story the personal story that I sort of
experience when I was 11 years old I
wanted to share that with all of you but
prior to that I wanted to really go
through in my head and my imagination of
what over the edge actually means and
actually taking that concept into a
suppose into a bit of a story and I
thought what better way of doing that
then using a very powerful tool that we
all have but we sometimes forget to
harness its our imagination so I said it
imagination I I need a favor please what
does over the edge mean to me I have
this talk to dinner on Saturday and yes
I could use lots of different stories
and and lots of different things that
have happened to me but how can I be a
little bit different a bit creative and
I need you to bear with me please here I
need you to really really bear with me
because when I got the response from my
imagination I was a bit shocked but I
promise you that it will all make sense
hopefully it’ll make sense and it’ll
type nicely with my personal story so
when I when I asked myself this question
the response was sumo wrestling that’s
right ladies and gentlemen sumo
wrestling now I’m no expert at sumo
wrestling but in terms of my very basic
knowledge to got to soma sumo wrestlers
pushing against each other and and
trying to be the stronger one will it
will push the the other player outside
of the arena my understanding basic
understanding right so I try and go into
this a little bit more deeper to
understand where this all comes in play
so I see this big arena big stadium and
a one corner on one side I see myself 23
old Kevin Patrick of course I’m not in
in sumo sighs I’m not a sumo wrestler
sighs as you can see but in my
imagination
so myself that with all the experiences
that I’ve had all my ups and downs that
all of those things together created
layers which made me sumo ready
basically that’s how I’d seen it in my
head so ready in one corner already
ready for my sumo wrestling like this
okay so that’s one side on the opposite
side I have an opponent now I don’t know
who this opponent is I can’t even can’t
put a name or or give any sort of
further description but all I could tell
was this distinct was huge strong was
was just yeah scary and I remember sort
of looking and thinking how am I going
to do this what is this how am I even
meant to look at me look at my opponent
what’s actually going to happen anyway
as one does we go into into it we start
the the battle as we call it and we’re
pushing and and I’m giving it everything
I’ve got and I’m really really trying
and got my pone very easily pushes me
across takes me through and as we do as
humans sometimes when things happen we
learn we adapt were able to understand
and were able to slightly improve our
game and that’s what I thought what were
just when I’m about to think that I’m
doing something a bit different to win
to actually stay on my opponent does
something else twists and turns and I
can’t even predict what’s happening and
the only thing I’m thinking is wow this
is a really experienced opponent there’s
no chance for me and as I start looking
at the cup being half empty and I’m
thinking what’s the point and you know
am I ever got any chance this what am I
even doing here on my my opponent gets
stronger my opponent is able to use this
they absorb the energy from me this this
negative energy that I’m that I’m that
I’m letting out the shoulder its
radiation this this this negativity my
in my opponent is able to take on just
get stronger and stronger and stronger
and I get to the edge I get to the edge
and and then I start looking over as you
do and you know yes this is okay this is
just a platform thinking is just a game
it’s just
to match okay I’ll come back next time
etc but in my imagination in this
scenario there is no platform if i come
off that’s the end it’s nothing and i
was on the edge I realized this I am
absolutely yeah absolutely like
trembling and worrying and thinking
what’s happening I’m off the edge at a
point as well but I grabbed on because
I’m so scared of what I see below I push
myself back on and that’s when it clicks
to me that my opponent this is different
to each and every one of us is the life
in the form of a beam if I say so or an
opponent and when I realized that going
down is not an option and I start
thinking to myself that I have to do
this and I will do this and that I can
do this just as how my opponent was
gaining strength from my negativity I
was actually starting to gain strength
from my positivity and I’m getting
stronger and I’m getting better now
there’s something funny about this game
I can never win I can ever push life off
this but I can stay on the arena the
arena and I started to feel blessed and
I started to have gratification in terms
of where i was i was thankful that i had
this opportunity and that made me
stronger the perseverance of thinking
i’m actually not going to give up i’m
going to keep going that made me
stronger that fighting that consistency
