Certified leadership trainer Bourg offers an extended metaphor as a way of thinking about and accomplishing our aspirations, using the model of steering a boat and all its supplies and crew on a possibly dangerous, mostly uncharted river. He introduces his central character, Captain Bon, who, as an experienced seaman, must traverse a river to reach Mount Felicidad. He will first choose between two rivers, deciding on the Larga Vida, shorter but said to be far more perilous. But with proper planning, Bon believes he can make the journey, and begins assembling experts to plot out the undertaking along with men and women to join the crew. When they finally embark on the adventure, they face many pitfalls, some known and others a surprise requiring immediate decisions. When the goal is finally attained, Bon experiences satisfaction, only wishing he had started on this path earlier in life.

Bourg created this fantasy journey to offer a structured model for different sorts of dreams, such as starting a new business, shifting careers, and even making personal changes. He includes in Bon’s activities the kind of preparation needed for any long-range vision. He offers a number of self-help guidelines for readers as the story progresses, along with an exercise—“Building a Four Dimensional Person on the River of Life”—to conclude. Throughout the book, he suggests various rules for goal attainment, such as living one’s life as a child does and smiling more often. These are underpinned with references to Captain Bon’s self-help mentors—Napoleon Hill, John Maxwell, and Tony Robbins—along with classic wisdom from Lincoln, Mandela, Gandhi, and others. Bourg’s method—picturing oneself as the master of one’s ship of destiny and mentally gathering the resources needed for its voyage—provides practical strategies for those contemplating significant life changes.

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