Getting Started

Choose one Tweak per month and soon you will be ready to take on a Big Goal.

About the Tweaks:

I began making the changes that turned my life around in 2001 when I was 357 pounds, miserable, and surrounded by clutter and filth.  Since then, I have lost over 100 pounds, I am active and healthy, and my home has been transformed into a place of joy and serenity.

This transformation happened one little habit change at a time.  I call these little changes Tweaks.  The amazing thing about systematically implementing tweaks into your life one at a time is that within several months your body and your life will be dramatically improved; things will just keep getting better and better.

It takes at least a month to build a new habit, and this is why you should adopt no more than one Tweak per month.  There’s a spark of hope inside you — that’s what brought you here!  Remember, you can easily smother that spark by piling on too much, too fast.  We have all tried the crash diet that was supposed to make us thin fast, the crisis cleaning that only lasted for a few weeks before the chaos returned to our homes.  The result of these sudden drastic changes were more disappointment and shame.  The route to real lasting life change is to gradually implement small Tweaks — no more than one Tweak per month.

The Nurturing Hope system is all about treating yourself with tenderness, compassion and love.  For most of us, this is a new concept and it takes time to get used to it.  Accepting tenderness from yourself may trigger feelings of sadness about the wasted years and the emotional deprivation many of us have suffered in childhood and adulthood.  These feelings are okay.  Accepting love takes time and practice.

Since we make these Tweaks in a spirit of anticipation and joyfulness, choose the Tweak that most appeals to you each month.  Have fun with the Tweaks, experiment, and discover new ways to make your life healthier and happier.  The strength and power to transform your life is inside of you, and always has been!

About Big Goals:

There are certain monumental life changes that, by their very nature, must sometimes be made in one challenging push.  Think of quitting smoking, returning to school full-time, quitting drinking or adopting a formal eating plan, for example.  It’s hard to make these changes one tiny step at a time.  You can probably list two or three of these big goals that you know you will need to take on sooner or later to achieve what Oprah calls your “best life.”

You may not feel strong enough to take on any of your big goals right away, and that’s okay. The powerful thing about the Nurturing Hope system is that it starts you moving in the right direction one little tweak at a time.  I promise to you that if you put your heart and mind into implementing the tweaks, one per month, within six months you will feel like you are living a very different life from the one you live now.  A day will come when you are ready — simply ready — to embrace one of your big goals.