So you think you are perfect just the way you are. . . . Or you think perfection is a myth. You think humans are inherently selfish and prone to sin. . . . Or you think we are all pure until the world gets its hands on us. The truth is always more nuanced. Our journey toward self-refinement begins with self-knowledge and self-awareness. So this first lesson commences with a revolutionary new perspective on ourselves, our spiritual psyche, and our innate moral divide. We will discover that we have not one soul, but two, and each soul has a sophisticated spiritual anatomy all its own.

Inside of us, two identities are battling for supremacy. Each wishes to control our perceptions, feelings, thoughts, words, and deeds. Our struggles vary, as does our rate of success. How much can we reasonably expect of ourselves? Tanya, “the Book of the Beinoni,” tells us that we need to aspire to be a beinoni, an “in-betweener.” This lesson will explain what that entails.

Would you like to achieve perfection in just thirty days? Are you looking for a pill to solve your problems? Or have you made peace with the patience, hard work, and dedication that meaningful change requires? Whatever you prefer, this lesson is for you. Tanya presents two models—the “quick fix” for instant inspiration, and the long-term solution for radical, fundamental change. Both are important. We’ll discover when to employ each method, and we’ll learn their relative advantages and disadvantages.

Is your glass half-empty or half-full? The answer we give matters more than we think. A positive perspective is crucial when managing our negative emotions. Pain, anxiety, shame, or guilt can weigh us down and sap our motivation to persevere and win inner battles. This lesson offers strategies to minimize or even eliminate negative emotions.

Happiness is an action, not a reaction; a state of mind, not a state of being. In this lesson, we will learn the secret to greeting each day with genuine joy and optimism, affording us the emotional energy we need to succeed in life and achieve our spiritual goals. We get there with a radical shift in self-concept: identifying with our soul instead of our body. Along the way, we’ll uncover the elusive key to amazing relationships.

Do you ever feel that you keep dealing with the same problem again and again? Does life feel like a treadmill to nowhere? In this lesson, you’ll learn that in Judaism, spiritual “enlightenment” is put on the back burner while we focus on action. Actions aren’t measured by whether they get us to perfection; they’re good because they’re good. Stepping back, we see that even if we never become perfect, our recurring personal struggles can contribute to making a perfect world.

Can you think your way to love? Can you change the way you feel by changing the way you think? In this final lesson, we will learn to harness the power of our minds to manage our emotions and nourish the spiritual motivation necessary for steady growth. Focused contemplation is a powerful tool for personal transformation and the key to lifelong spiritual growth.