Book Review #6: "Dare To Dream…Then Do It: What Successful People Know And Do"
I’ve been a fan of John C. Maxwell ever since reading his excellent book on leadership The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, so it was without hesitation that I decided to read one of his other books on leadership and human potential. Regardless of being just 120 pages, "Dare To Dream…Then Do It: What Successful People Know And Do" is a personal treasure that will ignite you to maximize your potential by helping you realizing your dreams. What kind of dreams are we talking about? YOUR dreams. Whether it is to be a successful pioneer in your field of work, a better leader in your family and organization, an achiever of what some people might characterize of "impossible victories", rediscover or reveal your inner self, contributing your talent, wisdom and life to a worthy cause, or anything else for that matter, this book is truly an eye-opener to one’s heart.
One reason that makes this book so good to read is that it is filled with words and stories from highly successful leaders, innovators and creative thinkers all throughout history. Take for example the following immortal and inspiring words from such people which you can cherish in this book:
- "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat" - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
- "Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground" - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
- "Don’t let someone else create your world, for when they do they will create it too small" - Edwin Louis Cole, founder of Christian Men’s Network.
- "Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was" - Dag Hammarskjold, Swedish diplomat
- "Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things" - Apostle Paul writing to the Philippians (Philippians 4:8)
- "Early in life, I decided that I would not be overcome by events. My philosophy has been that regardless of the circumstances, I shall not be vanquished, but will try to be happy. Life is not easy for any of us. But it is a continual challenge, and it is up to us to be cheerful — and to be strong, so that those who depend on us may draw strength from our example." - Rose Kennedy
- "Thought is the original source of all wealth, all success, all material gain, all great discoveries and inventions, and all achievement." - Claude M. Bristol, U.S. author
- "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; there is where they should be. Now put foundations under them." - Henry David Thoreau, essayist
- "The time is always right to do what is right" - Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader
- "At the Day of Judgment, we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done." - Thomas Kempis, German monk"
- "The most important single ingredient in the formula for success is knowing how to get along with people." - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
- "Treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, German poet
- "If a man has talent and cannot use it, he has failed. If he has a talent and uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he has talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded, and won a satisfaction and a triumph few men will ever know." - Thomas Wolfe, U.S. novelist
- "Every man must at last accept himself for his portion, and learn to do his work with the tools and talents with which he has been endowed. That some are more richly endowed that others should cause no concern, for in the final analysis it may appear that the mighty oak is of less importance than the tiny violet which blooms in humble obscurity at its feet." - Charles A. Hawley
- "Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance. He that shall walk, with vigor, three hours a day, will pass, in seven years, a space equal to the circumference of the globe." - Charles Johnson
- "So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable" - Christopher Reeve, actor
As for the stories, I learned so many things which I had no idea were actual inspiring acts. For instance, I didn’t know that:
- Andres Segovia revolutionized the music industry by pursuing his dream about perfecting the art of playing the classical guitar and establishing that musical instrument as a key tool in the concert hall. As John Maxwell justly writes about Segovia’s work, "When people discover their dreams and commit to them, there’s no telling what kind of impact they will make."
- Arnold Palmer, one of the greatest golfers of all times and a man which was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 1960 and Athlete of the Decade by an Associated Press poll, screwed up a "par five ninth hole" in a 1961 tournament. And because of that single result, a bronze plaque was made and hung on that same golf course which states that Arnold Palmer, which was voted as the best sportsman the year before, took a 12 on that hole. He really screwed up that shot. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop Arnold Palmer to continue his passion for the game and winning more golf tournaments.
- In their first professional baseball debut, two NBL rookies were playing against each other that day. Jim Greengrass who was playing for the Cincinnati Reds helped his team win with a score of 9-8 by hitting four doubles. In the other hand, Hank Aaron, who was playing for the Milwaukee Braves, went 0 for 5. I don’t know much about baseball, and I certainly don’t know who Jim Greengrass is, but I have heard a lot about Hank Aaron and what he has accomplished simply because he didn’t let failure win over his dreams and achievements. So next time you’re banging your head on the desk because your software design shows too much coupling between classes and its complexity is too high to make any significant change on the spot, don’t let it stop you from trying harder and imagining further solutions to your problem.
In essence, the spirit of the book can be summarized with these words by the author:
Successful people know and do things differently than unsuccessful people. That is a fact. If you have experienced a measure of success, you know this to be true. It starts with the way you think and dream, and it continues with how you live.
Most revolutions throughout human history started out with a dream. What kind of revolution do you want to live your life for? I know some people who dream dreams, but then summarize their lives as a nightmare and a sad reality because they simply didn’t take that extra step to "instantiate" (hey, this is a blog about software development anyways, right?) that dream.
So, whether you’re a software developer, scholar, consultant or manager, what can the ideas from this book bring to you and your team? For starters, if you’re a software development manager, the principles of this book will whisper in your heart that you should foremost trust your team and help your team members to grow both at a personal level and at a professional level, so that they can become who (not what, for the who defines the what in life) they’re really meant to be. You want another challenge? Help them to become better than yourself at what you’re doing, and if possible help them to achieve greater things that you have achieved in your life and career. At the end, you will benefit more from it. If you’re a software developer, a consultant or a student of the field, don’t be shy to step out of your comfort zone and share what you know (your experience) with others. Offer to give a talk or a presentation at your next user group’s meeting. Don’t be reluctant to write something you have in mind if it can help a couple of people (blogs are so easy to start nowadays). Don’t regret writing that piece of software that could greatly contribute to the field or, even better, to the rest of the world. Don’t be afraid to learn new things and to embrace failure while trying new stuff…as long as you’re willing to learn from it. As stated by the author,
People will never be what they ought to be until they are doing what they ought to be doing.
There are so many other inspiring stories throughout this book that I’m voluntarily omitting from writing in this post, because I rather wish you read them on your own. What you have read so far in this post is not even half of the rich content that John Maxwell has wrote in this book. In closing words, I’ll mention it again: never stop dreaming big in life. I love writing software and working with people with different skills, but whether I stay in this field all my life or not, one thing is for sure, I’ll never stop dreaming.
Think about your dreams. Does it inspire you to work hard? Does it motivate to take smart risks? Does it build you up? Will it benefit others around you? As you move closer to fulfilling it, will it bring you closer to who you were born to be? Those are all hallmarks of a healthy daring dream!
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