Permission to Dream

By Chris Gardner and Mim Eichler Rivas

In the spirit of The Last Lecture, The Secret, and The Alchemist, this small book presents BIG ideas for turning your “one day” into today, including the generational transfer of a dream and a powerful blueprint for a masterpiece life—from the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir and major motion picture The Pursuit of Happyness.

On a winter’s day, Chris Gardner set off with his nine-year-old granddaughter Brooke to find the harmonica of her dreams. The search sends them North “beyond the wall” into a foreboding Chicago neighborhood and, soon, on a harrowing adventure that will change both of their lives—and ours.   

Chris is still mourning the loss of his girlfriend to brain cancer. Her question haunts him: “Now that we know how short life can be, what will you do with the time you have left?” After five years, he feels an urgency—what he calls, “Atomic Time” in which every second counts—to find an answer, but is stuck. Even while giving Brooke permission to aspire to one day become President of the United States, he knows it’s time to reclaim his own permission to dream.

Lost, Chris and his granddaughter board a bus, reminding him of earlier rides through dark times when dreams of a better life kept him alive. As the two wind through a changing cityscape, Chris reflects on past lessons that offer powerful guidance for dreaming your way to monumental success. 

At its heart, this book lays out a blueprint for building a dream-come-true life—even during uncertainty. Gardner delivers the secrets to achieving a prosperous career—from a method for identifying your ultimate dream to a playbook for becoming world class at it.  His tools include the “new 3 R’s”—or the Rep, the Rap and the Rolodex—which reveal how to earn a stellar reputation, develop a rap for marketing yourself, and amass a Rolodex of rewarding relationships. No matter how much wealth you achieve, Chris notes, true success comes from enriching the lives of others—so all can still have access to the American Dream. 

Toward the end, Brooke observes that in Atomic Time it’s never too late for anyone to reinvent themselves and change their fortune. Chris, hearing her, realizes what his next pursuit will be—to go back to high school and give permission to dream to the next generation of problem solvers and change makers. 

A true fable, Permission to Dream is a timeless and timely manifesto for turning dreams into action—beginning right now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063031586

Chris Gardner

Chris Gardner is the Chief Executive of Gardner Rich & Company, a multimillion-dollar brokerage with offices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. An avid philanthropist and motivational speaker, Gardner is committed to many organizations—particularly those related to education—and was recently the recipient of the “Father of the Year Award” from the National Fatherhood Initiative. A Milwaukee native, Gardner has two children and resides in Chicago and New York.

Reviews for Permission to Dream

[jacsun · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a short book with only 208 pages but it has big, thoughtful words.

I enjoyed the movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness"so I picked this book to get some more life incentives. His friend and mentor, Dr. Maya Angelou, told him once, "People might not remember your exact words but they'll remember how you made them feel" for his motivational speeches. That is the reason I wrote down some of the phrases in the book to keep each one close by for those rainy days.

This is a story about his conversation with his super smart 7 year-old granddaughter, Brooke, with a glimpse of his journey through life with ups and downs. He went from being a homeless single dad to a wealthy successful businessman and proud father. He didn't have a college degree or wealthy family to help him. But he had dreams and a plan.

He presents questions for not only Brooke but the reader: "How would your life change if a miracle happened in the middle of the night?" He gives all types of pointers to move forward in a positive direction with career and life goals.

This is a book for everyone. At any age, it shows how we all need to plan and prepare for the next day ... and the next. He tells Brooke, "You can do or be anything...Nobody can stop you but you." I wish I could take it a step further and hear him speak.