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Written by Barbara Sher with Annie Gotlieb, this book is about “positive thinking” (remember Norman Vincent Peale from an earlier post) and “how to set up a network of contacts and resources to help you do what you really want to do and become what you want to become – whatever it is.” (book flap)
Written at the time when coaching was being written about in business, Sher begins with rediscovering the real you and using real day-dreaming to define what you want. Some of the tools (from the book jacket flap) used are:
- Assets feedback – to pinpoint your strengths and skills
- Hard Times notebook and problem list – to deal with fears and negative thinking
- Brainstorming – to turn your problems into action
- Actions and Feelings Journal – to chard your progress
- Flow Charts – to plot the step-by-step path to your goal
- Barn-raising – to create a support network of contacts and sources
- Goal Calendar – to map out target dates you can meet
- Time Analysis – to make your everyday schedule work for you
- Task Therapy – to get rid of fear and self-doubt
- Buddy System – to keep you on track (today this might be called a coach)
- Weekly Planning Sessions – to update your strategy
Many of these tools are similar to ones used by coaches today – who knows, this might have been one of the early self-coaching books published. How has a story to share about the book Wishcraft?
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What wonderful timing! Wishcraft’s 30th anniversay edition hit the bookstores on Mar 24, and we celebrated by running a 24-hour Global Marathon Idea Party on Twitter! It was brainstorming and barnraising to deal with wishes and obstacles, and we launched many dreams. (You can come to the weekly Wishcraft Idea Parties on Twitter by searching on Twitter for #ideaparty.
I put up a special site at http://www.barbarasherwishcraft.com to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Wishcraft. If you go there, click on the blog and the ‘love letters’ and you’ll find some wonderful Wishcraft stories that people have sent me through the years. You’ll also find the real story of how Wishcraft came to be. (It’s not what you’d expect. I’ve used it to write the 5 bestsellers that followed, and I teach this method I stumbled on in my ‘WriteSpeak’ classes. (www.writeyourownsuccessstory.com)
So thank you for citing Wishcraft here. It’s a wonderful anniversary present.
Barbara Sher
Answering your question, A story to share about WishCraft. I first read Wishcraft in 1981, along with What Color is Your Parachute and designed my organizing business that opened in 1983 using both of these books.
Wishcraft is – (as you so aptly put in your review) – a self-coaching book. This is and always has been a great book for motivated individuals to read and “activate” their special plan.
The worksheets are certainly helpful models for a coaching practitioner.
It is time for a reread for me – thanks for inspiring me to get the updated Wishcraft.
Thanks Barbara for honoring us with a response and providing us with up-to-date information on what you are doing. As Terry posted, your book speaks to motivated individuals who want to put their ideas into action.
Who else has been influenced by Wishcraft?
Vikki G. Brock, Ph.D., MCC
Director, History and Archive Division