Dr. Tererai Trent: How To Achieve Your “Impossible” Dreams

Dr. Tererai Trent is an inspiration and an inimitable force for good in the world. In this interview, she discusses her book “The Awakened Woman” and how you can achieve your dreams — even in the face of crushing setbacks.

Tererai comes from a long line of women who experienced poverty and abuse. She persevered through tremendous challenges to earn her GED, bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. Now she’s an internationally recognized leader of social change, empowering women to unlock their passions and achieve their dreams.

Tererai is one of the world’s most acclaimed voices for women’s empowerment, and Oprah’s favorite guest of all time. She received her doctorate from Western Michigan University and teaches courses in global health at Drexel University. She’s published two highly acclaimed children’s books and is the author of the award-winning “The Awakened Woman: Remembering and Reigniting Our Sacred Dreams.” Tererai serves as president of The Awakened Woman LLC, a company dedicated to empowering women with tools to thrive as they achieve their dreams.

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MARIE ON SOCIAL

[marieforleo]

You and every woman you know deserve the right to dream. Use these quick links to dive into Tererai’s inspiring story:

1:59 — How Tererai broke the “baton of poverty” cycle in her life.
8:47 — Why she buried her dreams — and how she made them happen.
15:57 — The secret to making your dreams worthwhile.
15:31 — How Tererai remained grateful while feeding her family from trash cans.
22:20 — The unexpected gift that pushed her to complete her Ph.D.
27:08 — How to tap into the “great hunger” inside of you.

[faheem]

I am a man, and this story still made me cry... I just was so touched with the amount of suffering she endured to achieve her dreams! How she got her high school diploma while still being married to an abusive husband is beyond comprehension! She is amazing! An inspiration not just for women, but for men who feel they will never achieve their dreams! What touched me most was the power of visualisation... Even in such a small village, with no formal education, her mother and grand mother encouraged her to visualise her dreams! That’s truly an amazing!

[thehouseoftorturedsouls]

How Ungrateful and selfish have I been to make excuses for the batons I have decided to carry. While it is true that It is not my fault for them being passed down to me, it is my fault for every day that I decide to wake up and pick it up again. Dr. Tererai Trent, Thank you for being a warrior of this life. I'm sorry for not doing my part for our community. Many batons are being put down.

[FromCanadatoAdana]

Goosebumps when she describes meeting the same woman who originally inspired her!!!

[e.s.beards]

This is one of your most inspiring Marie. She is an incredible woman🙏🌿

[Cassiearan]

If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough. You can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will. Hi guys! It's me again :) You might have seen me before but my desire to inspire more people is what keeps me pushing to reach out more. We own a cookie shop business in our college town. When we first started it, we just graduated college and were living in our car with very little direction, just a huge passion to be successful. I started it out of a local bagel shop in their off hours at night with my boyfriend, Bran. It was a crazy experience but it worked! We became a success! And how we have our first storefront location (a second one currently under construction but launching soon!) We started it to fund a year long backpacking trip around the world and to be successful while living the life of our dreams.

[JaneyImaaniEmotionalAwareness]

I have decided I want to be Dr Trent when I grow up 💕

[soniajuliet]

I make a decision today I will change the history of my lineage it's time to run with the wisdom baton. Thank you mama T. I'm definitely going to school 2020 my dreams are achievable.

[humaira.]

During conversation I had tears in my eyes Amazing how she faced the suffering of her children 😢😢
Hunger, abusive husband ...Doing three jobs..Eight years for passing high school ...
Incredible Terari

[JaneyImaaniEmotionalAwareness]

“I never wanted the baton that was passed on to me of poverty or illiteracy by the past generations”

Wow! What batons are we taking on that we do not what or choose?

[kandidlykaypea]

My heart sang when you guys called each other queen.

[paulthomas]

33:07 not crying, not crying, not... I'M

[heyitssavanna]

I am attracting thousands of beautiful souls who want to awaken together to the truth of our inner power! 💯✨👏🏻💛😁 I affirm it! We are powerful. Our energy is needed in the world.

[MakeTimeNow]

Dr. Tererai's story is so powerful. Here most of us sit, in our safe homes, with all the opportunities presented in front of us and yet we still feel sorry for ourselves. She triumphed through insurmountable obstacles and achieved her greatest dreams. What an amazing testament to the power of dreams, hard work, and perserverence.

[lorinmaureen]

I love how strong her soft-spoken voice feels!

[Mayneza]

This interview has been the most inspiring I’ve seen so far! 💕 I think it marked a BEFORE AND AFTER in my life. Thanks so much for bringing this to us, Marie! it truly makes me feel that I can achieve my biggest dreams in life if someone with so many challenges and perceived limitations like her could! It makes me think about how lucky I am, how grateful I must be, and how ridiculous I’d look if I let my (super silly) excuses take me apart from my dreams. There are two types of people as you mention in your book “Everything is Figureoutable”: the ones that that have REASONS to give up on their dreams and the ones that give RESULTS. I’d love to contribute with Spanish subtitles for this video if you allow so that more people that speak Spanish can see this treasure interview 😊! You are one of my biggest sources of inspiration (and thought I should let you know)

[ellenfrances]

I am so blessed to hear this story of passing the baton today. The universe directed me to listen to this today. This has had made such an impact on me. I work with at-risk kids and families everyday in family court, who I hope I am making an impact in their lives in this way. But this... is so profound! I will remember her message & pass it on to as many people as I touch. I plan to buy many of her books to pass on to the women in my family, the women in my life & others so that they too will ‘pass a better baton’ on to those that come after them. This makes it more important for me to follow my dreams, the dreams that I have carried with me my whole life... some realized, others yet to be. I love love love this interview!! Thanks Marie for bringing her to us!!

[Enrico_Fusai_Counselor]

I agree with Marie: this is one of the most (if not the most) inspiring episodes of all time.
Hearing of her story, all she had to overcome, her perseverance, gives me so much energy... We have a power we cannot even fathom, and we must tap into it, take action, and create what we deeply dream of, for ourselves and everyone else. GO DR. TERERAI!!!

[jennbirder]

Well, I balled my eyes out a couple times! Much love to both of you inspiring women <3 Thank-you. Thank-you. Thank-you.

[hellogrmc]

The part that struck to me the most was when she said that "You have the power within. It's not your past that's going to define who you are, but it's what you believe about yourself, it's what you believe about your expectations, what it is that you expect from yourself." I have always been worried about my past being the reason why I've failed so much in life yet I realized that my past happened to shape me to become the person I am now. A girl fighting and working hard for her dreams despite all the circumstances I've gone through. Today, while I was watching your interview with Dr. Tererai, I am determined to realize my dreams and to really know what and who I want to become and I can only do these if I will start believing in myself and in my dreams and yes, I will. Thank you so much Ms. Marie Forleo and Dr. Tererai for such an amazing and insightful conversation!

May you inspire more people, more women to keep believing in their dreams and to never let difficult situations hinder them from attaining success.

Much love!