I’ve spent the weekend wiping tears of my cheeks. They are the tears of joy and fulfilment. I still haven’t quite recovered from the emotions and a wave of gratitude I feel after the roaring success of our inaugural event ‘Festival Of Doers’ on Friday.

The auditorium was packed, all speakers were absolutely amazing and offered a great insight into being a ‘Doer’. The audience was brilliant and the energy and positivity in the room was through the roof! And the thank you -messages of thank you have been pouring in all weekend.

“You have to share this incredible and moving day with many, many more women. You have such an important message to share, we need you – and all the exceptional women who stepped up and shared their stories yesterday. Congratulations. Thank you.” Fiona

“The event made me realise how much I evolved for the past 3 years when I joined DrivenWoman. Was a good feeling. Thank you!” Raphaelle

“What an amazing day! I’m still bouncing from all the amazing words of wisdom. You assembled a most extraordinary group of speakers creating an amazing space for development and inspiration. And the added bonus was seeing so many wonderful DrivenWoman members in one place! Bravo!” Natalie

“Be proud, you realised a dream!! Here’s to the next one.” Heli

Yes. That’s exactly what I did. I realised a dream.

A year ago all I had was an idea. An idea to put together an inspiring day in a true DrivenWoman fashion. We would not just inspire but demand action and help people remove obstacles so that they could commit to their goals.

But I had no experience of organising a big event, I didn’t know the speakers and I wasn’t at all well connected (I’m now!), and I didn’t know I could convince anyone to come to an event that didn’t yet exists. I didn’t know how and where I would host my event, if I’d find a sponsor and what would all of this cost. I didn’t know how I’d market my event or if anyone would come.

I created Festival Of Doers out of nothing. And I created it out from everything: my creativity and resourcefulness. And it became a huge success!

I wanted to share with you the secret of turning your dream – your vision, your idea – into a reality. It’s actually super simple.

1. Define your vision and what success means to you

My definition of success is that every day I find the courage to do what I dream of doing. Therefore it was time for me to push myself outside of my comfort zone and take the DrivenWoman message out to the bigger arenas.

2. Give yourself time

I think most dreams don’t happen for one simple reason: we have an unrealistic time line! The bigger and bolder the vision, the more time you have to allow yourself. Be kind. We don’t go after our dreams only to kill ourselves during the process.

Let’s say your dream was to write a best selling book and you had no experience in writing. Nobody is to say your dream was unrealistic. If you told me you’d want it to happen in a year or two, that timeframe would be unrealistic. But if you’d say, within 10 years I’m a best selling author – why not, go for it with all your heart!

Putting together Festival Of Doers was a lot of work but it was not hard work. Most things seemed to fall into place naturally. And when there were days I felt things weren’t moving, I went to ride my horse rather than banged my head against the wall. Allowing enough time ensures you can let opportunities arise rather than having to chase them.

3. Take immediate action

A dream is no good without fierce, immediate action. As soon as my idea had entered my conscious mind I became obsessed with finding interesting women I could invite as speakers. I thought that was as good place to start as any! Google and Twitter are the best tools for finding new connections and LinkedIn helpful for getting in touch with them.

Within three days I had my first key note speaker signed up, and she was going to fly all the way from Silicon Valley! All I had presented her via email was one paragraph of text describing the kind of event I wanted to create.

So what’s my secret for making dreams happen and becoming a ‘doer’?

Just take the first step!

You don’t have to be ready. You don’t have to know what you are doing. You don’t have to have self confidence. You don’t need to feel brave. You don’t even have to have a clear idea or vision. All you need to do is to take one small step towards what ever it is that excites you more, right now. Excitement is a great indicator that you are going towards your dreams.

Believe in your dreams and ideas my dear sisters!

What is the dream you can’t shake off? Now is the time to share your ideas with the world and make them happen.

 

~ Miisa

If you missed Festival Of Doers this year, you can get a glimpse of the amazing atmosphere searching hashtag #festivalofdoers on Twitter and Instagram. You can watch the speakers interviews on our YouTube channel. And book 26.1.2018 in your calendar to ensure you’ll be there next year!