“This Year I Will…” by M. J. Ryan

I spent several years working as a hospice social worker. My team and I spent several touching and even humorous moments with our patients and their families. The saddest times, though, were when clients talked about things they had always wanted to do but had never done.

Sometimes we were able to help our clients fulfill their final wishes. One man, for instance, had lost a leg in World War II. He had always wanted to see the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C., but travel was really hard for him. After much negotiation back and forth, we signed him up for the Honor Flight. He got to see the Memorial and several other sights as well as the Washington and Lincoln monuments. The next time I saw him he had a twinkle in his eye and wanted to tell me all about his trip.

M.J. Ryan’s “This Year I Will…” is a book that offers advice about getting things done before it’s too late. These may be large things like learning a foreign language or trying out for the community theater, or “little” things like going to bed earlier or leaving work 15 minutes earlier each day.

Each chapter is four to five pages long, making it easy to read or skim through until you find something that resonates with you. Ryan first offers words of advice, then she looks at what we know about the human brain, structurally and biochemically, and explains why the advice works. She ends with an example of how someone used her advice successfully.

Most of the advice in this book is not new. If you’ve read anything about time management before, you’ll have read most of the tips in this book. What makes Ryan’s book unusual is her explanation of the science behind the suggestions, which helps the reader understand why they work.

Credit: career.continue.com

Ryan is a realist. She acknowledges right off that not every method will work for every personality type. Sometimes her suggestions contradict each other. One idea she puts forth, for instance, is taking small steps to reach a large goal. Another is doing as much of the goal as you can, taking giant leaps instead of baby steps.

“This Year I Will…” also reminds readers that they have to be ready to work and work hard to make their dream come true. Reading the book is a first step, but there are many tasks to accomplish if you want to fulfill your goal.

Life is full of joy and disappointments. “This Year I Will…” teaches us to enhance our delight, minimize out sorrow, and avoid reaching the end of our lives with the words “if only” still on our lips.

Whether you are a patient, a caregiver or an ordinary citizen, you’re bound to find something helpful in “This Year I Will…”