Oh, I was 23, fresh out of college, working at Glamour magazine, living like, you know, a bit of a devil wears product, except everyone was nice. And I wasn't in fashion, but it was like a very cool New York City. Like he did my blood work and I was like, I'm great, right? I'm healthy. He's like, yeah, you're healthy. Anyway, next day, he called me back and said that there was something weird in my blood and that I needed to come back.

Did you have red flags go up or did you just think, oh, okay, well, we'll figure this out?

You know what? I had so many red flags. It was just like 10 weeks after 9-11.

And so the red flags were everywhere. My job was to interview experts and get their tips on how to do things better.

But at 40, I realized I still was like a frazzled, overwhelmed shooting from the hip

person.

I was like, wait, I'm, I have three kids.

I have a job.

I have a home.

But I'm not quite like a fully functioning adult. And so I was like,

what if I, you know, and I didn't want to do any major changes, right? Like the last thing I needed

was to add anything to my crazy to-do list. But I thought, what if I reach out to all of these

different experts who I've known over the years and some new ones and find out

how to do all the little things that make up our day and our life just a little bit better.

Is there a particular message or lesson you learned in this book that you're really going

to apply to next year, to live next year a little smarter? Absolutely.

Hello from the Heartland.

My name is Jenna, and this is Smarter News, news when it matters and why it matters.

Our Smarter series features unique people who help us think and live smarter.

Well, Smarter News has made the big time.

We are in a book, a real live book.

But the author who put us there actually has a fascinating story that you should also hear.

...