The early New Englanders knew how and when to be satisfied. Rarely feeling sorry for themselves, they had a clear sense of place and how they fit into it. As Heinrichs, notes, we can benefit from their sensible attitudes, practicing a little "Yankeefication," which we can accomplish without actually moving to rural New England.

In The Yankee Way to Simplify Your Life, Heinrichs offers a variety of practical and unusual ways to begin practicing Yankee ingenuity. He shows us how we can:

-convert desires into goals and transform negative experiences into the seeds of personal success (much like Daniel Webster, whose childhood rickets made his forehead protrude, giving him a prominent brow that many found godlike later in his life).
-improve our weaknesses and develop strengths systematically (much like Benjamin Franklin, who decided elaborate charts would lead to moral perfection; of the thirteen virtues he charted, he only failed with "Chastity," though he ended "a better and a happier man" than he would have otherwise).

Amazon.com Review
Jay Heinrichs, with the collaboration of the editors of Yankee magazine, has pulled together a wry, sensible, and funny guide book for taking control of your life, making prudent judgments, and changing the way you approach life for more satisfaction and more fun. This is not a book of cute, homespun, nostalgic aphorisms. The author lives in the real world and understands that the rest of us do too. As a result, this is one of the more readable self-help books I've seen in many years. It's also deeply inspiring. With straightforward language and amusing illustrative stories throughout, you can't read Heinrichs's book without feeling that you can make some significant and helpful changes in the way you look at and live your life.