Take Time for Your Life: A Personal Coach’s 7–Step Program for Creating the Life You Want

By Cheryl Richardson Reviewed By Sandy Struss

(Broadway Books, ISBN 0–7679–0207–6)

If you think the title of this book makes it sound like something you need to read, you are probably right! But be prepared to put some time in for self–work and get real about what is and isn’t working in your life. This is not a “recreational read.”

So many of us in today’s “busy–ness” culture are running on empty and hoping we can hang on long enough for vacation time to come around in order to relax and re–charge our mental and physical batteries. We can see that our priorities are out of whack, and we know there is too much stress in our lives. And yet it is still so easy to do what we’ve always done and hope that when we get that promotion, when our kids leave the house or when we’ve lost the extra weight, things will miraculously get better. To avoid disillusionment, perhaps all we need is a little guidance. This book may be a decent kick–start to empower us and provide a framework for making new choices and changes in our lives.

The book is structured as a “coaching program” that you can arrange according to your needs. It allows you to choose the areas in your life that need the most urgent attention rather going through the areas chronologically. As your “personal coach” in the book, the author asks many thought–provoking questions, and it is up to you to work through them and create some kind of accountability network of people in your life who have your best interests at heart and who will support your actions.

Get yourself a journal, as well, because it will engage you in the process of writing down the action steps you plan to take. Even small changes make a big difference, particularly in the areas that include the hardest habits to break, but if you do the self–work, you’re on your way to creating the life of your dreams.

Know that this is not a “quick fix” read with cookie–cutter solutions, but rather a resource manual designed to guide you through the areas of your life you’d like to address. With one simple read, you can regain control of what gets the most time and attention in your life.