Cheryl Richardson - Life Makeovers: 52 Practical & Inspiring Ways to Improve Your Life One Week at a Time

ALSO BY CHERYL RICHARDSON

Stand Up for Your Life

Take Time for Your Life

A hardcover edition of this book was published in 2000 by Broadway Books.

LIFE MAKEOVERS . Copyright 2000 by Cheryl Richardson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information, address Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.

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BROADWAY BOOKS and its logo, a letter B bisected on the diagonal, are trademarks of Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Richardson, Cheryl.
Life makeovers : 52 practical and inspiring ways to improve your life one week at a time / Cheryl Richardson.1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Conduct of life. I. Title.
BF637.C5 R52 2000
158.1dc21 00-040315

Visit our website at www.broadwaybooks.com

eISBN: 978-0-307-48748-3

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To my husband Michael,

the man whose presence and love

always return me to center.

When you ask most authors about their publishing experiences, you usually hear stories of frustration or disappointment. Not this author. I have been blessed with an amazing team of men and women at Broadway Books who stand behind me one hundred percent.

My editor Lauren Marino is first in line. Thank you for supporting me in your wise and loving way and for challenging me to craft a word of mouth worthy book. My publicist Debbie Stier is an amazing woman. Her skill, enthusiasm, and relentless determination are just a few of the many assets that make her the best in the business. Thank you for believing in me, Debbie, and for lining up the stars!

Thanks to Robert Allen for covering all the bases every step of the way and to the rest of the Broadway team: Mario Pulice, Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich, Heather Flaherty, Brian Jones, Cate Tynan, Ruth Hein, and the best sales force in the business!

My agent David Smith, president of DHS Literary, has been an important business partner and friend. Thank you for guiding my publishing career with enthusiasm and integrity. And thank you to my publicist Christina Young, a true professional who took my work to heart and handled my publicity with the utmost care.

As I write these acknowledgments I struggle to find a way to thank each and every one of the dear, dear friends who have played a key role in my success. At the risk of leaving even one person out, let me say to each of you that I cant thank you enough for loving me and for holding the vision of my work, especially on those days when I let go.

I am very lucky to have a large family who love me unconditionally and support my work with a passiontheyre a publicity department and sales force in and of themselves. A heartfelt thanks to my mom and dad, and my sisters and brothers Steven, Janice, Donna, Tom, Lisa, Walter, Shelly, Mark, Robert, Karen, Kerri, Missy, and Max, as well as my in-laws Pat and Curt Gerrish.

To my dear friend and coach Shirley Anderson, thank you for your wise counsel and valuable editorial input, especially at the beach! You are my Yoda. And a very special thanks to Marilyn Abraham, who continues to be my guardian angel from afar.

I am deeply grateful to Thomas Leonard for his introduction to the concept of extreme self-care, a concept that has changed my life and the lives of so many others. And Id like to acknowledge my friends and colleagues at Coach University, especially Melinda and Sandy Vilas, CEO of CoachInc.com, for their dedication to a profession that is changing peoples lives.

Id like to thank Katy Murphy Davis for believing in my work and for keeping the idea alive until the time was right, and Andrea Wishom for being such a joy to work with. And my heartfelt thanks to Oprah for changing my life.

My personal assistant Jan Silva is a godsend! Thank you for keeping my life so well organized and for being a calm force during the most hectic of times.

This book was inspired by the thousands of men and women who make up the Life Makeover online community. Every encouraging e-mail, question, and thought-provoking comment has become an important part of these pages. Thank you for your dedication to living an authentic life and making the world a more loving place to be.

My husband Michael Gerrish is a very special man. Without his love, unwavering support, keen intuitive insight, and nonstop comedy routines, I would not be where I am today. I love you, Michael, infinity times infinity.

And finally, I thank Godthe Divine force that guides my life.

How often do you daydream about living a better lifea life that reflects more of you, your values and deepest desires? How many times have you come to the end of a busy week and toyed with the fantasy of packing a bag and leaving it all behind? Im sure I dont need to tell you that in todays world most people live with a nagging sense that somethings missing or that life is passing them by. So many of us long for time to discover who we are and what we really want before its too late.

For the last nine years Ive worked as a personal coach helping clients to reevaluate their lives and connect more deeply with what really matters most. The goal was to improve the quality of their lives. The improvements varied, depending on the client. For some, new jobs that honored their values and their need for a life outside of work helped make a difference. For others, getting the right support or putting smart systems in place allowed them to eliminate the stress of success. And, it was not uncommon for clients to scale back or simplify their lives dramatically in order to reclaim the peace and serenity they desired. Each clients story was unique, and yet they all had one common goalto live a more authentic life, one that reflected their values and most treasured priorities. Lets see if any of these stories sound familiar.

As Olivia stands by the window in her office looking out over the city, she wonders where her life is headed. Working as a manager for a high-tech company, she feels like shes been on a wild ride. Stock prices are up, sales are strong, and shes been a major contributor to the success of her division. Her work used to be rewarding, but now Olivia feels miserable. Although she found the life she thought she wanted, she feels as if shes lost herself.

Olivia gets up early every day, hits the gym by 6, gets to her desk by 8, and on most nights leaves the office after 7:30. She daydreams about how life used to be when she spent more time with her friends, dated on a regular basis, and had more time to herself. At this point Olivia says that her life feels like one long routine day after another. Shes tired, lonely, and ready for a change.

Olivias situation is a good example of what happens when we dedicate so much of our life to workwe end up missing our life. We forge ahead, get many of our needssuch as the need for community, recognition, or accomplishmentmet at work, and suddenly discover that we no longer have a personal life to go home to. This realization can be a hard pill to swallow.