Doing Instead of Dreaming

Shonda Rhimes goes against the grain of commencement speakers everywhere during her action encouraging speech at Dartmouth. Instead of emboldening students to "follow their dreams" and "listen to their spirit," Rhimes suggests that they "ditch the dream and be a doer."

While Rhimes admits that dreams are lovely, she also notes that they are fleeting and ephemeral. Most importantly, they are not a necessary guarantee for success. In other words, dreams will not magically come true by virtue of the fact that you have dreamt them. Hard work is what facilitates change. Doing, not dreaming, is a more effective route towards success.

Instead of wishing and talking about what we would like to happen, Rhimes advises us to continue to move forward. She urges us to keep ourselves open, malleable and ripe for potential opportunity, regardless if it fits into our "dream" vision or not.