The Dream Manager, by Matthew Kelly

June 1, 2019

           This priceless gem of a book is so simple, so provocative, and yet so specific that I’ve given away five or six copies of it. Many people love Matthew Kelly, of course, because he’s such an incredibly vivid speaker. He has style. He can be hilarious. You can feel his love for people—heck, it feels like he loves you when you’re there–and yet he challenges them. And although he sees his own ideas as elementary, they like the Golden Rule: when you practice them, all things and everyone around you become better.

DM2

          Matthew Kelly brings out what’s best in you.

            The Dream Manager has a surprising start: it’s a novel! As far as I know, it is Matthew Kelly’s only work of fiction—although the last third explains what he’s really up to.

At Admiral Janitorial Company, they suffer 400% turnover—people are bored by the drudgery of their work, and almost no employee stays longer than three months. The company could do so much better if they could only retain employees!

So they hire a consultant, who makes a few standard suggestions, and these work. But then he gets really wild.

The problem with Admiral, he decides, is that nobody dreams.

And it’s not just the custodians. It’s the managers. It’s HR. It’s the Board of Directors. It’s the owner. Long ago, at Admiral, 99% of the people died inside.

The Board thinks he’s crazy. But because he’s been right so far, the owner decides to play this out.

What Admiral needs, the consultant explains, is a Dream Manager. Someone who helps people recover—and eventually act upon—their deepest hopes for their lives.

Impossible! several administrators charge. We’re a straightforward company. We need no-nonsense business decisions. We don’t need fantasies.

But dreams are like beauty or delicious food. Technically, we don’t need them to survive. But do we dare try? Can you imagine life without beauty? Or food that tastes good?

The consultant starts working with the leadership first, and finds out what they wanted to be when they were kids. And he finds out what goals they abandoned along the way.

In a touching scene, a husband and wife, as twilight fades, begin to wonder: for each other–for our marriage—for our kids—for ourselves—when did we go on autopilot? When did we let our dreams die?

I won’t spoil the rest of the story. Read this 176-page diamond for yourself!

Part III: Matthew Kelly’s Company

Kelly isn’t just a misty-eyed artist; he runs Floyd Consulting, a multimillion-dollar empire that has advised over forty Fortune 500 companies and the Department of Defense. From childhood, he’s been in business. Matthew Kelly understands finance and marketing.

His personal company has a dozen employees. Once every three months, they hold a “Dream Manager Session.”

In these sessions, people brainstorm and state their dreams in these twelve major areas of life:

                                                            Heart

                                                                        Mind

                                                            Body

                                                                        Soul

                                                            Adventure

                                                                        Creative

                                                            Service

                                                                        Character

                                                            Psychological

                                                                        Personal Finance

                                                            Material

                                                                        Legacy

They can add their own categories. Personally, I added Travel, Reading List, and Gifts to Give. For others, those are unimportant, or they’re already subsets of Kelly’s Dozen.

Kelly and his employees go around a circle and dream out loud. They write down what sticks. And then each person chooses a dream to work on.

And everyone else helps make it happen.

One lady wanted three weeks off so she could take a music class in an exotic locale. Her colleagues volunteered to do her work for her—for no pay. So she went!

Someone else had tight finances—so they helped him map a path out of his situation, and directed him toward prosperity.

Others wanted to write novels, create their own businesses, and/or take up new sports. Everyone worked together to make it happen.

You may be wondering: where do they get the time?! Don’t they have the fifty obligations that come with families?

But as Kelly points out: when people get thrilled and love their lives, their enthusiasm spills over into everything else they do. Fitness & energy: up. Prosperity: up.   Generosity: like a rocket!

The Dream Manager outlines a fantasy—a fantasy that Kelly’s company has been doing for years. Just as he does in his speeches, in this book, Kelly helps people become fully human, fully alive.

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            But what if you don’t have anyone with whom you can hold a Dream Session?

That’s why, since he was 15, Matthew Kelly has kept a Dream Journal. It’s just a notebook in which he lists his dreams. He adds to it. He illustrates it. He clips photos and tapes them in. It’s probably quite the unique scrapbook.

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            News You Can Use.

Save time: When you step back and look at who you are, what you’re doing, and where you’re going, and when you recover your deepest dreams and redirect your life: Wow! That’s the best time management tip on earth.

Save money: One of Kelly’s categories is “Personal Finance.” A consultant to Fortune 500 companies and a multimillionaire himself, Kelly believes that if you want to prosper, you can’t translate your dreams into reality if you stopped dreaming long ago.

Reduce stress: When you live out your dreams, your heart beats faster. Fully, abruptly, normal stressors just seem petty. After all, you have bigger fish to fry.

Hold a Dream Session Every Three Months: Like the people in Kelly’s company, find like-minded people and brainstorm with his twelve categories: Heart, Mind, Body, Soul, Adventure, Creative, Service, Character, Psychological, Personal Finance, Material, & Legacy. With the right people, what a gorgeous ritual this would be.

Keep a Dream Journal: Ever since he was 15, Matthew Kelly has kept a Dream Journal. It’s just a notebook in which he lists his dreams. He adds to it. He illustrates it. He clips photos and tapes them in. I am sure that—behind his faith in God, and his gratitude toward his family—he believes this is the #1 reason for his many successes.

And successful he is. Because as much as he received, it boggles my mind to think about how much Matthew Kelly has given away.

Are you still dreaming?

Link to The Dream Manager.

Little Green Book is a newsletter written by Tim Wuebker.  Once a week, Tim describes an astonishing book, a real game changer, and/or a riveting read.  Not only are these books thrilling, sometime they save you time, save you money, and increase your peace. 

No author paid to receive a review.  Tim wrote this for free because he loves these books. 

The greatest compliments you can give Little Green Book and Tim is to subscribe to this newsletter, and then share it with anyone whom you think would find it fun or useful.  

Tim also blogs at timwuebker.com

Source: Tims Old Blog

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