Book Review: Wishcraft by Barbara Sher

I'm back with another review. This one's a self-help workbook/book. Wishcraft by Barbara Sher was an eye opening book for me. The book's subtitle is 'How to get what you REALLY want'. I think that describes it pretty accurately. The book is intended for people who have been shelving their dreams or people who don't know how to get there. The book challenges your mind and forces you to come up with ideas to turn your dreams into reality. If you're an amateur looking to be a pro, this book is a good starting point. Equally, if you want to be self employed, develop a secondary source of income or just live your dream, this book may be very useful.

The book is broken into eleven chapters. The sequence of the chapters is one of the things that makes the book work. Barbara Sher focuses on removing mental blocks to success in the beginning chapters. She makes the reader re-examine their childhood and weed out all the negativity and excuses that are holding them back. Instead of fearing negative thinking, she teaches us to embrace it.

What I absolutely loved about the book was its 'hands on' nature. It's filled with exercises that force you to think. I had a lot of fun doing the exercises. When I was done, I had a plan for success. Though the book starts out at a very approachable and basic level, it quickly progresses to the nitty gritty of making dreams come true. Barbara Cher talks about many important facets of success like how to leverage connections or 'barnraising', goalsearch, time management, delegation etc. But none of these sound like a chore when you do the exercises. I am a kinaesthetic learner so I loved doing the exercises. I think it helped me overcome the first weakness of any amateur- inaction (or procrastination).

As you progress through the book, she makes you challenge your ideas and weed out the unrealistic or unrelated bits. She inspires you to follow the plan. When you write down a plan as realistic and achievable as this one, it makes you feel like success is within reach.

Barbara Sher correctly identifies the areas in which amateurs need work. The book is planned in such a a way that it never gets pushy.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to turn their dreams into reality.

Overall rating: 4.2/5

Pros

Structured (step-by-step)
Detailed
Hands on

Cons

New readers may get lost