"I am an expert on these points because I have messed up so many times that I figured out what not to do again."

If your life sucks in any way; if the life you are living on the outside doesn’t match who you are on the inside; or if you are hurting and feel powerless¾ this book offers you a roadmap out of hell. You can either go on putting up with your pain and die a little bit more each day as you helplessly drift from your dreams and heart’s desires- or you can take the way out. Perhaps your whole life doesn’t suck. Maybe one aspect of it sucks. Maybe it’s your job, or your relationship, or your money, or you just don’t feel well. Or maybe things are good most of the time, and they suck some of the time. It doesn’t matter. When it sucks, it sucks. Do you want to just settle for a less-than life, or would you like to get it handled?

"Sucks" used to be a dirty word, but now we hear it everywhere. You can say it on television, in school, and read it in movie reviews. The word is brilliantly descriptive! When something sucks, it saps your energy and undermines the quality of your life. It makes you feel smaller and wish you hadn’t participated. It sabotages your joy and you walk away feeling crummy.

When it comes to your life sucking, you can’t just walk away from it. You can’t just put your life aside and go on to something else that feels better. When your life sucks, that’s serious. It’s a big wake-up call. It’s an invitation to do something different. Not more of the same. If coins keep falling out of a hole in your pocket, the answer is not to go out and get a second job. The answer is to plug the hole.

This book will help you find and patch any leaks in your system. It is honest and practical, with teeth. I grew up in New Jersey, you know (Exit 9). Jersey people can get in your face if they want to. But so can life. If your life is getting in your face, you might want to know why, so you can do something about it before it gets worse. As you face and plug each hole, you will transform every challenge into a gift. Together we can turn tragedy into triumph and make it all a win.

Just a few pages from now, I’ll walk you through the ten most common things you might be doing that can make your life suck. Then I’ll show you how to reverse them. You are not a victim¾ you are a powerful creator. You can make the changes in your life that will get you the results you want. I guarantee that if you practice the principles you learn here, your life will change for the better. Plugging one leak at a time. Along the way, you might even fall in love with yourself.

One more thing: I have done all the things you read that make life suck. I am writing from my own experience. I am an expert on these points because I have messed up so many times that I figured out what not to do again. If I can save you some of the bleeding-chin learning curve, that would make us both happy. I am simply passing along to you some of the sewing techniques that keep stuff from falling out of my pockets.

The process doesn’t have to be hard. We’re going to enjoy the journey. We’ll laugh as we go. As you unravel the "nots" in your life and reduce the size of your "but," you will experience a new sense of freedom and exhilaration. The only thing harder than waking up is staying asleep in a nightmare. Let’s do it. It’s time.

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