M. J. RYAN is one of the creators of the Random Acts of Kindness series, which has sold more than one million copies, and the author of The Power of Patience, The Happiness Makeover, and many other titles. She founded Conari Press and is currently an executive coach and a popular speaker. She is a contributing editor at Good Housekeeping and a regular contributor to Health magazine. She lives in Walnut Creek, California. Sign up for M.J.’s “I Will” Power daily e-mails at www.mj-ryan.com.

Are you really ready to change? Take this quiz and find out.


Every New Year’s Day, my list of resolutions is:
Ambitious. I aim for everything from losing weight to saving more money for my retirement.
Realistic. I just try to bump my good behavior up a notch--be a better friend, give more money to charity---without giving myself any strict deadlines or goals.
Precise. I decide exactly how many men I will ask for a date, or how many new jobs I will apply for.

Whenever I decide to change something, it’s usually because:
My doctor has put the fear of God into me.
I read a magazine article about why making this change is important.
I start daydreaming about how great life will be after I make the change.

True or False: When you want to make a big change in your life, timing is crucial.

Failure is:
Impossible.
Inevitable.
Not in my vocabulary.

(The answers are on the inside back flap.)

Learn the secret to making changes that stick

Every so often people get inspired (again!) to lose weight, get organized, start saving, or stop worrying –but a few months later they give up, frustrated. It doesn’t have to be that way. In This Year I Wil . . .l, bestselling author M.J. Ryan offers breakthrough wisdom and coaching to help readers make this time the time that change becomes permanent.

Why do people find it so hard to change? The secret is that everyone has their own formula for making changes that stick, but most people don’t know what theirs is. They think there is one way to lose five pounds, and another way to stay on top of their e-mail, but they don’t realize that for all changes, there is one system that works best for each individual. This Year I Will . . . helps you lock on to your unique formula for planning, implementing, and seeing a life change through, so you can use it again and again to tackle anything else you’d like to do.

For anyone who has broken a New Year’s resolution, fallen off a diet, or given up on fulfilling a dream, the ingenious strategies, inspiring stories, and sheer motivational energy of This Year I Will . . . help you make a promise to yourself that you can actually keep.

Answers to the jacket quiz: c, c, false, b. Take the whole quiz and learn your score at M.J. Ryan’s Web site, www.mj-ryan.com.