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‘Living the Life of your Dreams’ says how you can have it all

Marilyn Tam

Living the Life of Your Dreams by Marilyn Tam, a former fortune 500 CEO and former Nike executive, shares insights into a questions that many people ask themselves: how to achieve success, without losing sight of the important things in life? 

In a concise 37 pages, Tam explains how achieving success can be a fulfilling process, rather than a stressful one. 

Born to a traditional Chinese family in Hong Kong, Tam was the sole daughter in a family that prized sons. She endured many hardships and became an inspiring model of success, rising to executive chair positions at Nike, Inc., Reebok, and Aveda Corp. She explains how having purpose and balance in your life is the key to obtaining both success and leisure.

Tam guides us through discovering and harnessing our inner potential, then utilizing it to lead you where you want to go. She calls this "Life’s Compass". While life often throws unpredictable curveballs, Tam advises that people with a strong sense of this compass will always know where they want to go in life. 

The book avoids the trap of many self-help books, which read like a tedious instruction manual. Each chapter is a refreshing lesson woven together with inspiring statistics, personal experience and quotes from other successful figures in history. 

A common paradox of a modern career life is that people try so hard to succeed that they become victim to stress and push themselves into problematic situations.

“You can have it all, but usually not at the same time," writes Tam. 

While being so busy, people can’t help but feel that quiet time assessing our life-style is time wasted. In her view, however, this couldn't be further from the truth. By keeping a good sense of balance, she writes, people will fuel their ambitious drive while improving their overall appreciation of life. Overworked and burnt-out people eventually lose their passion for work, while down-time can lose its luster if it isn't counterweighted by work. 

This book is a necessity for any ambitious working person's bookshelf. The pressure of making the right choices in life are no longer quite so heavy after reading Tam’s gentle and humble guide to achieving dreams.

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