“You should shine so bright that your light becomes someone else's spotlight”
Most people don't know what their calling is in life and so they set professional goals and boundaries to work towards. But SDG 4's Deepak Ramola isn't one of those people.
It's clear from the start Deepak's special as he believes his calling in life is to genuinely listen and retell a story in the most authentic, dignified and most personal way possible.
He's been doing this since he was 17 when he founded the Project Fuel Foundation which aims to Forward the Understanding of Every Life lesson through teaching globally.
He told us: "what I really want to do is meet my highest potential and the best part about that is you don’t know what your highest potential is."
In the past his teaching workshops and 90 day Masterpiece tours have taken him back to his home country of India to teach children with drug addiction, and Nepal to help people move on in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake. He also tackled the stigma around refugees and visited places where he felt people misunderstood refugees and saw them as alien.
His inspirational speech on day 5 earned him a standing ovation as his life lessons captivated the audience. His main message was to be open to new beginnings, to recognize we don't break ties with people we break ties with the thoughts they produce, and to own our story.
Despite being a beacon of positivity most of the time, Deepak's work can be straining. He said: "it can be demanding sometimes. You can never get sick or fall short so it's a difficult job to always give 100 percent of yourself all the time."
When he's not speaking all over the world Deepak is making his mark on Bollywood with his love of music as India's youngest ever lyricist.
He said: "I think I am musically challenged. But I couldn’t take that and told myself, if I cannot sing I have to be associated with music in some way. So I taught myself to write songs."
It's difficult to know where he finds the energy to accomplish so much, but he credits his mother and her work ethic as his inspiration.
"She is for me all that is possible." One thing's certain, his optimism is infectious.
Text: Rochelle Beighton
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