Year of Yes

I recently read “Year of Yes” by Shonda Rhimes and I absolutely loved it. She had a year where she said yes to everything that scared her, one of which was giving the commencement speech at her alma mater Dartmouth. That speech was so inspiring. She was speaking my language!

“Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change.”

You absolutely must take action if you want your dreams to become your reality!

Start by writing down your dreams. Make them tangible. Then think about the steps needed to achieve them. Oftentimes this will become a set of goals rather than just one.

Here’s an example us millennials can relate to: I dream of owning a home one day!

But dreaming isn’t going to make $800,000 show up in my bank account (the Seattle real estate market is insane, y’all). First I must plan to get the money. And how will I do it? Maybe I’ll invent the next life-changing product. And in order to do that, I must plan out what my invention will be and how I will go about creating it.

See what I mean? I can’t just dream about owning a home, I need to outline the steps to make it happen.

From there though, the dream begins to get closer. I’ve gone from being a dreamer to a doer.

“Ditch the dream and be a doer, not a dreamer.”

Thanks, Shonda 😉

Watch the speech here:

Or buy her book! I highly recommend the audio version because she reads it herself! https://www.amazon.com/Year-Yes-Dance-Stand-Person/dp/1476777128