It’s August and nearly two thirds of the year is already history.  So, I’ll ask you this important question: Are you fulfilling your dreams?

This edition of diversityinbusiness.com is dedicated to all those who have dared to pursue their dreams.  We feature stories of some amazing people who are living their dreams beginning with Harold Martin, the first African American to ever win an International Hot Road Association event. 

I have had the pleasure of interviewing many people over the years, and I especially enjoyed my conversation with Martin.  I like the fact that he dreams big and he achieves big.  In my book, he’s the total package: a dreamer, competitor, winner, an entrepreneur and a giver.  While Martin, who stands a good chance of becoming an IHRA world champion, is busy racing his way into the history books, he is also committed to giving back.  He has established a scholarship program in his name that creates opportunities for others to pursue their dreams.

While Martins victory at the Western RV Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in July, caught the attention of the motorsports world, there are other dreamers who are positively transforming the world in much more subtle ways.

Matthew Jones has written a touching story about Mary Abdo, who is the program director of a largely volunteer program in Los Angeles called Reading 2 Kids.  The program encourages young children, primarily Hispanic children, many who speak English as a second language, to develop a love of books and reading.  Abdo is a smart woman.  She is a summa cum laude graduate of University of Southern California (USC), and the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.  There are many things she could do with such credentials, things that would reward her handsomely, but Abdo, who knows the power of reading, loves creating opportunities for children to become better readers and for professionals and other volunteers who want to help children read.

The truly amazing thing about dreams is you never know where they will take you or how far they will take others. 

During the British colonial occupation of Kenya, a village woman developed a dream for her son.  She sent him to America where he studied, met a girl from Kansas, married her and had a son.  Many years later, that son was invited to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston.  His name is Barack Obama, and he is the frontrunner in the race to become a U.S. Senator from Illinois.  Obama’s meteoric ascent onto the national stage is powerful example of how the dreams of one generation can lay the foundation for the dreams of multiple generations.

There is the old proverb that says ‘Without vision, the people perish.’ Well, I like to modify that to say without dreams, souls die.

Many people have given up on their dreams.  For them, life has raised up too many walls, put in place too many obstacles, and imposed too many debts, obligations and shackles.  Slowly these people pine away great gifts and even greater possibilities.

As the days of summer begin to shorten, and the shadows lengthen, take a moment to consider what dream you can still dream and achieve today.

Consider what small thing you can do today that could make a difference in your life and perhaps in the life of someone else.

Guy Summers has written an interesting piece on managing business cards.  Most of us have business cards that we received at business gatherings or during a transaction.  Summers challenges us to view each card as a passport to a potentially significant relationship.  Perhaps the card sitting on your desk was given to you by a proprietor who sells an item that would make the perfect gift for a colleague, supplier, associate or family member.

There may be someone in your club, church or organization that would benefit from having you as a mentor, or from you giving them a referral.

Sure, time is precious and we all have a great deal to do, but I have a friend who ends every email with words that help put all my busyness into perspective.  Her concluding message is this: 100 years from now it will not matter the type of car you drove, the money in your bank account, the house you lived in, but the world will be a better place because you were important in the life of a child. 

To that I will add, that you and the world will be better off if you dare to take one step closer to realizing your dream.

Good luck, and let me know how it goes. 

The End