In his e-book Reclaim Your Dreams: An Uncommon Guide to Living on Your Own Terms, Jonathan Mead makes a case for living authentically and making dreams come true. Part manifesto, part practical workbook, the first half of the book is devoted to overcoming mental blocks; the second part of the book is dedicated to discussing strategies on how to actually make dreams into reality.
Understanding Why we Stay in Jobs we Hate
Children have a hard time doing things they don't feel are right. They possess an innate instinct about authenticity, but by the time they grow up, this innate sense has been stripped away through conditioning. Duty, socialization and “template-driven” lives tell people what they should and should not do. Here's an example of a very common "template:"
- Go to school
- Find a "good" job
- Buy a house
- Marry
- Have children
- Send children to school
- Retire
Mead makes the point that by the time one reaches adulthood, an imposed sense of security has overridden authenticity, which is why so few people ever follow their dreams. In the above template, there is little room for "learning the tuba" or "walking the Great Wall of China."
Recognizing Habitual Behavior and Creating Room for Dreams
The first few chapters of Reclaim Your Dreams: An Uncommon Guide to Living on Your Own Terms deal with the walls humans build around their dreams and how those might be overcome. Mead notes that when a person can no longer sit still to play a game or has a panic attack when she realizes she's left her PDA at home, there's a big problem.
To make dreams come true, the reader must unlearn many ingrained habits. The author offers practical exercises that help the reader to think about what is really important. It is important for dreamers to stop caring quite so much about how much they earn and instead, start listening to what their heart is telling them.
For example, if readers spend less time earning, they might be able to claw out enough time to learn a new skill. The new skill takes them further down the road towards their dream. However, this education may be at the expense of, for example, a new car. The dreamer must decide which is more important.
Tools For Making Dreams Come True
Part two of Mead's e-book offers practical tools for moving toward a dream. Mead asks the reader to define three things: purpose in life, values, and dreams. A person who is aligned with his/her values is going to be happier regardless of the end result, so the author shows the reader how to move in that direction.
After the definitions are written, the reader creates a personal manifesto which states what he/she wants and how it's going to happen. Mead also suggests the creation of a "dream sanctuary" which is used in meditation and to keep the dreamer focused. Its format can be a notebook, a collage, or an object that reminds the reader of his or her dreams. The idea is to always keep a physical symbol of the dream around to encourage and remind.
Dreams do not Come True Overnight, and That's All Right
Two particularly useful sections of this e-book include the hints on how to create time for the dream, and tools for dealing with naysayers. There are no lies in this book that suggest that dreams can be accomplished overnight; making dreams come true is a process which can take many years. The dream may ultimately be impractical, but if the dreamer does not take time to work on it it will certainly never manifest.
For anyone who has been reading and working on personal development for a while, many of the ideas in this book may seem familiar and perhaps too simplistic. But as an introduction to the concept of making dreams come true and a practical guide, it's an excellent start.
Is Reclaim Your Dreams: An Uncommon Guide to Living on Your Own Terms Right for You?
It's rare that a book will not immediately try to set boundaries around a dream; Mead asks the reader to reach high and at least at the beginning to not restrict herself with "practicalities." The idea is that ultimately the dream will take its own shape, but first it must be allowed to grow. It's true that a 50-year-old who wants to be an astronaut will ultimately not become an astronaut, but he might find his way to space tourism, or floating in a zero-gravity chamber, or writing about space.
Some readers (including this writer) may find the e-book's quirky font off-putting: Letters at the start of sentences are not always capitalized. While this font was doubtless chosen to encourage thinking outside the box, it is irritating. Otherwise, the e-book's style is friendly, encouraging and even inspirational.
Encouraging, too, is that Jonathan Mead is now making a living from his own dream – which was to write. He consults and runs a portal for those interested in breaking free from a “template-driven” life.
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