Your Desired Future: The Five Essential Steps That Take You Where You Want to Go ― A Bestselling Author's Action Plan for Growth

by Henry Cloud

The New York Times bestselling author of Boundaries outlines a step-by-step action plan to rid yourself of the limiting patterns and thinking that are holding you back from reaching your highest potential as a leader or a person.

In this big think book, Dr. Henry Cloud focuses on how you can move from your current state (here) to a desired future state (there) using intentional actions, practices, and structured strategies that every successful endeavor must contain.

Introducing five components that are essential to results, to leadership, whether you are leading a business, rebuilding a relationship, developing a space program, or are making permanent changes to your lifestyle. Your Desired Future introduces a profound, yet straightforward framework inspired by how the human body functions, combining psychology, physiology and neuroscience, showing why these sometimes fail and how to do them in the way that achieves the desired

Establishing a clear, compelling, and desired future state that serves as a guiding force.Talent & Identifying and engaging the right people and tools necessary to achieve the vision.Strategy & Developing a structured approach to achieving goals, including specific steps and strategies.Measurement & Tracking progress against objectives and holding oneself and others to account.Adaptation & Quickly recognizing issues and implementing solutions to stay aligned with goals.Personable, proactive, and full of Dr. Cloud’s characteristic heart, Your Desired Future is a guidebook for a new generation seeking a steady hand on the long road of life.

Genres: Self Help, Leadership, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

Published May 5, 2026

About the author

Dr. Cloud has written or co-written twenty-five books, including the two million-seller Boundaries. His most recent books are Boundaries for Leaders and Necessary Endings. He has earned three Gold Medallion awards, and was awarded the distinguished Retailers Choice award for God Will Make A Way.

As president of Cloud-Townsend Resources, Dr. Cloud has produced and conducted hundreds of public seminars around the country. He speaks on relationships—marriage, parenting, dating, personal growth, and spirituality. His seminars are often broadcast live to over two thousand venues at a time.

Reviews

[Reeds]

Page 39 - Consistent action that moves things forward.

-Don't share or create your vision in a cesspool of negativity, and limited thinkers.

Page 185 - Dog trainer said, "It's usually not the dog. It's the owners." (Truth has been spoken here today. Some examples of this came immediately to mind.)

Here are just a few ideas from the book.

[Ece Bidav]

I’m trying to alternate bw fiction/nonfiction, but this one didn’t feel insightful.

[Blair Stretch]

A decent book but felt flat. I love Henry Cloud and find his advice and insight very valuable. He speaks with direct clarity. This book seemed pretty generic and broad. I think when applied to a specific situation or problem, it could be powerful. Also, I found a typo 🙃.

[Brenda Henderson]

I was so eager to read this book, but I honestly had to force myself to get past the first chapter. It was so tedious and repetitive at the beginning. I felt that the author was somewhat condescending to the readers by over explaining the obvious and then explaining it again and again. The basic premise and bottom-line material is good, but I’m not sure that it’s a book that I would recommend to others.

[Jeremy Zhang]

I can't believe it took me this long to realize how out of touch these privileged white dudes are. I thought Dr. Cloud would be different, but I was wrong.

The irony here is just laughable. He quotes successful companies to prove that toxicity ruins performance, yet those exact companies are actively creating toxic work environments by threatening to replace workers with AI.

While Dr. Cloud may have helped people in the past, his theories are completely irrelevant in today's corporate climate. Moving forward, I will actively avoid books written by privileged white men.

[Tom]

This book presents an overall model for accomplishing anything that you need to do. It makes sense and will work if implemented. One of the key ideas is that you don't have to have all of the skills within yourself. Sometimes you need to have people around you with the skills that you don't have in order to accomplish things. This could be either skills or accountability that you need.

[Ginny Yurich]

I got a lot out of this one!! Very thought-provoking!

[Cindy Vasquez]

Great and easy read to help you focus on the necessary steps needed to reach a desired goal.

[Jon Barr]

I enjoyed this book and recommend it to fans of Dr. Cloud. I think there are better books about making the future self, but people who especially enjoy his writing should read this one.

[Sarah]

I liked the SWAT method he shared for working toward goals. He also flips the perspective on accountability that makes it welcoming.

[Wesley Pratt]

pretty good book. Kind of like ‘awaken the giant within’ lite.

I like reading self-help books or getting back on track books every 2 to 3 years. This is a worthwhile read.

[Synthia Salomon]

Revised!

reaching a desired future comes from building a complete path: seeing the future clearly, engaging the right help, choosing a workable strategy, turning it into a plan, tracking the actions that matter, and correcting problems before they become habits.

When one part is missing, even motivated people can work hard and still drift. But when all the parts work together, goals become less mysterious and more manageable.

You don’t need to be perfect, endlessly driven, or naturally strong in every area.

[Adam Lawley]

Thought this a really good book. Goes deeper with practical examples and steps than a typical “vision” book.
I came away with many practical steps and ideas to implement in my daily life, and teams I lead and work with.