Six Simple Rules for a Better Life is a book filled with practical, achievable suggestions for all kinds of ways you can improve your life, along with a game plan for doing so.

What it’s not: Six Simple Rules for a Better Life is not another self-help manual touting all kinds of grand changes that are meant to impress you – but that instead serve to oppress you, making you feel so guilty that you avert your eyes as you walk past the shelf where it sits next to a bunch of other impulsively bought, unread books, each accusingly calling out to you, Why aren’t you following my instructions?

Like most people, I strive to make my life better. Unlike lots of people, I’ve learned to better my life in hundreds of ways while avoiding the stress, frustration and guilt that can follow the failed attempts at making meaningful and lasting change via New Year’s resolutions. We’ve all been there, looking at a largely unchanged list a year later.

Life is Long™

I’m a big fan of remembering that “life is short” and that you have to “stop to smell the roses.”  At the same time, I’ve also learned that life is long, meaning that we have time, and that you don’t have to try to make a million changes all at once – which can leave you so overwhelmed that you make none. Instead, if you slow down to make the changes, and then stop to celebrate the progress, you’ll accomplish much more.

Slow Down to Make the Changes

Because it takes 21 days to form a new habit, slow down and focus on one new habit every 21 days. This slow and steady approach is extremely effective and adds up to the positive changes we all want. Do the math: If you tackle one habit every 21 days, in three years you’ll have formed 52 new habits. That’s a huge number of improvements!

Stop to Celebrate the Progress

Keep a running list of your achievements. Over a three-year period, and for the rest of your life, instead of just looking ahead at your daunting list of goals, it’s critical that you stop to celebrate the progress every day, looking back at all that you’ve accomplished.  You deserve it.

The Six Simple Rules

Be HappyBe Nice – Be a Leader – Be Organized – Be a Lifelong Learner – Be Healthy

Within each of these rules are tons of ways for you to make progress.  Each of these can then be broken down into smaller pieces – new habits just right for 21-day focuses.  For example, eating well is a major component of being healthy.  Completely changing the way you eat is too much for 21 days.  Cutting way back on fried foods or soda are great 21-day goals.

After you read Six Simple Rules for a Better Life you’ll never be stuck for ideas for your list.  Until then, I hope you’ll start a list of 21-day goals and pick your first one to get started with – and then remember to stop to celebrate the progress.

Read my blog and follow me on Twitter at @sixsimplerules for more ideas.  And let me know if you have any questions.