Dream Big by Bob Goff

“Have you spent so much time and energy trying to meet others’ expectations of you that you forgot what you really want for yourself?”

— Bob Goff

Book Review: 5/5

This is a dangerous book.

Dangerous because it taps into the desires deep within, the ones that you thought didn’t exist anymore because you stuffed them down so far. Dangerous because it gives you the permission to dream big and then to act on those dreams.

I read this book during a major transition from one career to an entirely different one. It was instrumental in helping me to discern which career path I needed to take. The truth was that my current career path did not light me up from the inside or fulfill my heart’s deepest longings. It was a good job, but one that no longer spoke life into me; instead, it slowly sucked me dry.

Many millennials, having had workaholic baby boomer parents, feel like they need to find a job straight out of college and work that same job for forty years until they retire.

The reality, though, is that most millennials are realizing that careers are much more malleable than they were in their parents’ generation. Beyond that, we actually have the privilege of pursuing careers that we want rather than working in a mom-and-pop generational business like our parents and their parents before them.

I also think that God has placed dreams inside each of us - dreams that only you can execute because they are specific to you. The dream may be career-related, or maybe it is a hobby or some creative endeavour that has been simmering in your brain for a long time. That’s what Bob Goff is talking about.

Don’t settle for what you’re simply able to do; figure out what you were made to do, then do lots of that. (34)

Whether by generational influence or church culture, we tend to shy away from talking about “following your dreams.” It seems too self-serving, too whimsical, and too unpredictable. In the culture I grew up in, one’s duty to family was emphasized to the point that pursuing any dreams outside of family was deemed selfish and irresponsible.

We need to replace what we’ve settled for with what we’ve been longing for. (33)

Perhaps this book would not have made such an impression on me if I wasn’t in a state of turmoil as I read it. As it was, Goff’s words struck home. I didn’t want to “settle” in my current job anymore, not when I felt like I was most alive doing something else entirely.

Keep this in mind: if you take away what you’re known for, whatever is left is who you are. (69)

Goff gets down to the root of who we are: what do we love and long for? What would we do if there were no barriers to doing what we love? How can you take down those barriers in order to just do it?

He asks the hard questions: Who are you? Where are you? What do you want?

Too many people let the improbability of their ambitions keep them from taking to the air. (109)

He doesn’t shy away from the difficulty of this call to dream big. Goff acknowledges that pursuing your dreams is hard work. They won’t just fall into your lap. Sometimes your dream will require several efforts and lots of falling on your face. But it’s all part of the adventure called life. To stay stuck in a job, major, relationship, or city is to rob you of life’s adventure.

If you are serious about your dream, surround yourself with people who love you well. (3)

Goff doesn’t advocate following your dreams on your own. It is important to have a community of friends and family who will support you (or correct you if your dreams are over-ambitious). Otherwise, accusations of irresponsibility and selfishness are well-founded.

The dreams we have, I believe, are God-given gifts. (229)

Most of all, you need to be anchored in God and His desires for your life. Do your dreams fall in line with God’s desires for a better, more beautiful, and whole earth? Do they build relationships or tear down relationships? Do they bring life to others? If your dream is lifegiving to you and to others, then it may be a dream worth pursuing.

The way to start something new is to quit something else. (143)

Goff fills his book with anecdotes and entertaining stories of his own dreams. He speaks from his own experience of leaving his law firm in order to pursue a dream to increase literacy and equal rights for girls in developing African countries. He believes in living this one wild life as freely and passionately as God has created him to.

If you have a dream that you want to pursue but are unsure where to start, read this book at your own risk. Then, let’s talk! Let me know what you think or drop a comment below.

In courage and in love,

Katelyn

Also, see more reviews on Goodreads.