Success starts with you.

[Music]

i’ve loved the jedi the sith

darth vader yoda and when i was thinking

of something to write for this talk

i kept coming back to star wars and

that’s when i started to realize that

wow star wars and success go hand in

hand

but before i talk about star wars

modeling success we need to figure out

what success even means and why it

matters

hi my name is grace jose and here to

talk about what success means to me

for some people success could be being

the wealthiest person in the room

or maybe the person with the highest

grades but for me

i have a very different version of

success my success is to be a better

version of myself

because success starts with you why does

this matter

well when society promotes a

one-size-fits-all version of success

people believe they’re not successful

every time you’re judged

on your grades athleticism job title

financial status

or even your physical appearance you are

misled to believe that those define you

but back to the big question what does

all this have to do with star wars

and how does star wars model success

well if you’re familiar with star wars

you probably know what a jedi is and

what they stand for

jedis are galactic warriors who stand

for the light side of the force and the

good in the galaxy

despite the jedi’s few flaws over time

they start to improve themselves and

grow in their knowledge of the force

the jedi became more and more successful

in what they strive to do

and over time their self-improvement had

paid off when they defeated the dark

side

the jedi also have set of rules that

they follow that are called the jedi

code

now unlike the jedi i don’t wield a

fancy lightsaber or live in a galaxy

full of aliens

which is why i made up my own jedi code

for my success

code number one is to set goals for

yourself and have a vision of what you

want your future to look like

by setting goals for yourself you are

getting organized and prepared

these are fundamental things for any

successful person to follow and learn

as an example a goal that i have for

myself is to be successful in

entertainment and performance arts

it’s something that allows me to channel

my creativity and it’s something that i

enjoy to do

so i envisioned what i wanted and i

started to take the steps i needed to

achieve that vision

since the age of seven i’ve attended

acting camps i also took triple threat

acting classes to help my stage

presentation

and to this day participate in theater i

have a vision

and so do you so take the steps that you

need to achieve that vision

code number two is for you to learn and

grow from your mistakes and difficulties

by doing this you are moving through

obstacles in life building resilience

and pushing on

you’re also becoming more and more

successful and becoming a better version

of you

now theater might seem fun and easy to

you but it is not without its own

hardships

in some of the musicals i participated

in there were kids who were better than

me

and for me that was extremely

intimidating for example

i remember auditioning for winnie the

pooh musical when i walked in

i could see all the kids staring at me

out of everyone there

i looked like a complete newcomer i

didn’t know half the name of our dance

dance steps i couldn’t sing as well as

some of the kids there and on top of all

that

i stuttered and tripped on my words a

lot during auditions

at that point i could have done one of

two things i could have walked out

and given up because what’s the point in

even trying

or i could choose to push through and

follow my dreams

which is exactly what i did now don’t

get me wrong

not everything went the way i planned

there were times where it was still very

scary and intimidating with such

talented kids around me especially since

unlike me

it was very rare for them to mess up but

i did my best to push through

and i know if i could do it you can do

it too

code number three is for you to be a

force for good well what does it mean to

be a force for good

it is a mentality in a way of life that

will help you reach success

this idea that you will bring others up

with you on your personal journey

it is a process of helping others

because you know that you cannot always

do it on your own

and helping others is helping yourself

start by putting at least one good

action in this world

you putting at least one good action can

start a domino effect and can encourage

others to help too

that way you will not you are not only

improving yourself but improving others

finally make positivity a mantra in your

everyday life

you would be surprised about how

contagious a good attitude can be

your attitude can determine your

altitude

i learned this while i was participating

in soccer

there were many times where me and my

team face challenges like for a while

one of my teammates had a medical

condition that prevented her from

playing

losing one of our best players

definitely took a toll on how we played

at that point almost all of our

attitudes were at slowest and we were

not hopeful for our season

but i remember coming to practice one

day and seeing one of my teammates smile

from ear to ear she was an optimistic

person

who always had a great attitude her

positive mentality and will for bringing

others up with her on her personal

journey

became a force for good for our team she

taught me that my mindset can have a

positive effect on others

and i’ll always remember that so dear

fellow and future jedis

i hope my jedi codes help you reach your

success

make sure to remember to envision your

future grow from your mistakes and

become a force for good

good luck and may the force be with you

you