Share Your Dreams

The Lesson – Share Your Dreams

On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and shared his dream regarding civil rights equality with an estimated crowd of 250,000 people. This past weekend marked the 47th anniversary of that occasion.

Over the years, Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech has earned a reputation for being one of the greatest speeches in human history. In 1999, for example, more than 130 leading scholars were asked to share their opinions on the Top 100 speeches of the century. Dr. King’s speech took top honors.

Since it had been several years since I last read the full text of the legendary speech, I decided it was time to give it another read. Although the speech represents Dr. King’s vision for civil rights equality, re-reading the speech did not cause me to think about civil rights this time around. Instead, I found myself thinking about dreams. Not the middle of the night “falling off a cliff” type of dreams, but the instinctive dreams that we have for our lives. What we want to do. What we want to accomplish. What we want to leave behind. Those types of dreams.

Dr. King clearly had a passion for his dream. This is evident by the immense amount of time and energy he spent pursuing it. In fact, Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his efforts.

According to the official Nobel website, here are some interesting things about Dr. King you may not know:

• He graduated high school at the age of 15, received a B.A. degree at the age of 19, and received a doctorate degree at the age of 26.
• Between 1957 and 1968, he traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times.
• He wrote five books and authored numerous articles.
• He conferred with President Kennedy and campaigned for President Johnson.
• He was arrested more than twenty times and assaulted at least four times.
• He was awarded five honorary degrees.
• When notified of the Nobel award, King announced that he donate the money–$54,123–to the furtherance of his dream.

Do the math and you realize that Dr. King was 35 years old when he won the Nobel Peace Prize, and that he was only 34 years of age when he delivered that remarkable speech.

Thirty-four years old. Think about that.

Let it set in.

Now ask yourself, “Have I been putting in the type of hard work and dedication needed to achieve my dreams?”

You can access the full text of the speech here, or if you prefer, watch the video below:

The Challenge

Three-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Gail Devers, reminds us to, “Keep your dreams alive. Understand that to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”

This week spend some time reflecting on the dreams that you have for your life, your career, and the industry. Do you believe in yourself, and are you putting in the hard work and dedication needed to see those dreams come true? If so, bravo! However, if you’re not, consider using the next few days to piece together a plan to help you close the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

The Reflection

1.    What big dreams do you have for the industry?
2.    Why do you think some people fail to achieve their dreams?
3.    What do you do when someone tells you that your dream is too big?
4.    What steps do you take to achieve your dreams?
5.    What are the biggest challenges you face when working towards your dreams?

Dream big!

Gary Jensen
Editor | collector mentor