Dreamcrafting: The Art of Dreaming Big, the Science of Making It Happen

Canadian business consultants Levesque (Breakaway Planning) and McNeil (The I of the Hurricane) offer a detailed how-to guide to realizing deeply desired personal dreams. According to the authors, many people are prevented from achieving their dreams because they do not have adequate motivation, time, or support from others, and have not understood that small improvements can lead to big successes. In order to surmount these road blocks, the authors suggest mastering five macroskills that will foster a precise sense of mission, sustain motivation, assist with achieving a balance between short and long-term goals, and sweep away the resistance of others by inspiring their help. The fifth macroskill is to practice the other skills on a regular basis. Within each chapter, the authors offer short bios of high-profile dreamcrafters--such as Dwight Eisenhower, Rudy Giuliani, Jane Goodall and Charles Lindbergh--who had to overcome obstacles before realizing their dreams. The instructions and exercises for mastering these macroskills, though, are somewhat confusing, because the authors often pad their advice with impassioned prose (""the skillful dreamcrafter...kick starts the motivational engine by planting the flag, burning the bridges, setting fire to the boats""). Were this volume a little less concerned with rhetoric and a little more concerned with clarity and brevity, more readers might find the advice herein valuable.