Put Your Dream to the Test - Review

Alright. I have now completed my second book review for Thomas Nelson Publishers book review bloggers. For this one, I selected a book by one of my favorite authors, Dr. John C. Maxwell.

I have been a big fan of John Maxwell's writing for a long time. I was a member of the Injoy Life Club for several years and gained a lot of valuable insight from his leadership teaching. His book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is still one of the top 5 books I have read as a leader and one I refer to quite often.

Put Your Dreams to the Test is another inspiring read from Dr. Maxwell. His premise is that everyone has a dream at one time or another. He gives the reader 10 questions to take your dream from wish to fruition. Dr. Maxwell defines a dream as "an inspiring picture of the future that energizes your mind, will, and emotions, empowering you to do everything you can to achieve it." This definition alone is enough to draw the reader to explore this book further.

He believes that all dreams have the power to inspire and empower you. He helps the reader to clearly define the dream - creating a clear picture of an achievable future. He also helps the reader to identify if the dream meets with the passion of the dreamer as well as whether you have considered the cost to achieve it. The most helpful chapter to me was "The Pathway Question: Do I Have a Strategy to Reach My Dream?" One helpful quote was this: "The secret to your success is found in your daily agenda. If you do the right things day after day, then you will make progress, and you will eventually achieve what you set out to do." That's inspiring advice.

Another great piece of advice was implementing the "rule of five", doing five things every day that can move you closer to your dream. This helps to answer "The Tenacity Question." Most people fail to achieve their dreams because they fail to have the stick-to-it attitude necessary and put into practice small steps consistently to make it happen.

As usual, Dr. Maxwell writing is filled with plenty of inspiring stories and illustrations to make each point. Maxwell is an excellent story-teller and has an exhaustive illustration file drawing from Christian as well as non-Christian sources. This book is meant for anyone who has a dream, whether Christ-follower or not. It will have powerful potential for the kingdom of God if readers can develop a God-led dream to advance the kingdom. I wish that Dr. Maxwell were able to spend more time developing how dreams can have kingdom potential and not just a pathway for earthly success. There is tremendous inspiration and encouragement in Put Your Dreams to the Test for any and all Christ-followers. Get a copy for your library and put it into practice. You may find your dreams coming true.