According to Beverly Potter, finding a path that is meaningful and satisfying and that reflects one's values is essential to achieving self-fulfillment and consistent, peak performance. But, she says, many people are burned out in one or more aspects of their lives, and they don't know how to put themselves back on track.

Dr. Potter defines burnout as a loss of enthusiasm, a lack of ambition, and a sense of resignation.

In Finding a Path With Heart, the author presents 12 self-leadership tools that can help readers overcome burnout and achieve peak performance and satisfaction in every aspect of their lives.

Using accelerated learning techniques, stories, dialogues, and metaphors, the author shows how to define one's purpose, set goals, and develop a plan for action. She also shows how to measure one's progress, elicit support, change negative thinking into positive thinking, and transform obstacles into opportunities.

"Going from burnout to bliss requires an understanding of each, as well as your own motives for wanting to leave burnout behind," says Potter. Her book is about "how to find a direction, how to get where you want to go, and how to enjoy optimal experience in your work and leisure."

"The path you seek to find may be making a career choice, planning to proceed with a project at work, establishing direction in a hobby, or putting together a volunteer activity. Pathfinders know how to get their bearings and carve out an important purpose--to set a direction that satisfies personal values while achieving meaningful goals. In times of change, pathfinders rise to the challenge of leadership and succeed."

Beverly Potter is an organizational psychologist based in Berkeley, California.

Finding a Path With a Heart: How To Go From Burnout to Bliss, by Beverly Potter. 364 pp. Berkeley, CA: Ronin Publishing, 510/540-6278, $14.95.

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