Your Life Only A Gazillion Times Better is not your mother's ten-step program filled with philosophical patter and long-winded explanations. Contagiously enthusiastic and dedicated to techniques specifically related to taking action and making changes, this book challenges you to think in a new way and to believe in yourself.

With a hip approach to self-improvement, Cathy Breslin and Judy May Murphy tackle all of the basic elements that make up quality of life: self-discovery, goals, creativity, career, health, finances, and romance without bogging you or creating the extra anxiety that comes from the finger-wagging gurus so popular today.

This book is the perfect read for the busy schedule, a great jump-start for those stuck in a rut, and wa wise friend's voice when we all need it most.

Dreaming

Dreaming is not necessarily about catnapping and discovering the wonders of your unconscious mind. For this stage in your self-exploration, ôdreamingö is a form of directing, writing, starring in and watching your own movie.

This movie you are about to dream is only about your own futureùthe most amazing life you could have, the way you would want it if everything in the universe was conspiring to make it true. Make your movie the absolute ultimate. This is not an exercise in dogged realism. If you find yourself dreaming that youÆre on a yacht, stop that little voice that tells you youÆll get seasick. For now we leave all petty concerns and negativity firmly outside in the cinema foyer.

ôBut,ö you may say, ôI have to think about those family members and employees that IÆm responsible for. How can I just run off and star in my own blockbuster, kick-ass movie?ö

The answer is to dream and desire for yourself first, then you can create ways in which your dream involves everybody else. The fact is, if youÆre not setting things up so you can be at your absolute best in this world, if you donÆt connect with your bigger dream, then you wonÆt be doing anyone the highest good.

Or you might be asking ôWhy donÆt I dream something more realistic?ö The fact is that the more ôrealisticö your dream, the more it ties in to your old beliefs and behaviors and the more it sentences you to live in the same old territory. However, if you dream outlandishly, you take yourself outside your comfort zone, and the ultimate results are more likely to be dramatic and dynamic. You wouldnÆt be working with this book unless you believed that you could achieve much, much more with your life.

Small change is only for the bus.

In his famous speech of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. didnÆt have a dream about one day being able to work for a powerful white man, or one day being able to find witty retorts for the racist insults he got on the streets. His dream was that all people would be free and equal, and his life and others were transformed by the power of this dream.

Rather than tacking on ad hoc improvements to your life, we want you to understand that it is possible to design a completely new life without leaving behind people, activities, possessions and whatever else you decide has a special place in the new. It canÆt be said enough: powerful change needs powerful, big dreams. What makes the members of U2 different from their peers is that, at one time, they dared to dream massive dreams. They dreamed against the current of their times. Bob Geldof saw in his mind how all the famous musicians of the world could come together to compose and perform a song which would feed millions. If perhaps a little voice crept into his ear saying, ôBut weÆd never be able to coordinate everyoneÆs schedules,ö he pushed that voice firmly aside.

What will you dream today? How firmly will you push aside any destructive little voices?

Remember that everything in life started as a dream. Somebody dreamt of the chair you sit on, the book youÆre reading, the clothes you wear; someone even once had to dream of you.

¬2005. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Your Life Only a Gazillion Times Better: A Practical Guide to Creating the Life of Your Dreams Cathy Breslin and Judy May Murphy. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442.