Nationals, my first gold medal was achieved over there. And that's when dad said, I think I want to see you wearing the India colors.

And from there, 2001 to today is 2024. I think I have lived for one single dream, and that was to represent my country, one at the ioc, which is the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne. And this was me at the age of 37. I represented India after 27 years at the World Master Athletics in Sweden. But this looks fun and this looks great because nobody knows of the struggle, the hard work, the discipline, the dedication and the desire, the willpower, you Know all these really big words that I can use now, which actually I had no idea of when I was young, I didn't know what all of this meant. All I thought of was, I have to be at the Olympics, that's my one single goal. And I'm going to have a tunnel vision.

But you know, sports is not easy. Life is not easy. I mean, you know, you enjoy the flora and fauna while you're in school and college. And this is great for the kids to hear because when you're young, everything is given to you. No matter how privileged you are or underprivileged you are, things are given to us till we reach a certain age. And then that's when your parents, as you come out into the world when you're 21, 22, your parents set you out into the world and say, figure it out on your own. That's what my parents did to me. And I think that was one of the best things they did to me.

Not that we had any great privileges even as a young girl, but when I turned 21, I think that's where things really started getting real. While playing sport was great, winning was great, but those weren't paying the bills, that wasn't bringing the money in. So we had to work, we had to train. And we didn't just have to work one job. I worked five jobs in my 20s. And that's what I love about today's topic that we talk about balance and resilience.

Things weren't easy back then. Going for training, going to work, figuring out your physio sessions, figuring out you're going to the gym. Everything had to be structured, balanced food. In fact, food at that time wasn't so great, but we still made sure that we had to eat the right kind of food. So there were many things on the way in the 20s that I had to kind of take into consideration to get here. Many, many downfalls. I would say I had more downfalls than wins. But I think something that kept me going at all times, you know, I had an accident when I was young, but everything that kept me going was that one single minded goal of going to the Olympics.

And I think if there's any reason why I became who I am today, fit girl Aisha Willemoria Athlete, model, trainer, influencer, anything you want to say is because that one single minded goal kept me going in the sport. And I think that's something we lose out today. Today's generation has kind of lost that resilience that when they fail, they completely give Up. And I think it's so important for parents. You know, this is my, this is my backbone, you know. Of course now I have my own family and they are my backbone. But back then, if it wasn't for them, I don't think I would have had that kind of resilience.

My parents came from a really, really tough, tough childhood, Tough, you know, life their families couldn't provide for them. Our parents tried everything in their capacity to give us and they also taught us how to be grateful for everything that we were getting. You know, we were still thankfully very privileged compared to the other athletes. We were very privileged to at least be able to travel in a first class train. Most athletes never got that opportunity, but I think those were the small things.

You know, we had to stay in the hostel, we had to stay with the team. We had to travel sometimes with the team as well. I think those were the small instances that really kind of bring out the best in you. They also bring out sometimes the worst in you because you go through so many ups and downs. There are so many challenges when you're racing in India. It's never easy to be running in a country that loves to call a girl white. It's never fun to run in a country where a girl is demeaned for wearing what she wants to wear.

That's me at the start line. I've never looked so happy, by the way, on a start line. But this race in Sweden brought about everything that I had worked on for so many years. You know, we had to fight the system, we had to fight. We just had to fight so many things in this country just to be able to get here. So when I come to an audience to speak and when I see so many children, and I love that there are actually a lot of kids here and also there are a lot of parents here.

Don't, don't discourage your child from what they want to do. And kids, don't give up on what you want to do. Listen to your parents. They are also right in many things, but also listen to your heart. I think that is by far the most important thing that you will learn from your failures, your mistakes. And that's the only way you'll cross over the bridge and go to the other side.

This picture that you see here is me working with my students in up So I run this program called Project Fit Girl. And when I reached a certain stage in my life when I knew that I had really centered myself as an athlete, everything around me was balanced. I knew how to fight the system. I knew how to get into the system. I knew how to build an ecosystem of sports for these young girls. That's when I started this program called Project Fit Girl. It's a sports education and sports development program in rural India. And we teach the girls everything from self defense to sports training to mind training to physical activities to, of course, running.

Because running is such a great. Like, I'm sure everybody runs here, right? Hands up. If you run, it's a small audience that runs. Okay, we're going to get everyone to run. But running is, I think it's one of the most exhilarating activities that you can do for yourself because running can channel so many emotions through your body, your mind. You know, just, it's. It's. It's by far the most beautiful activity ever.

These are just some pictures of me running. This is me. This is me. Olympic Value Education program. A very important, what can I say? channel that came through on this journey. The Olympic Value Education program pretty much runs on par with Project Fit Girl and through the OVE program. We actually run many programs in different states.

There is one picture that's in Lausanne. We were invited to Lausanne to basically talk about the social issues that we are kind of currently facing in India. And it was really nice to see that there are so many countries in this world that are facing similar issues as India. So in through this entire journey of mine, I think, you know, just giving you a little bit of everything, what really worked.

Well, you're going to see this video right at the end. What really worked for me was a finding the balance in anything and everything I do. That meant that I had to work, I had to pay the bills, I had to train, because that's really what I really enjoy doing. And that's what I wanted to do. I had to find time for family. As a young. As a young teenage girl, I think, you know, I love how he said that you need to have that kind of obsession. But in that obsession, you often tend to forget that there is a world around you. And that world around you also needs love. It needs care, it needs attention. It's only when you start coming into adulthood is when you realize that every. Everything's important.

While you don't forget your dream, you don't forget your passion, you still have to know that everything around you matters. So for me, I think resilience has been something that is, you know, again, very individualistic. It depends on what you want. And for me, that want was always the Olympics.

I think anything that I had to put my hand on had to revolve around the Olympics. So be it my accident or be it my slip disc, you know, all these few things that brought my downfall always bounced me back because till I didn't achieve this goal, this goal, till I didn't achieve this goal, I was not going to sit still. So now I can rest because after 27 years, I think I finally achieved that goal.

But till I wasn't going to get to this goal, I was. I was almost unstoppable. I was not willing to give up. I didn't want to stop. So for me, that's the end. And now I'm gonna show you one race.

Well, this isn't my best race, but I still wanted you guys to watch this race because this is almost 30 years of work that we put in. My dad, my mom, my sister. This is just. This is all in a nutshell, what resilience means. This is what balance means. This is what determination means. And this is what it looks like when you never give up.

So can you see that video, please? You catch me in the fifth lane. Yeah. This is just something fun for you to watch. But I think this was. This was one of the best races that I have run. And I think just all these years of experience and knowledge and travel and training with different coaches in the world, I think I put all that experience into my legs.

I'm not winning this race, so don't get excited just because I got out start. The Japanese has just crushed me right at the start, so. But this is the best it can get. This is the best stage of this world that I could have run on. And this was it.

Dream we dreamt. From the time I was probably 13. I'm 37 now. It's a long time to have such a big dream, right?

So kids in this. In this room, dream big. Don't give up on your dreams just because something gets hard.

Don't give up on yourself because something's not going your way. Keep dreaming, keep achieving, and keep working hard. Hard work is the key to getting here.

Inspiration, Leadership, Motivation, Aisha Willemoria, Project Fit Girl, Running, Tedx Talks