Amazon.com (ISBN 0553712683, Audio CD)

What do you need to change to make your life work better and make you happier? Top-level personal coach Cheryl Richardson, author of the popular Take Time for Your Life, shows you how to make your life over, one week at a time, using her philosophy of "extreme self-care." The result: you'll reevaluate your life and connect to what matters most to you, improving the quality of your life.

Life Makeovers is organized into 52 chapters, one for each week of the year. (Procrastinators: don't wait until January 1 to start--just call this week "week 1" and get going.) Each chapter has a specific theme with a "Take Action Challenge": a practical strategy to put a change into action immediately. For example, week 1 encourages you to reflect on what you've done right by writing down your five greatest accomplishments and three ways you've grown in the past year. Week 5 helps you manage your time by creating an "Absolute Yes" list of your five top priorities for the next 3 to 6 months. Week 20 helps identify behaviors that trigger feelings of irritability or frustration with a "I know I'm headed for trouble when..." list and three things you'll put in place to support your self-care when these happen. Additional topics range widely, such as exploring your internal rules and standards, asking for support, improving your sleep, shaking up your daily routine, and sharing with those in need. Each chapter also includes several well-chosen resources for exploring the topic further.

If you use Life Makeovers as it's designed, you'll have the wisdom and inspiration of one of the best personal coaches in the business for a whole year. You'll have to work with her--no instant magic here--but it will be worth it. --Joan Price