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Why Shonda Rhimes Started Saying Yes to the Things That Scare Her

Season 6 Episode 624
Aired on 11/15/2015 | CC tv-14
Have you ever faced your fears, ignored the negative voice in your head and said, "Yes, I'm all in!" to the things that scare you?

That's what Shonda Rhimes did for a full year. It may come as a surprise, but the producer behind some of the biggest hits on TV is also extremely shy. She regularly turned down invitations to parties and speaking engagements until one Thanksgiving, when her sister Delorse called her out for "never saying yes to anything."

At first she got an attitude, she says, but she realized her sister had a valid point. The idea stuck with her, and ultimately she decided that for one year she would say yes to everything that scared her, a process documented in her new memoir, Year of Yes.

"If I never say yes to anything, I need to start saying yes to things that I would always say no to automatically," Shonda says. "I promised myself that I would do it for just a year because I thought that I wasn't going to survive. I really thought, 'I'm going to die of shame and shock and fear.'"

In the video above, the beloved showrunner shares how her year of yes began.