at confidence that I can actually do
this made me stronger and when I think
of that as being at one point on the
edge to literally off the edge but then
actually realizing what my scenario or
situation is and or was
but to come back on and to win and to
prove myself has really been a
fundamental part of my the ability for
me to actually go on and achieve what I
have done and I know that that will
always be with me in my thinking I’m a
mentality for everything that I want to
do in the future now in a very very
similar way what I just spoke about then
is literally what has happened in a
real-life scenario to just put it into
context for you so I take you back to
2004 was 11 years old I was born born
and brought up in in in in in the UK but
as you can see i’m not your typical
British boy and I therefore I was a
target for for racism and this is the
first time actually my mom Cindy in the
audience listening to me so some in
terms of speech so it might be a bit of
a shock to her as well cuz i dont really
haven’t really spoken tennis but by
family but yeah I was a victim of racism
both physical verbal and it was terrible
and actually got to a point where i was
asking to myself maybe it is me you know
why am i this color maybe i am not good
enough to be with the other people in my
in my school and that level of
complexion actually still is within it
resonates in a lot of things that i do
which is quite sad but at that very
point in my life I was getting pushed
back and back at a to a point where I
was not only on the edge I was off the
edge but I stayed on because I wanted to
I couldn’t believe that that was going
to be the end so what I did as my
parents used to give me a pound 52
pounds a day for lunch instead of using
it for lunch I would take it to the
school shops before before school or
open and I would buy 10
freddos jawbreakers candy sticks this is
back in two thousand four when sweets
were actually affordable mustard oil
must add and so as to go there and I
stood by these sweets and every time a
bully approached me I would give them a
sweet and ask them to leave me alone
after about four or five weeks the
bullying had completely stopped and I’ve
realized that there was this album
obviously those is this opportunity this
mark but his 11 year on an and if it if
it clicked with those exact words but I
knew that people were crazy for sweets
and it must also add that that was the
year that Jamie Oliver had decided to
take all the sweet vending machines out
of schools and replace them with with
healthy things so all the kids were
crazy for sweets at this point and I
actually started selling the sweets and
it went from me going to school with
pockets full of sweets to three or four
months down the line where I was walking
in with four or five messenger bags of
sweet walking into school and silly and
my mum my poor and lovely mum used to
take me to wholesalers Road negotiated
with her managers and and a part of our
conservatory at home was was a bit like
a warehouse where I’d stopped the sweet
and take them in and for me that sparked
this entrepreneurial flair within me now
my particular story of course relates to
me becoming an entrepreneur and of
course are things but but of course I
think the the concept works for anyone
and everyone of any sort and form of
career or or anything that you want to
be doing in a particular scenario in
your lives and for me having that
experience of course it given me that as
I said this entrepreneurial flair but
this determination and this acceptance
that if you put your mind to it and you
realize that there is always a way out
and there’s one always a way to succeed
it might not happen the first time it
might not happen the second time it
might not even happen on the tenth time
but if you
pat it something will click you may need
to think literally outside of the box
humo notice you might need to see the
resources that are around you the things
that you take for granted that you don’t
actually see that could be huge amounts
of support and help for you you just
have to look grab utilize and make
something amazing happen so always go
back to any scenario that you find
yourself as being a being a struggle
sometimes being off the edge more on the
edge or right at the point where you
really act at your come outside of your
comfort zone where you’re really being
pushed at that point you may of course
find it very challenging and you think
why me but realize actually with the
right mindset you can look at that and
think wow this is this is extraordinary
something amazing it can happen if you
put your mind to it something so
incredible so keep at it never give up
it’s cliche everyone says it right but
it’s it’s so true keeping at something
and pushing someone who never gives up
you can never beat them and you keep
pushing and you win and something great
will happen and finally ladies and
gentlemen remember that you are all sumo
wrestlers thank you very much [Applause]