Never Be Afraid To Leap Into The Unknown; Priyanka Chopra

Follow your instincts, believe in your uniqueness and never be afraid to leap into the unknown.

It was September 27, 2015, the date of Quantico’s worldwide premiere. I was sitting by the pool in LA drinking a Bellini, watching the first episode live on television and live-tweeting at the same time.

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My hands were cold, and I was thinking, "God I don't know if India, first of all, is ready to see me act in English. Just be a different character, play an American girl. Is America ready to see an Indian girl being a lead of a show?" Probably the scariest moment in my life.

Looking back, I realize that that moment has been repeating itself in my life over and over again. And it always begins when I ask myself: What do YOU want?

It’s the single most important question that has allowed me to do the things I have over the past 16 years of my professional life.

At every stage of my career, the answer to this question helped solidify my objectives and allowed me the mental freedom to chase the impossible dreams I had and turned them into a reality.

This is not some find yourself, inner peace, control your destiny utopian concept… it’s a ‘cut the BS, get real and get down to business’ talk with yourself so you prepare for the journey ahead.

We all make plans for our lives but most often are too scared or embarrassed about our ambitions to go after it wholeheartedly. And that’s where it all falls apart.

My Miss World journey began when my mom enrolled me in the Miss India contest as a lark, without my knowledge. Having just returned from the US, I was planning to take a year off school and travel. When I got the call, we sat down as a family to discuss and I was asked by my parents “What do you want”? I wanted to give it a shot… it was a new experience (I’m all for new experiences) and something no one in my academic family had ever done (I’m also all for going where no one has gone before) and it seemed like a fun thing to do. I was clear about my objectives… give this a shot with all that I have and if it doesn’t work I go back to the old plan and if it did… I’d see where life took me.

The same rule applied when I started getting film offers; when I started getting interesting characters and films to be a part of; when I launched my music career international and now when I chose to make my acting foray globally with an American TV show. Once I answered the question at each stage, it allowed me to draw up my game plan to ensure I gave the opportunity everything I had. The rest I left to god and the audience.

It may sound simplistic and somewhat naive but in reality once you’ve won the battle with yourself every other hurdle you face seems easy to overcome because you will approach it with the courage of conviction that this is exactly what you want.

It again was an important question to answer when I began my journey as an entrepreneur. Yes, I wanted to tell stories but what did I really want? So it got me to start thinking, consolidating my thoughts and ideas and crystalizing plans for what I really wanted to achieve with my production house. It helped me understand that I wanted to tell stories irrespective of the language, genre or medium. I wanted to give new talent the right kind of opportunities. And so Purple Pebble Pictures was born and we started with co-producing a digital series followed by a move into regional cinema. We’re now telling interesting stories, giving talent an opportunity to shine and our ambitions and dreams are growing with every passing day. We just released our second regional film in India and also across the world last Friday (Nov 4th). Ventilator is PPP’s first Marathi film and I couldn’t be more happy or proud of the amazing theaters.

So what did I learn from this journey?

Every successful career, in any field, will definitely, definitely have evolution. Complacency sets in if you don't try and evolve.
I’d like something that is my path, paved by me. Something that is my own legacy rather than being one of the many successful people in the world. SO I work towards that
At some point in your career (you will know when), you will have to leap into the unknown… you have to try in order to achieve. You might have to do it a couple of times…
Follow your instincts.
Retain your own identity
Own your uniqueness
Be honest with yourself about what you want to achieve. Don’t be shy to dream
When you try something new… be open to understand and accept the fact that you won’t know everything and people won’t know everything about you. It’s a process of education and you have to be open to learning at all times.
Always give back… in any way that you can.

So… here I am and I’m looking forward to what comes next including the opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas with this vibrant community.

Let’s do this!