52 Small Changes: One Year to a Happier, Healthier You [Kindle Edition]

I love January and making New Year resolutions as it feels like a fresh start for your life and who doesn't want to make their life better? As a result the premise of this book really interested me as it seemed to take the concept of New Year resolutions that continue all throughout the year.

The book itself is in three parts. The first part is simply introducing the concept and establishing a baseline for success. The second part is the weeks of change. For each week you are given a change to work on be that drinking enough water, enjoying time alone, going organic or something similar. The fact that all the changes are small makes each something you feel like you can easily manage. Each small change is dedicated around 5 pages and gives you advice, instruction and help. There's also `extra credit' sections if you already have incorporated that small change into your life which is a useful touch.

The third part of the book is the tools and resources section. I'm one of those sad people who just love logs, lists, tables and questionnaires so this section was so much fun for me. It corresponds with the weekly change section in part two so you can get started straightaway on the changes you'd like to make.

I really liked this book as a whole. The tone was perfectly suited to the book and I loved the way that the author explained things without ever coming off as condescending. The advice given made sense and there were always steps on how to ensure you succeeded at each goal. I don't suppose you have to do every goal and picking the ones you do doesn't lessen the principle that you only need a small amount of time to make a change for a healthier lifestyle. Having read through this book I'm definitely going to take up the challenge and starting in January I will work through the changes and see how I go.

52 Small Changes

This is a lovely book to read, and to follow. Each week, a new `change' is introduced, and explores how this change may be incorporated into every day life. The new change is reinforced, and new changes introduced, so in just a few short weeks, significant improvements towards "a happier, healthier you" is achieved.

Although the concept of setting new year goals, or objectives, isn't new, the way that this book has been written, is designed to help those targets become achievable. The author, Blumenthal, writes a "roadmap for success" for the goals.

Week One, is all about `drink', that is increasing the amount of water that is consumed daily. Blumenthal explains why water is important (more so than drinking coffee, tea or other substances). This chapter is written very simply, but cleverly, and before the end of the chapter, the reader can see that this goal is SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time).

Week Two focuses on another major important ingredient to life - sleep. Although it may appear that much of this is common sense - which it is - it helps to reflect and see how the quality of sleep may be improved.

Week Three is designed for exercise. Although everyone knows the importance of adequate exercise, so many use excuses such as "I don't have time". Well, that may be true - but Blumenthal even gives some advice relating to watching television, and how to make this `active'. Of course, one goal could be to simply stop watching the television, then there would be time for exercise.

The book isn't just about achievements which are easily seen. Blumenthal also concentrates on mental goals, such as having a positive outlook to life. As the book moves forward, at the end of each chapter, there is a weekly change checklist, which helps to reinforce the changes that have already taken place.

Throughout the book, there are lots of little snippets of facts included in every chapter (such as optimists are 9% less likely to develop heart disease than pessimists).

Of course, the reader may easily switch some - or all - of these changes for their own. What I particularly like about the book, is that it really does explain why the change is good, and how to manage the change successfully, and to keep the change, and to fully integrate that change into normal everyday life. The book may have been written for an audience in the USA, but the principles are easily adopted to the British way of life.

Overall, an interesting book, and may help to bring about a positive change for people.

As the new year approaches, I think this book is great to have to help you to really make real changes to your life. Instead of having a long list of things to achieve then after 3 weeks you just go back to your old self.. this books allows you to take things one goal one week at a time. Each week your are given a goal like being eating more veg, being active, organised at home and there is a chapter for you to read about that one topic that week. Then the next week you are given another goal to read and action. I feel that this book is better than having to read a load about what to achieve and not knowing were to start. Great book. I am a life coach and I would recommend this book as it allows you to gradually move to a better person without loosing track and overwhelmed.