August 29, 2021
Put Your Dreams to Work:
Proven Strategies for Achieving Success in Your Work and Personal Life
Annabel Chotzen
Kukui Publishing (2021)
ISBN: 978-0578782256
New Book Provides Practical Strategies for Dream Realization
Put Your Dreams to Work is a testament to the power of having a dream, visualizing it, and manifesting it. Annabel Chotzen, international speaker, corporate trainer, and business consultant, shares in these pages her fascinating personal stories and those of friends and family members whom she has seen firsthand make their dreams become their realities. Even better, she shares the strategies they used to make it happen.
Annabel engages her reader from the opening pages by telling the dramatic story of a young Jewish man in Nazi Germany named Walter who had a dream to come to America. In Walter’s story and that of many others, the power of visualization is revealed. Walter escaped Nazi Germany by envisioning how he would behave when he reached the border and how his interaction with the border guard would be positive.
Other stories focus on the power of taking action. For example, Annabel, her parents, and siblings used to live in the Seattle area, but one day they took a trip to Hawaii. Annabel shares what her father said to her during that trip:
“‘Annabelli (that is what he called me), I have a dream of living in Hawaii.’ I had seen so many elderly tourists who could barely walk who seemed to have finally made it to Hawaii for a brief visit. I did not want my dad to wait until he was feeble or it was too late. I said, ‘Daddy, do it now!’”
With those words, Annabel’s father was inspired to move to Hawaii, and a few months later, the family did. Now Annabel has enjoyed decades of living in Hawaii and swimming in its warm ocean. Repeatedly throughout the book, she talks about how her parents’ efforts to make their dreams come true have benefited her, and then she shares stories of how her dreams benefited her husband and son.
Put Your Dreams to Work is divided into twenty-five short chapters on various strategies that will help you to manifest your own dreams. The chapter titles include: Discovering the Authentic You, Pushing Through Fear, The Importance of a Support Group to Achieve Your Dreams, and Enjoying the Dreams You Are Living Today. In addition, each chapter ends with Questions for Reflection to help you get a clearer understanding of what you want and what you can do to make that desire your new reality.
Beyond its inspirational message, one thing that makes Put Your Dreams to Work stand out is Annabel’s wonderful sense of humor. For example, in her chapter about how to get along with people, she writes:
“If the person is right, you can say, ‘You are right; you are absolutely right. I agree with you.’ People love it if you say you agree with them; it helps them feel better. I am rarely upset, but once in a while if I am, my husband may say, ‘I agree with you,’ and that immediately calms me down. Then I tell him, ‘That isn’t fair; you attended my workshops.’”
I also love how Annabel is not afraid to laugh at herself or share her foibles that led her on her journey to greater understanding so her dreams could become reality. One example of how she shares her own shortcomings comes in association with one of the best pieces of advice she gives in the book—how to follow the Platinum Rule:
“Most people are doing unto others the way they would want to be done unto. The problem is many people do not always like the way they are being done unto. The way you want to be treated may differ from how others want to be treated. And when people feel mistreated, they become angry and disillusioned. The success of the family or work team then suffers.
“When I first got married, on a special occasion, like my husband’s birthday, I would give him flowers because I loved flowers. One day, he said, ‘Sweetheart, thanks for the flowers, but they really don’t do that much for me.’ I asked him, ‘What do you want?’ He said, ‘A shirt.’ So I bought him a bright red shirt—because I loved red. I found out quickly that he didn’t like red; he liked blue. I had practiced the Golden Rule throughout this process, but it hadn’t worked out the way I intended.
“There is a better rule for getting along with other people. It’s called the Platinum Rule: ‘Do unto others the way they want to be done unto.’”
Dreams really can be put to work, and there is a lot in this book that will surprise you as Annabel provides the evidence to prove it. Some of those surprising moments come when she weaves Hawaiian culture into the book. For example, she tells a story about King Kamehameha the Great and how he was able to accomplish what no one thought possible. She also shares the magic of the kukui nut, and she even has a story about the TV show Magnum P.I.
One of my favorite stories was when Annabel learned how to use joy as her compass in the most unlikely situation—when she was diagnosed with cancer. Rather than let the cancer defeat her, she joined a support group where she met the most amazing people, all of whom decided they were going to pursue their dreams now rather than wait. One of them, Amazing Mazie, decided, at age eighty-two, that she wanted to jump out of an airplane. She told the group she’d heard about a lot of people who’d had near-death experiences but she wanted to have a “near-life experience.”
Too often we let fear get in the way of following our dreams. Too often, we fear change, even when it may be positive for us. Isn’t it time to put aside our fears and have a “near-life experience”? By reading Put Your Dreams to Work and applying what you learn, I have no doubt you can experience a life-changing dream manifestation. As Annabel told her father, “Do it now!”
For more information about Annabel Chotzen and Put Your Dreams to Work, visit www.AnnabelChotzen.com.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D. and award-winning author of Narrow Lives and The Best Place
