In the spirit of The Last Lecture, The Secret, and The Alchemist,
this small book presents BIG ideas for turning your "one day" into
today, including the generational transfer of a dream and a powerful
blueprint for a masterpiece life--from the author of the New York
Times bestselling memoir and major motion picture The Pursuit of
Happyness.
On a winter's day, Chris Gardner set off with his nine-year-old
granddaughter Brooke to find the harmonica of her dreams. The search
sends them North "beyond the wall" into a foreboding Chicago
neighborhood and, soon, on a harrowing adventure that will change both
of their lives--and ours.
Chris is still mourning the loss of his girlfriend to brain cancer. Her
question haunts him: "Now that we know how short life can be, what will
you do with the time you have left?" After five years, he feels an
urgency--what he calls, "Atomic Time" in which every second counts--to
find an answer, but is stuck. Even while giving Brooke permission to
aspire to one day become President of the United States, he knows it's
time to reclaim his own permission to dream.
Lost, Chris and his granddaughter board a bus, reminding him of earlier
rides through dark times when dreams of a better life kept him alive. As
the two wind through a changing cityscape, Chris reflects on past
lessons that offer powerful guidance for dreaming your way to monumental
success.
At its heart, this book lays out a blueprint for building a
dream-come-true life--even during uncertainty. Gardner delivers the
secrets to achieving a prosperous career--from a method for identifying
your ultimate dream to a playbook for becoming world class at it. His
tools include the "new 3 R's"--or the Rep, the Rap and the
Rolodex--which reveal how to earn a stellar reputation, develop a rap
for marketing yourself, and amass a Rolodex of rewarding relationships.
No matter how much wealth you achieve, Chris notes, true success comes
from enriching the lives of others--so all can still have access to the
American Dream.
Toward the end, Brooke observes that in Atomic Time it's never too late
for anyone to reinvent themselves and change their fortune. Chris,
hearing her, realizes what his next pursuit will be--to go back to high
school and give permission to dream to the next generation of problem
solvers and change makers.
A true fable, Permission to Dream is a timeless and timely manifesto
for turning dreams into action--beginning right now.
