Richie Norton

MAKE A DOWN PAYMENT ON YOUR DREAMS

The following questions really got me thinking about how I spend my resources on dreams:

• “Do a quick review of the money you spend each month: How much is spent on your children’s dreams? Your spouse’s dreams? The dreams of your extended family, friends, the world? How much is spent on yours?”

• “How can we harness Charles Dickens’ advice to make a down payment on our own dreams?”

• “If you do not currently generate paid income, are any funds in your household budget allocated to you? Are you comfortable with the arrangement you have?“

These power-questions come from the incredible book Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen when You Dare to Dream by Whitney Johnson.

Warning: Reading DARE, DREAM, DO will unleash your pent-up potential, feed your hungry dreams and dare you to do something about it.

Whitney is the co-founder of Clayton M. Christensen’s investment firm Rose Park Advisors–aka–the “Disruptive Innovation Fund.” (Clayton is the author of the legendary book The Innovator’s Dilemma.) She is also a former Institutional Investor-ranked sell-side analyst on Wall Street, a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Senior Advisor to the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards, and a TEDx speaker. Whitney also generously did an amazing book review on The Power of Starting Something Stupid here.

About DARE, DREAM, DO, the Amazon blurb explains, “Johnson directs her attention to teaching women, in particular, a three-step model for personal advancement and happiness.” However, I found the stories, examples and principles apply not just to women, but directly to my life personally and to everyone universally. DARE, DREAM, DO is endorsed by both influential women and men including Brené Brown, Gretchen Rubin, Moira Forbes, Barbara Corcoran, Marcus Buckingham, Clayton Christensen and Kent Hatkoff.

I’m going to follow Whitney’s book review style and give you a taste of this amazing book through tweet-able quotes that I found inspiring.

WHITNEY JOHNSON-ISMS FROM DARE, DREAM, DO

“Dreaming is an inalienable right.” @johnsonwhitney

“The act of writing down our dreams allows us to own them and eventually act on them.” @johnsonwhitney

“When there’s something we want to accomplish, the power to achieve that dream often comes from facing our most wrenching sadness.” @johnsonwhitney

“In order to find another piece of who we are, we may need to discard a little bit of who we are right now.” @johnsonwhitney

“Be the hero of your story.” @johnsonwhitney

“Throw out your conventional planning, because dreaming is discovery-driven.” @johnsonwhitney

“Go ahead and date dreams, lots of them–you don’t need to commit to every dream you date.” @johnsonwhitney

“By taking on our challenges, we teach our children to take on theirs, and give them the ability to dream.” @johnsonwhitney

“It’s only when we move beyond what we know we can do and take a risk–or double-dog dare–that we can make our dreams happen.” @johnsonwhitney

“What one thing, one small thing, will you do to dream today?” @johnsonwhitney

BOOM!