The new age-y title seems more like edgy spin for this nuts and bolts handbook for owning and realizing goals (wild dreams). First printed in the late 1970's, this 30th anniversary edition references quaint, dated practices like using a typewriter and researching at the library. But charming anachronisms do not dilute the potent, practical guidance Sher presents with humor and tested, step-by-step expertise. Over and over Sher's wisdom made me laugh as I realized how much that is served up as cutting-edge in coaching, menifesting, and hefty-price-tag online courses, has been around a LONG time.

The writing works. It's not brilliant prose, but it doesn't set out to be. Sher's engaging voice reads like a wise, patient, and compassionate aunt who KNOWS you're brilliant and won't let you give up your dream for lack of good counsel.

Chapters 1 & 2 build the rapport and trust. Beyond that I kept nodding and smiling as she shared her experiences and examples from students in her classes to illustrate each step of the wishcraft process. Instead of banning fear or complaining, Sher honors them as important tools for realizing great goals. The chapter "Barn-raising" is a brilliant study of the value of social capital.

A few lines that reeled me in:
"What I'm interested in is what you love. ... You may have a case of amnesia about it. That amnesia can be so total that you're not even sure anymore what you love." I've spent plenty of time there.

"All the people we call "geniuses" are men and women who somehow escaped having to put that curious, wondering child in themselves to sleep. Instead, they devoted their lives to equipping that child with the tools and skills it needed to do its playing on an adult level."

"Before you can get what you need, you've got to take responsibility for knowing what you need."

"Love your life. ... Be really happy at what you're doing. That's when you're irresistible ... you're cheerful, enthusiastic, and loving."

Instead of purging references to typing or pocket calendars from the original text, Sher simply includes her website www.barbarasher.com and BlogTalkRadio.com credit in her brief bio.


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I enjoyed her approach. "Can you persevere? I can't. Self discipline - I jogged once. ... I'm an ace procrastinator." She had my attention. ( )

Simple but practical ways of doing your job to get what you really want. Requires a bit of thinking, trusting and believing in yourself in order to make the strategies work.

This was recommended in an art quilting class, and fits right in with my plan to figure out what I want to be when I grown up. ( )

I've had this book for at least 20 years and have picked it up and put it down several times with no results. I am now at a point in my life when I am receptive to the "message" of this book.

There are four sections to this book and I have completed two, marking it heavily with different color highlighter markers. Most books jump right into the problem solving and tells you what you should do but not why or educating the reader about the obstacles that can prevent success. This book is different. It tells you how and why you feel the way that you do and explains why you've failed to make the breakthroughs in achieving your goals and accomplishments. This book dispels the myths and obstacles that stand in your way and gives you the tools to recognize the self imposed limits we place on ourselves. The second half of the book assists the reader in the implementation of stated dreams and goals.

Even if I never finish the second half of the book, I now have the necessary tools that will assist me in accomplishing my dreams and goals. What a breakthrough! This is one of those books that you recognize as gold and even if you don't read it immediately, you realize that it is good to have in your possession just when you are the most coachable. ( )

This book is full of practical insights and techniques to use in order to set and reach goals, including flow charts, how to find out what dreams you really want, and how to plan for the next years of your life. ( )

Recommended by many readers of Bolles' What Color is Your Parachute? I'm glad it was. Practical advice about focusing on and achieving one's goals.