It’s Time To Reclaim Your Dreams
February 10th, 2009
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Are you living your dreams? Most people don’t even remember their dreams. They’ve buried them under a pile of excuses, disillusionment, and social conformity. Jonathan Mead wants to help us escape the grind and live by our dreams, with his new ebook Reclaim Your Dreams: An Uncommon Guide to Living on Your Own Terms.
When I come across ebooks like this, I often buy them because I think this is a hugely important topic. At the same time, because so much has been written about this topic already, it’s really hard for any new ebook to stand out.
So I bought it, not really knowing if it would be different from what I’ve read already. After all, it was only a few weeks ago when I read Career Renegade, a pretty darn thorough guide to making a great living doing what you love. Would Reclaim Your Dreams really be that different?
As it turns out, yes. Reclaim Your Dreams is very different from the other books I’ve read because it focuses on the “softer side,” if you will. Recognizing that a one-size-fits-all solution is no good, Jonathan takes us through the process of first creating space for our dreams to breathe and grow, then figuring out what they actually are (not what someone tells us they should be).
“Once I started seeing through the eyes of my heart — instead of a socially-conditioned lens — things started to transform dramatically.”
- Jonathan Mead
He talks about how we’re brainwashed, we’re giving away our power, and our minds are constantly conflicted. I’ve recently written about how I’ve felt conflicted between what I called lightworking and neutralworking, between making a living and being who I want to be. Jonathan knows how important it is to integrate your heart with your mind.
“Integrating your heart and mind is the main goal of this book. I’ve struggled with this a lot myself. I know how painful and discouraging it can be. If I can help you with anything, I want to help you with this.”
- Jonathan Mead
So I see this as the perfect complement to Career Renegade. It’s not going to tell you the specifics of how to make money, but it will bring you clarity and stop you from getting in your own way.
You’ll learn how to figure out your dreams, your purpose, and your values. You’ll learn how to overcome uncertainty, reclaim ownership of your time, and create your dream sanctuary. You’ll even write your own personal manifesto.
I’m still in the early draft stage of most of the exercises, but I did the one about finding your values. I had seen this particular exercise before, but I had never felt compelled to do it until now.
Jonathan suggests limiting your list to at most seven values–the seven that are most important for you to align your life with. Here’s what I came up with:
- freedom
- abundance
- creativity
- authenticity
- knowledge
- playfulness
- contribution
I’m not completely happy with this list. Freedom and abundance are very similar, at least to me, so can I eliminate one? But they each have critical elements that the other one doesn’t. What about combining authenticity and knowledge into truth? But then that’s not really specific enough. Is playfulness really important enough to be on the list? More important than “not being a jerk?” Do I really care that much about contribution?
Still, having a good first draft is a lot better than what I had before, which was nothing. Thanks, Jonathan! Now I need to improve my alignment with these values.
This ebook is beautifully written, and it has a fantastic design that Jonathan did himself. I think you’ll find it very unconventional and inspiring. But don’t dally–Reclaim Your Dreams is only available at a discounted price until Friday.
February 10th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
I don’t know what my dreams are any more… they’re whatever my mother tells me. At any rate my parents are both of the opinion that you are not supposed to enjoy your job. Perhaps I could do with this book.
February 10th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
That quotation about the heart vs the eye is key. Imagine you lost your eyesight tomorrow, Hunter and Sarah. Would you live your life differently? Would your dreams change?
Ari Herzog´s last blog post..Why is Social Media About Media?
February 11th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Hunter:
I have the book in my list of ebooks to read. Thanks for reminding me. The themes sound like they are in total alignment with the principles behind Someday Syndrome.
Cheers,
Alex
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog post..Biting the bullet for massive action
February 11th, 2009 at 10:01 am
@ Sarah, getting your dreams from your mother (or anyone else) is not good! It’s funny you mention the “you’re not supposed to enjoy your job” thing, because Jonathan specifically talks about that.
@ Ari, if I lost my eyesight, I’d probably work on developing my third eye (6th chakra).
@ Alex, I hadn’t thought about that, but yes, I think his principles are very much in alignment with yours.
February 12th, 2009 at 7:10 am
This book almost seems too soft, but I might take a look.
It’s going to be much harder reaching our dreams in the current environment, as we seem to be involved in an economic event that will get it’s own section in history books.
Chad @ sentient money´s last blog post..“TAKE THE PAIN!!!!”
February 12th, 2009 at 8:32 am
@ Chad, I’m usually not too into the soft stuff, but I found this to be different. I forgot to mention that Jonathan has a free sample chapter at the bottom of his sales page.
The current environment is definitely making it harder to find a job or do well in the stock market. At the same time, some people are doing better than ever in their businesses.
April 22nd, 2009 at 7:39 am
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