Perfection. It’s what we’re all aiming for, right? Doesn’t every woman want to fit—easily!—into a size 6 dress? To be a lioness in the boardroom and a tigress in bed? To be a totally dedicated wife, mother, daughter, coworker, and friend? To eat healthy, get rich, wear fabulous clothes, and, while she’s at it, save the planet?

Well, maybe not. What none of the self-help-book authors seem to realize is that most women don’t desire—or have time for—a total physical, intellectual, or financial makeover. They just feel the need for a little tweaking. Enter Pamela Satran, a self-help guru for those who want to be just a bit better than they already are—or to stop obsessing about how they fall short of some “ideal.”

1,000 Ways to Be a Slightly Better Woman offers more than 120 humorous (but nonetheless useful) lists divided into chapters such as “79 Ways to Lose Two Pounds by Next Summer,” “95 Ways to Be a Sexual Demigoddess,” and “86 Ways to Be a Less Desperate Housewife.” Packaged in a fun and accessible format, these gentle prods to becoming good enough provide the kind of self-improvement most women really want to—and realistically can—achieve.

Pamela Redmond Satran is the originator and the coauthor of the popular Glamour List column. She is a contributing editor to Parenting magazine, where she created such columns as “Relationships” and “How-to.” She has written for Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Self, Bon Appétit, The New York Times, Elle, The Washington Post, and many other publications. The coauthor of the bestselling baby name book Beyond Jennifer and Jason, Satran lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband and three children. Her web site is pamelaredmondsatran.com.