In this reflective and empowering talk, Mashal Peerzada invites us to take a closer look at the internal scripts we live by, the quiet assumptions, inherited beliefs, and self-imposed limitations that often go unexamined. Drawing from personal experience and universal insight, she explores the subtle but powerful ways our inner narratives can hold us back, even when they were once meant to protect us.This isn’t about toxic positivity or rewriting reality with blind optimism. It’s about the courage to revise the stories that no longer serve us and the wisdom to know when they’ve expired. Because for our lives to evolve, our narratives must evolve too.Through honest storytelling and a call to deep self-inquiry, this talk reminds us that empowerment doesn’t always begin with action; sometimes, it begins with the question: What story am I telling myself right now, and is it helping me grow? Mashal is a third-generation theatre and film maker who has grown up backstage and on-set. As a child of two worlds, her most passionate belief is the magical power of storytelling in creating inclusive, cross-cultural narratives. She commits her work at Yellow Brick to the idea that the arts empower people and that people can change the world.Trained at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and a graduate of the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, Mashal is a writer and director for theatre and television and has worked across Pakistan, the US, and the UK.Mashal created Xtravaganza, Pakistan's first youth performing arts festival and awards - a mega event that showcased 16 plays in 15 days and culminated in a multi-band concert. She wrote and directed a series of groundbreaking theatre productions, including Can’t You See, the first bilingual play and the first youth production to tackle social justice issues. She has worked with Focus Features and Worldsaway Films in Los Angeles, collaborated with her father Salmaan Peerzada on his film projects Raven & Lenore and Shehrazade: The Untold Story. She has worked with Pakistani film icon Shaan Shahid and on Rafi Peer’s collaboration with Sesame Street USA - Sim Sim Hamara. Most recently Mashal has collaborated with Authentic Artists Collective UK in the creation of gig-theatre production When Mountains Meet, which opened this January at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow and toured across Scotland as part of the Edinburgh Fringe and Aberdeen Performing Arts This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx