Identify five sources of minor, senseless daily fury in your life (your coffee machine that leaks coffee, your coat with the hole in the pocket where you store your keys) and stop them in one life-changing burst of effort. Hire a trainer; break out a needle and thread; be calmer and more senselessly content.

Give yourself a lesson on how to look slender, sparkle-eyed and luminous in photos. Then grab a friend and have her take 30 practice shots a day for one full week. Instagram can't do everything.

These light, sugary confections are one place where you can really distinguish yourself as a thoughtful and fun host, mostly because nobody thinks about them. The next time you invite a possible friend-to-be over for a coffee (or hot cocoa), turn her beverage heaven-flavored, with a chocolate chip, maple and brown sugar, or white chocolate cranberry cube of melted fluff.

Identify your biggest obstacle, and instead of emailing or calling up your friends, invite six of the wisest people you know over to eat pasta and fix your life. Studies show that proximity makes a difference when it comes to finding solutions—for instance, the best scientific research is done when scientists work within roughly 30 feet of each other.

Working out indoors, day after day, will kill your resolve to get fit. Give yourself a cold-weather field trip and big-foot it through your nearest park. Snowshoeing burns up to 45 percent more calories than walking or running and also improves your balance, agility and leg strength.

Everybody needs at least one screaming fan. Our pick last year: Afghanistan's national men's basketball team. Who needs your hysterical cheering in 2012?

To liven up the bubbling caldron of predictable cheese, skip the bread. Slices of fried sausage, soft pretzels, mini meatballs, steamed broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, toast points and bread sticks make delicious, unexpected dippers.

It doesn't have to be the person who hurt you the most. It doesn't have to be a person who's still alive. But it must be someone you have or have had some kind of relationship with. Forgiving a misbehaving celeb or historical figure—Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, Marie Antoinette—however appealing, doesn't count.

Do the five-minute cooldown suggested by the elliptical trainer computer instead of hopping off and hitting the showers, complete at least seven stretches and knock back a glass of chocolate milk. The drink provides the ideal mix of carbs, protein and hydrating fluids to help your muscles recover.

There are some things the younger generation knows that you don't. Some examples: how to wakeboard, how to find a King Krule video and what the heck emoji are. Buddy up with a savvy person at least 10 years younger and learn a few skills that might just come in useful for your career, your online social life and your ability to relate to 52 percent of the planet.

Unless it looks mean.

Re-fluff your flat pillows with sunshine and, for goodness' sake, learn how to fold a fitted sheet.

Standing burns about 50 percent more calories than sitting. Get off your duff while checking your email, talking to a co-worker or waiting for an online video to load.

Try a tinted mascara instead of basic black. (The look-good guide: green for hazel eyes, purple for green eyes, and bright sapphire for blue eyes). Experiment with a lacy neon bra. Or buy yourself a pair of this spring's hottest—and most affordable—color-blocked heels.

Carry you harmonica in your purse. When frustrated by a late bus or a snobby department store salesperson, play the song to calm your breathing—and yourself. If you laugh in the process—and all the surrounding strangers do too—all the better.

Assume that everything—the upcoming dinner party, the raise under consideration, the audition at the community theater—will go right. You may be proven wrong, of course, possibly repeatedly, but for one week go with the idea that whatever you want to work out will. Note any changes in attitude, beginning with how easily and quickly you get out of bed in the morning.

Plot out your veggies and flowers. List the tools you need to purchase. Draw your fantasy layout in colored pencil. Press inspirational flowers between the pages (using a heavy dictionary). And should you happen to forget to plant anything at all, consider this notebook your celebration of spring.

Yes, they are cute, but they still taste like Styrofoam.

Invite four successful peers from your profession to share strategies, expertise, advice and a friendly glass of Syrah each month. This includes stay-at-home mothers and struggling artists.

Complete 20 push-ups on the edge of the sink every morning after brushing your teeth. It's easy, it works, and very soon you will have to wear a bathing suit or strapless dress that will make you overjoyed that you started on this muscle group this week.

Write down everything that you have already quit in the last year—from eating trans fats to a toxic job to your overdue taxes. Go through and evaluate the positive or negative effect of each decision. Is there a pattern? If you need help, call in Martha Beck for advice on when to give up.

There's a reason why celebs love them. They make you look sexy in a way that nobody can figure out, and give the illusion of extra-wide-open eyes, making it seem as if you've just had 12 hours of restful sleep.

How to apply false lashes like a pro

The reason why you have trouble keeping up with your roughage is that you open the same boring bag of lettuce each night and dump on the same boring vinaigrette. Toss up one of these 45 inspiring, fiber-boosting options each night this week.

