REVIEW: “Dreaming is not harmful. How to get what you really want ", Barbara Sher, Annie Gottlieb

I am very suspicious of books from the category “How to become a millionaire in two weeks”, “How to achieve your goals in 1 month”, “How to change your life tomorrow”, etc. But the book “Dreaming is not harmful. How to get what you really want”initially interested me precisely because it did not promise fantastic results in a tiny period of time.

She simply said: "Dreaming is not harmful" - and it was this quiet, unobtrusive, but at the same time effective appeal that did its job - I decided to read this book.

Annie Gottlieb

Think about the genius you were as a child

Most of all, I am grateful to the authors for helping me remember my childhood dreams. I, like most people, did not take them seriously, and the question "What do you want to become when you grow up?" I have always answered differently. In kindergarten, they praised me for pronouncing a few words in English without mistakes - and I am sure that I will become a translator. I did an excellent job with the role in the New Year's performance - and now I already dream of becoming an actress. In the second grade I wrote my first poem - and I know for sure that the poet is sleeping in me.

But then, as a child, I, like all children, did not know the main thing: all our dreams, our every desire, each of our little victories is what tells us the path to what will make us happy.

The book contains many practice exercises to help you remember your childhood dreams. You yourself can easily write what you seem to have irretrievably forgotten: what you loved to do, what was interesting to you, what you were not sorry to waste your time on.

As a child, each of us was a real genius: we knew what we want. We were not yet adults, constrained by various circumstances (no money, no time, no opportunities, etc.), and we were not afraid of a possible failure, we were not overcome by doubts.

And now you remembered what you dreamed about as a child. Now answer the question: do you still want to do this? If your answer is "yes", then forget for a minute about the continuation, which you certainly added to your answer ("this is very difficult", "I am no longer at that age", "I will never dare to change my life so drastically." etc.), and know that:

You can still.

I don't care about your age, past or present circumstances: you can still do anything, have anything, or be anything.

Barbara Sher

Private detective game

Who knows you better than yourself? Every day you see yourself in the mirror, you know exactly what you love and what you hate. But you will be surprised when you realize that you do not know everything about yourself.

In one of the practical tasks, the authors invite you to play a private detective: examine your own home as if you were seeing it for the first time and try to understand what kind of person lives here. When you see the results, you will be surprised. After I surveyed my own home, I made the following conclusions:

Points that did not surprise me:

First. On the basis of which the assumption was made: this person has more than three hundred paper books, and there is an electronic book on the table, and if you look into it, you can find more than a dozen more works.

Why is this not a discovery for me: I adore reading since childhood, I have always known this.

Second. On the basis of which the assumption was made: there are seven notebooks on the table, in which verses, scraps of thoughts, quotes from books, lines from favorite songs are chaotically mixed up.

Sixth. On the basis of which the assumption was made: two players, a bunch of headphones, carefully stored CDs.

Why is this not a discovery for me: I listen to music all the time.

Points that surprised me:

Third. On the basis of which the assumption was made: on the table a sketchbook and felt-tip pens. In all notebooks, emoticons, cats and some kind of squiggles are adjacent to letters, the deep meaning of which is clear only to their creator.

And then, quite unexpectedly for myself, I realize that I am constantly drawing something. Mind maps when I need to decompose a complex problem into its component parts. Smilies, cats and other animals when I need to distract myself. I even got an album from somewhere, and even with felt-tip pens.

Fourth. On the basis of which the assumption was made: lots of photo albums, two cameras that stand proudly on the top shelf, a bunch of folders on a laptop called "Print Photos".

I never thought about taking a photography course or learning how to work decently with modern photo editors. But what is really there, I'll be honest: I never even thought that photography could be of interest to me.

What I concluded from this: now I am thinking about enrolling in photography courses. And no, I do not want to make it a matter of life. Make it an enjoyable hobby.

Fifth. On the basis of which the assumption was made: there are many magnets on the refrigerator from different cities of Russia and other countries. In the nightstand there is a box with various postcards, seeing which one wants to buy a plane ticket. And in the kitchen there are several cups, which indicate that their owner has visited at least three countries.

Why is this discovery for me: because I love to travel, but my piggy bank of cities and countries is not so big yet, despite all the trophies.

After completing this exercise, you will surely learn something new about your hobbies and your character. And who knows, maybe you will finally understand what you want to do in life. It's fun, try it.:)

One of the main rules: don't be afraid to ask for help

The theme throughout the book is: Don't be afraid to ask others for help. No one can achieve tremendous success alone. And if you don't believe me, read the autobiographies of successful people. They always had someone who helped them, no matter how - with life advice, money, or simply introduced them to the right people.

Anyone in your life can help you achieve what you truly desire: your family, friends, acquaintances, acquaintances of your friends and acquaintances of your acquaintances. On condition, of course, if you are not ashamed to ask for help. Who knows, maybe you will be able to assemble a team of like-minded people who will work to achieve one goal.

Summarizing

I am very glad that this book came into my hands. It took me a week to read it, but I do not regret the time spent.

I remembered my childhood dreams and learned to make goals out of them. I played detective and looked for hidden talents and inclinations. I laid out goals for specific tasks and learned to fulfill them. I took a fresh look at dreams and learned to cast aside fears and doubts.

The authors of the book suggested that I live five lives, and over 330 pages I learned how to fit them into one.

Who will be interested in this book

To everyone who loves to dream, as well as to all those who consider it a waste of time. The former will learn to turn their dreams into goals and achieve them, while the latter will understand the main thing: what we dream about is what we need.