Daily Practice January 26, 2026 Issue

To those wanting to change their lives

Change takes more than merely wishing or even making a few adjustments to our daily routine. A whole new way of thinking—a mental transformation—is what’s needed.

Russ Gerber

I’ve never forgotten a comment made in an interview I heard many years ago. The interviewee was an author, and he was asked about his first meeting with a potential publisher. He said that it took place in the publisher’s office in a high-rise building overlooking New York City, and he was proposing to write a book about the settling of the West in the United States.

The publisher stopped him in the middle of his proposal and said that books about the early days of the western US weren’t really selling. But he had a suggestion. He called the author over to the window, where they could look down on the street below. The publisher told the author that if he would consider writing a book about changing one’s life, the publishing firm would be most interested.

Pointing to the crowds below, he said that there were thousands of people down there, every one of whom wanted to change their life. He told the author that there was no end to the books he could sell about how someone could make those changes.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Spiritual Journeys

Journey from self to service