Too many people fail to take control of their lives, allowing themselves to fall victim and accept whatever happens. When you choose to dream—and defy the naysayers all around—you can change direction and accomplish nearly anything you set out to achieve.

In Changing Direction, Mary Miller lays out 10 choices anyone can make to impact his or her dreams. By concentrating on improving the future, you become a new, happier and more energized person.

Miller describes how she first seized control of her life in 1987 as a then-30-year-old twice-divorced single mother of three. She explains how she later found the fortitude—and support—to buck conventional wisdom and change the direction of the family business she led with her third husband, Tony.

To address their biggest obstacle—turnover—they began encouraging people to achieve their dreams and developed the Dream Manager program, a world-renowned initiative helping employees identify dreams, set goals and work to reach a better future.

Miller explains that there are few things worse than having no control. You may feel lost. You may feel desperate. You may feel despair, but it does not have to be this way. Changing Direction weaves Miller’s amazing personal story of triumph and transformation with 10 practical choices you can make today in order to move from victim to victor. To get started, all you have to do is dream.

Who loves to clean toilets and mop floors? Probably not too many people, but at its most basic level, that is the service that JANCOA, the company I own with my husband Tony, provides.

In life, there is much more to a job than the actual task you do. There is much more to a livelihood and career than the job description presented to you on the first day of work. The reality is much deeper: We all want what we do to be meaningful—both for others and ourselves. Without meaning, you are lost, lacking focus, purpose, and direction. Once you have lost your way, your life can feel out of control. You feel lost, desperate. It does not have to be this way. You can change direction.

Who loves to clean toilets and mop floors? Probably not too many people, but at its most basic level, that is the service that JANCOA, the company I own with my husband Tony, provides.

In life, there is much more to a job than the actual task you do. There is much more to a livelihood and career than the job description presented to you on the first day of work. The reality is much deeper: We all want what we do to be meaningful—both for others and ourselves. Without meaning, you are lost, lacking focus, purpose, and direction. Once you have lost your way, your life can feel out of control. You feel lost, desperate. It does not have to be this way. You can change direction.