The Tipping List

Although there is no easy route to happiness, in funny and perspective ways, Master Certified Life Coach Michele Woodward (our own Coach Me If You Can columnist) helps you look inside yourself to map out a plan for getting rid of what is blocking your path toward happiness.

So clear a space on your nightstand and put this one at the top of your reading list: Lose Weight, Find Love, De-Clutter and Save More Money by Michele Woodward (BookSurge Publishing, 2008).

Whether or not you are struggling to do any of the above, here are five things I learned from Michele that can help you map out a strategy - or at least kick-start you in the right direction.

1. Spend an afternoon with the cable remote in your hand and you will come away with the idea that most people in the world are heavier than is healthy, have messy houses and lackluster love lives, and can't save a nickel. Does that not inspire you to get off the couch?

2. If you want to make room for the good stuff in your life - like relationships, career goals, exploring native lands - start in your closet. Clean out the clutter first

3. Start simply by taking a notebook and walking around your home or office, and making a list of the areas that need attention. Be specific. "Hall closet" or "supply closet" rather than "whole house" or "everything." "Calendar" or "paying bills" rather than "time" or "money." Got it? Once you can identify the problem areas, you can make a plan to begin to attend to them.

4. Cherry-pick the easiest task first; if no single task seems easy, then pick the area where getting organized will have the biggest impact

5. The secret to being happy is this: do more of what you like and are good at, and do less of what you dislike - even if you are good at it.

Okay, so there's one more, and the most important one: You have the power to take care of yourself, and eliminate that which holds you back from your best life. You have the power, so use it.

Have a question for Coach Michele? Click here!