Every success has to start somewhere — a passing thought, a kernel of an idea, a glimmer of inspiration. But what if every great social hero, CEO, or Nobel Prize winner decided that his or her little idea just wasn’t that great or deserving of attention?
That’s the message Paula Goldman, this year’s Anita Borg Social Impact Award winner, shares on The Huffington Post today.
It’s impossible to not be inspired by Goldman’s work. As founder and director of the Imagining Ourselves project, she has affected untold women around the globe and helped to improve millions of lives.
It all started with one little idea at a breakfast table years ago. And, yet, she admits to downplaying the importance of her work and being modest about her achievements at this year’s Grace Hopper Conference, “As I sat across the table, staring at these brilliant women, I’m ashamed to admit that there was some part of me that wanted to do exactly what they were doing — to downplay the importance of my own work, and the millions of women that we had reached through the Imagining Ourselves project. Even though I was at the conference to receive an award, I had to silence the instinct that wanted to say, ‘Well, it’s really not such a big deal what we’ve accomplished. It was good, but there’s so much more to do.’”
Making a difference isn’t some unattainable goal. Each and every one of us can create something great. Our small positive actions, Goldman says, really do make a big difference.
Read the rest of her blog entry.