Do You Dream?

Hey Friends,

Happy Friday!!!

I have been quiet for a while because I’ve been speaking more.

And with a full-time job, a new husband by my side and a budding speaking career, speaking more means writing less.

So…I’ve decided to recycle some of my content.

He’s a speech I did for an AMAZING organization a few weeks ago called The St Louis Business Diversity Initiative. Take a peek and let me know what you think. Happy reading!!!

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Do you dream? Like really dream?

And no, I don’t mean your everyday sleep kind of dreams. I’m talking about the dreams you have when you’re not sleeping? Childhood magic school bus and carpet ride kind of dreams? Dreams not stifled or muffled by adulting?

Those kinds of dreams…do you dream? And if so, what are they?

For the next 5-minutes, we are going to dream. We are going to contemplate the possibility of doing something extraordinary and then we are going to come back whole group to share. Sound like a plan?

Ok, the instructions are easy. I want you to think about a dream. A dream without fear of failure, a dream without fear of money and a dream without fear of age. And after thinking, I want you to write your dream on your paper and then chillax until we come back whole group. Capiche? So…on the count of three, let’s dream. 1, 2, 3…dream.

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Does anyone want to share their dream?

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My dream. Three years ago I decided to dream. I was working at a job that was challenging. I was absolutely miserable but at the same time, I was joining this amazing organization called SLBDI.

And I remember that first day like it was yesterday. I left my SLBDI session convinced that I was going to quit my job. And nope, I did not have another job lined up and guess what??? I didn’t need to because SLBDI provided a safe space for me to contemplate the possibility. And a few months later—I quit.

I quit and just like magic, I had a new job. A new job that not only allowed me to make good money but a new job that allowed me to continue dreaming.

You can have all the intentions in the world but if you don’t turn your intentions into actions, nothin’ is gonna happen captain.

Fast forward to our efficacy training, the speaker was simply AMAZING and I was so moved. I mean—really moved. She got me to thinking about my value, my worth, my ability and how my childhood trauma of not having a father was getting in the way of me dreaming. And like I always do, I asked her to coffee. It was THE BEST coffee because, within weeks of us meeting, I decided that I was going to write a book and launch a speaking biz.

Just like that friends and I was serious. So serious.

The very next day I started my journey of meeting 100 people in 100 days. Why 100? Well, this was my 5th time doing this and if you want to know how I even got started doing this, you’ll have to watch my TED talk.

In the meantime, this time, I was meeting 100 people in 100 days as a quick way to write my book. How? Well, I’m glad you asked. Through research, I discovered that it was possible to write a book in 100 days, which is funny and has a little bit of irony because I decided that I was going to write my book on 100 ways people could meet 100 people in 100 days.

And that’s exactly what I did.

For 100 days, I typed until my fingers were numb. Every day I would come home from my 9 to 5 and work from 5 to 9 on my book. Some days I would work from 5 to 3am in the morning. After my book was written, I had it edited, designed, printed and then started my path of promoting it.

My first stop TED talk.

And through more research and volunteering, I secured my TED talk last November and the rest is history. Over the past 9-months, I’ve done more than 100 talks and counting.

Talks for Fortune 100 and 500 companies like Mastercard, Wells Fargo, Scottrade, Ikea and Facebook and I’ve been featured by top publications like NPR, HuffPost, Forbes, Fox 2, Next Step U, The United State of Women and Blavity.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself because achieving dreams like these feel like I’m defying gravity. Me, a little black girl from Kentucky raised by a single mother. How in the world am I still dreaming?

Because I made the decision to and that my friends is the first step of dreaming.

You have to decide. Then you have to do your research, you have to execute and advertise.

So my friends…are you ready to dream?

D…decide to dream. Most of our dreams are stifled by adulting or us trying to focus on too many things. Decide to overcome your fears, make your focus clear and start dreaming.

R…research your dream. If you want to be an author, research the steps to write a book. If you want to be a teacher, research the steps to teach. And if you want to be a singer, research the steps to sing.

E…execute your dream. You can have all the intentions in the world but if you don’t turn your intentions into actions, nothin’ is gonna happen captain.

A…advertise your dream. Once you know your dream and once you start executing, advertise it to EVERYBODY! And I do mean everybody. The more you put your dream out there, the more the universe will help you get there.

M…mix and mingle. This is by far my favorite thing because dreams are magnified when we’re connecting. And on that note, happy dreaming!!!