Dream Year

By: Ben Arment

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

Somewhere along your road to adulthood, you pushed your dreams to the side. You had to pay bills. You feared taking a risk on yourself. And so you settled into an unfulfilling, perhaps even unpleasant career. If it's any comfort, you’re far from alone; 66 percent of Americans hate their jobs.

But what if someone could guide you, step-by-step, as you identify, plan, and launch your dream career - in just one year. That's what Ben Arment does in his transformative coaching class, which has helped hundreds of people reinvent their lives to enjoy greater enthusiasm and fulfillment while also making a living.

Now he's sharing his best insights, advice, and inspiring true stories in Dream Year. You'll find out how people just like you are discovering (or rediscovering) what they were truly born to do, then following a proven process to make it real. And you'll meet men and women such as…

Chuck Templeton, who created an online reservation system, OpenTable, that now serves more than thirty thousand restaurants worldwide.

Katie Strandlund, who launched her own event-planning business and developed a full and deeply gratifying client list.

Fabien Riggall, who combined his love for film and theater into a unique experience called Secret Cinema, which has reached 120,000 people.

Hilary Barnett, who started a social media company that now employs several team members and creates content for national brands.

©2014 Ben Arment (P)2014 Gildan Media LLC

Critic Reviews

"Ideas alone aren’t sufficient; it’s what you do with them that counts. If you have a brilliant idea but aren’t sure where to begin, Dream Year will show you step-by-step how to make it reality." (Todd Henry, author of Die Empty and The Accidental Creative)

So much more than I expected

This book was full of inspiration and interesting stories. Best of all every chapter ended with a call to action and questions to help guide you through turning your dream into a reality.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Motivational!

One of the most motivating and inspiring books I've read to pursue your dreams. The audiobook narrator did a wonderful job depicting the tone behind the words. Well done author and narrator!
P.S. I've never commented on a book, but this one inspired me so much I had to recommend to others.

11 of 13 people found this review helpful

fantastic book! so well rounded and well written.

This is a book that is good enough to have 30 different bookmarks in it! He refers to so many different areas of business that can cause hiccups and even disaster. Have a listen to this book over and over again at different bookmarks?

6 of 9 people found this review helpful

A practice approach to REAL challenges

I found Ben’s insight, advice, and stories did well to address the challenges and obstacles to my entrepreneurship journey that no other book had. Dream Year‘s perspectives and approach seemed to come from a place of authenticity – like the experiences of real startup founders were examined to extract useful lessons that will apply to other real startup founders like me. The book’s content is relatable and its process is doable.

worth the time!

I want to listen to this again and again there's so much information. such a useful tool for anyone just starting out or even just looking to refresh themselves and reconnect with their dream

engaging and motivating

great performance. would def. recommendthis book. very motivating content and solid business advice. now go pursue your dream

Good not great

This was good but I wouldn't put it too high on my list. Nothing overly compelling.

Not helpful

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The actionable insights are so few and far between and buried under business success stories that we've all heard before.

What was most disappointing about Ben Arment’s story?

This book is mostly just examples of people who were successful in the past. I assume that most readers know of enough success stories that the regurgitation of them on this book is redundant and adds no value. There are a couple of tips given here and there, but they could be condensed into a 20 minute lecture if he got rid of the fluff.

Sooooo Disappointed!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Less fluff! It was incredibly painful for me to listen all the way through this book. I was hoping to take at least one nugget from the book, but didn't. I'm not the overly critical type, but this book really was a waste of my time and money. It was way overly generalized and fluffy in every chapter.

Has Dream Year turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. My issue is with this particular title, not the genre.

Would you be willing to try another one of Sean Pratt’s performances?

Probably not. I think he made the fluff sound even fluffier as he tried make truly un-profound sentences and content sound profound through inflection.

What character would you cut from Dream Year?

Both the author and the narrator.

Great for entrepreneurs, not so much for writers

I came across Dream Year after listening to another book of the same idea. This is a great book for people who are interested in starting a business, or someone who just in the field of entrepreneurship in general. However, although they claim they can help people who are writers with the same ideas. I found very little advice in this book that would be useful to writers. There's a lot about staying focused, keeping yourself in the game when you're hitting a rut, and even smart ways you can promote your stories. But it's ultimately more for business and marketing savvy people, who I feel will get the most out of this book. However I'll least say that the performance was excellent and it can definitely help people who are wavering on their dream to take the plunge and go for it. It just personally didn't seem that helpful to writers (aka me, myself). But there's a lot of good ideas and ways to stay motivated, so give it a try if you've got a big idea and need some help getting started.