Paint every nail a different color—without it looking nutso—by sticking to polishes in the same color family. Or, if you're less than competent at applying polish, experiment with the new version of press-on nail stickers, available in everything from denim to floral prints.

You slather the sunscreen all over your face and eyes but forget your poor delicate neck, which is just as vulnerable to sun damage. Avoid future wobbles and gobbles. Commit to extending that SPF from your chin to your clavicle every day.

Ask yourself one question every morning for the next seven days: How will you measure success six months from now? Jot down the answers, considering your home life, friends, family, hobbies, dreams, attitudes and career. At the end of week, circle the two answers that feel most authentic to you. These are your goals to work on from now until the New Year.

Toss out your ancient cakey face powders in favor of some new strategies, like blotting papers to soak up facial oil, silicon-based primers) or pore minimizers on your T-zone.

Do all those happy, glowing shoppers wandering around with chic eco-baskets that spilleth over with mustard greens make you feel inept and discouraged when it comes to buying and cooking local produce? Sure, there are vegetables you don't know how to prepare yet. Sure, you may blanch at the price of an organic, free-range chestnut. But this is the week to figure out how to incorporate farm goodies into your life. (1) Buy the damn basket. (2) Make a specific list of what to buy—as if the market were a grocery store (in other words, stop wandering around sampling kale pickles and blueberry honey without purchasing anything). (3) Get chatty (the stand owner knows what's freshest and how to prepare it).

A shocking 81 percent of married women say their bedroom lives are utterly predictable. Tonight and every night this week, try out something new with your spouse, partner or even (blush) yourself.

Spend one full week without a single electronic device. Creativity has been shown to increase after just three days off from laptops, tablets, Wiis, TVs and smartphones.

Teach yourself, once again, how to skip rocks, hopscotch, weave a daisy chain and fold paper into that question-and-answer game that didn't have a name back in third grade.

For one week, write down every single lie—the big, the small, the funny, the dumb—that you tell. Next, review the list, not looking at the number of lies but the places and times you lie: When you're late? When you're talking about money, sex or age? When you can't do what you promised—or wish—you could do?

Every day this week, donate the amount of money that you usually spend on lunch or fancy coffees to a cause that you believe in.

Update your résumé, spice up your LinkedIn profile and request your credit score (some companies check it before making an offer).

Yes, there will be juice streaming down your arms.

If a blouse is stained from lunches eaten at your desk, or dates back to an entry-level position, it goes in the donate pile. While you're at it, consider adding a playful, feminine detail like lace (Adam Glassman shows you how to keep it more boardroom than bedroom). Stay-at-homers, the same rules apply.

Prevent fatigue (and headaches) by using the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look away from your computer screen and stare off into the distance—or at an object about 20 feet away—for 20 seconds.

You may be surprised at what they're up to these days.

At best, you'll learn to make a familiar dish—like chicken noodle soup—from scratch. At worst? You'll eat salad for dinner instead of a frozen pizza.

Married people included. No restaurants allowed.

Who are the 10 people in your life you trust enough to talk about personal issues, stand up for you in difficult situations or advise you when you make mistakes? Is your own name on that list?

Everybody keeps talking about the smoky eye. This week, learn how to do it like an expert. Better yet, give it a twist with a violet color that's just as sexy as black or gray and flatters every skin tone. For a less-bold look, try a colored eyeliner.

Not allowed: going as a pedestrian or as yourself.

Rewrite your online dating profile, take down the picture of you breastfeeding on Facebook or update your titles on Goodreads. Consider how many sites you need to have a presence on (Facebook and Google+?), which ones you actually use (Twitter?) and which new sites you might want to explore (Tumblr? Pinterest?).

You don't have to show it to anybody. But you do have to write it out by hand in clear, legible writing and save it.

How to write a poem

Everyone has one of these, that sharp, prickly feeling you get after talking badly about your clinically insane but otherwise kind neighbor or complaining about your lovely 74-year-old father who really tries not to call you 10 times a day. This feeling occurs because you're doing something you're not proud of. Stop doing it this week.

It's more nutritious than the white version (bran and wheat germ contain most of the vitamins and fiber), and when it comes to baking for the holidays, it can add depth and texture.

For example, (1) don't wear jeans with holes, (2) make friends with the receptionist at your OBGYN's office, and (3) always use cloth napkins.

You may not have a giant microphone, but you do have a hairbrush. Get in front of a mirror and very loudly list all the people who have helped you in the past year. If you're likely to forget a name over time, record it.

Assign yourself at least two conversations with two different strangers about any topic in the book, including the Gross National Happiness (GNH) index.

...to somebody who you've never said it to before.

At the end of the week, toast yourself.