The Alchemist

A Fable About Following Your Dream

Author: Paulo Coelho
Buy it on Amazon: Book | Audiobook

Quick Summary:

A story of a Sheppard boy who travels in search of his personal legend. It's a simple tale that follows Santiago on his journey where he learns to listen to his heart and realizes his dream for the way his life will play out is all part of the soul of the universe. In this story, Santiago finds himself going through a variety of life lessons that help him realize exactly what it is his purpose or his personal legend as the book calls it, is. After having recurring dreams of the pyramids and a buried treasure he decides he must make the journey to Egypt to fulfill his life's purpose. Along the way, he meets many people who help him to achieve and actualize his personal legend. It's a story as old as time; when you want something, it's up to you to go out and get it.

Why Read It?:

This is one of those stories that is so enthralling yet so simple and it's hard to explain what it is that makes is so powerful whenever you try to. I spent the day hiking to Lake Twenty Two a few weeks back here in the state of Washington while listening to this story on audiobook. You can imagine how excited I was when I realized how much of a story of courage, power, and wisdom this book was. It's filled with courageous acts, powerful insights, and useful quips of wisdom.

In the book, this young Sheppard boy, Santiago, embodies all three virtues in his quest for fulfilling his life's personal legend. There's something special about how Paulo Coelho crafted this story in such a way that it's so simple a sixth grader could read it but so impactful that at the ripe age of 33, I'm sitting here in awe at how powerful the message is. If you find you are at a crossroads in your life, this is a story that can truly help you understand what you need to do in order to figure out what it is you want to do. This book helped me realize what I need to do to make my personal legend a reality, it gave me the push I needed to go after my dream of making my marketing agency Up, Beyond Media, into my primary source of income.

If you've already read the book or if you decide to give it a read, and leave a comment about the book below or in the Facebook Group. I'd love to hear what are your personal legends!