Doing Without to Eventually Have It All

The premise of this book is simple: When it comes to sex and relationships, sometimes we get in so deep the only way out is to start over again.

For many of us—whether we're in a relationship or actively dating in the hopes of finding that someone  special—our love lives have become a source of toxicity, rather than one of sustenance and renewal.

This program is a powerful way to take action in an area of your life that often lacks a clear point of entry: sex and relationships. Think about it: When you want to get in shape, you sign up for a gym membership; when you want to lose weight, you go on a diet; when you want to get out of credit card debt, you consider consolidation plans. But how do you start consolidating your love life?

If you're in a relationship, I'm going to ask you to take sex off the table for thirty days (and, yes, nights too) and give yourself over to the "thrill of the chaste." This is not to say that you can't or won't end up having sex in the days that ensue—after all, accidents happen, and hopefully they are ones with happy  endings—but rather I implore you not to have the kind of sex that is joyless, soulless, or more of the same; bid farewell to the sex that is bereft of the passion, intimacy, and sense of loving connection that you crave and deserve. And if you're stuck in a rut and thinking to yourself that the last thing you need in your life right now is to be having even less sex, then consider this program the difference between slowly being starved to death in an environment that leaves you feeling desperate and powerless and actively choosing to undertake a diet that you know will result in your becoming a healthier, stronger person both inside and out.

But also know that you don't have to be in a relationship currently to benefit from this program: If you're one of the tens of millions of single people on the hunt for love, and you're feeling burnt out and bruised by the process, it's time to go on a dating detox—to take a break not only from any casual sex you may be having, but to stop dating altogether for the duration of this program and reset the  relationship-results you seek.

Regardless of whether you're single, coupled, or somewhere in between, you only have one love life, and it's time to live it to the fullest.

Learn more about this book throughout January in the Bright Ideas from Bestselling Authors group on Gather.