What Motivated These Influential Women to Keep Fighting for Their Goals

This video is part of Time Firsts, a multimedia project featuring 46 groundbreaking women. Watch the rest of the videos at time.com/firsts. Buy the book at the Time Shop now.

In news that should surprise no one, successful women often have very similar advice for staying motivated and inspired, even when the world feels like it’s working against you. Time interviewed 46 badass women for their new series, Firsts, and they have some great advice for staying driven, no matter what your passion.

“You have this one moment in time to be fully who you are, to be everything you can possibly be,” Ellen DeGeneres explains, opening the video.

Time Firsts Ellen Degeneres 2017 - LEAD
Luisa Dörr for Time

“You can ask a man to do a job that he has never been qualified to do and he will raise his hand and say, ‘Absolutely, I will do that job.’ Women always say, ‘I’m not sure if I’m ready yet. I need more experience,’” Scandal frontrunner Shonda Rhimes adds.

“I don’t necessarily know if there’s anything wrong with being more cautious and careful. I mean, why have we come to decide that being rash and overly aggressive should be the way we are? But we should also know that we’re not going to feel any wiser or any more ready in 10 years than we did 10 years ago, so we might as well just leap.”

Watch the video at top for more barrier-breaking advice, and check out more at time.com/firsts.

Time Firsts Book Inside - Embed
Courtesy Time
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