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Birth of the "YES I CAN" Project
The first "YES I CAN" Project
In August 2009, Sara Draznin asked if she could have some of the "YES I CAN" buttons for her students. Sara is a teacher at Tolleson Union High School and she believed she could use them to motivate her math students to do better in class.
While I was happy to provide them to her, I really didn't think they would do much to motivate teenagers.
But I was wrong!
Several weeks later, Sara called again and asked if she could have two thousand more "YES I CAN" buttons. She wanted to give one to every student at the high school.
What took place in her classroom exceeded either of our expectations.
The arrangements were made and Sara received two thousand more "YES I CAN" buttons, so every student at Tolleson Union High School could have one.
Below are comments written by a few of Sara's students regarding what the "YES I CAN" button meant to them:
Summer Sims:
"List of things I believe are possible after receiving the "YES I CAN" button:
Yes I Can...help people in need.
Yes I Can...be a positive influence.
Yes I Can...achieve all of my goals.
Yes I Can...make a difference in the world.
Yes I Can (and will)...go to heaven!
Yes I Can...be somebody someday.
Yes I Can...be an impact on somebodys life.
Yes I Can...make my mother proud of me.
Yes I Can...forgive those who hurt me.
Yes I Can...save a life.
Yes I Can...overcome all my fears.
I know people should start with little goals, but I have big plans for myself so I start with big goals."
Mikeia Green:
... every time I'm wearing my pin, I feel like I can really do anything I put my mind to. Sometimes when I'm taking a test in my AP class, I just look at my pin and I don't feel nervous anymore. It's almost like they have a power to them even though I know it's all about believing in myself and the pins are a great reminder to help me remember that.
Julio Lopez:
I would like to thank you for the pins! They really motivate me to do my work and make me want to learn more about math. Every time I look at the pin it puts a smile on my face and brightens up my day and motivates me to do my best...
Denise Erives:
I am a senior at Tolleson Union High School. TUHS has a rule that we cannot wear shirts with writing on them. Some times I wake up and feel like I want to wear a shirt that says "Yes I Can" or something else, but I can't so instead I wear a button. People seem to notice buttons more than anything written on things and then ask "you can do what?" and you answer feeling good about yourself "yes I can do anything!"
Humberto Quinonez:
... your pins really changed my life. When I feel I cannot move on, I just look at the "Yes I Can" and it motivates me to work harder.
Quentin Huntley Jr.
I really like the pins. I have like 15 all over my book bag. Everyone always asks me why I have them, and I tell them that I can achieve what I want. Yes I can do it. I can do what I want to do. I look at my book bag and tell myself I can.
2nd period class
3rd period class
4th period class
March 1, 2010
This morning I had the pleasure of speaking to the students in three of Sara Draznin's classes, at Tolleson Union High School and they gave me valuable feedback about how the "YES I CAN" buttons they were given seven months ago had inspired them.
Afterwards, I also had the opportunity to speak to several of them, one on one, and heard about their dreams for the future.
I let Sara's students know that they truly are pioneers in the "YES I CAN" Project; and one day, when the "YES I CAN" Project is known worldwide, they will be able to tell their children and grandchildren they were the first class and theirs was the first school to work with the "YES I CAN" Project.
It was a very exciting day for me and I'm happy to have had the opportunity to spend time with them.
So to Sara, her students, and to all the staff and students at Tolleson Union High School, I say thank you.
~ Don Ratliff
My Story by Don Ratliff
I grew up believing I was incapable.
And because that's what I believed, that's how I lived my life.
Then, in October 2005, at 52 years of age, I participated in the first of a series of personal growth workshops and made a startling discovery. It wasn't that I was incapable. I simply had a limiting belief that I was incapable. And by changing that belief, I could change my life.
In doing those workshops, I discovered I wasn't alone. Other people have limiting beliefs, as well. In fact, we all have them. And because our limiting beliefs keep us from ever reaching our true potential, I decided to do something about it.
That "something" is the "YES I CAN" Project.
Don with Mark Victor Hansen - Oct. 2006
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A year later, in October 2006, I attended a personal growth workshop where Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of "Chickensoup for the Soul", was a featured speaker. I had the opportunity to speak with him and told him about my idea for the "YES I CAN" Project.
He seemed interested, gave me his business card, and asked me to call his secretary. But I never made the call.
My limiting beliefs got in the way and kept me from making the call that might have allowed me to launch the "YES I CAN" Project with an incredibly powerful partner.
While I was now aware that I had limiting beliefs, simply knowing about them didn't make them go away.
Don with Bob Proctor - Oct. 2009
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Don with Mark Victor Hansen - Oct. 2009
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Fast forward three years
It's now October 2009 and I am attending the same event I had been at three years earlier where I had the opportunity to talk to Mark Victor Hansen. Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, and Mark Victor Hansen are speaking at the event and what they said lit a fire within me. I made the decision that was no longer going to allow my limiting beliefs keep me from making the "YES I CAN" Project a reality.
Inpiration for the YES I CAN button
On April 26, 2010, I had a meeting with Dorothy Branum, one of the customer service representaives at my company, and her boyfriend, Don Owens.
At the meeting, Don was wearing a button that said "YES I CAN!" The text on the button was hand-written, in red ink, and my first thought was that it was his way of showing support for the "YES I CAN" Project.
As the meeting progressed, Dorothy asked if I remembered the button and I had to tell her I did not. She then told me about a day that had taken place at work four years earlier, in 2006.
Dorothy was having a rough day at work, as were several other employees. But rather than let the collective negativity get her down, she wrote "YES I CAN!" on a piece of paper and then made it into a button. And then whenever anyone said something negative, she simply tapped on her button and said, "YES I CAN!"
At the end of our meeting, Dorothy gave me the original "YES I CAN" button. I was touched by her gesture.
I'm going to have the original "YES I CAN" button framed and will keep it in my office to serve as a reminder that we all make a difference in other people's lives... whether they remember it or not.
Thank you, Dorothy!
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