But for Carol Satterlee, it's time for resolutions all year round. As a life coach, the Cupertino resident helps her clients change the trajectories of their lives through workshops with Fremont Adult Education, Quinlan Community Center and the Saratoga recreation department. Instead of focusing on past mistakes, life coaching helps clients work past inner conflicts to reach their goals.

Satterlee herself encountered a similar problem several years ago. She worked in the tech industry, but after her children were born, she became a stay-at-home mom. As her kids, now 14 and 12, began growing up and becoming more independent, she began fearing empty-nest syndrome. "That first sleepover was rough. I started imagining what would happen when they left for college," Satterlee says. "As more time was passing, I was becoming a different person."

She describes herself as introspective and a listener, which initially led her to consider counseling as a second career. Time spent as a volunteer counselor in her children's schools was encouraging, but what sealed the deal was a stint working in a hospice. "That threw me for a loop," she says. "It made me realize that life is way too short."

A newspaper article turned her onto life coaching, which looks ahead at shaping someone's future instead of wallowing in their past. "Coaching is very forward-focused and positive," Satterlee says. "We want to help people with goals or dreams that they never thought they could reach." Life coaching, which has existed as an industry since the late 1980s, requires a two-year certification process, and since many life coaches offer their services worldwide, many classes are available online.

That's the path Satterlee chose, enrolling in an online program through Australia's International Coach Academy in May 2001. She says she met a number of interesting people from all over the world through the process, and though she didn't receive her certification until May of this year, she started tallying experience right away via peer coaching. Satterlee was even coached herself when the stresses of studying for her certification alongside parenting two children overwhelmed her. "I've become so much more patient because of coaching," she says. "Everything comes at its time."

Currently, she handles about five to six clients at a time that hear about her services through her workshops or by word of mouth. She normally requests three months to work with a client, which involves several phone sessions a month and unlimited emailing. Satterlee's goal as a coach is to help clients identify what they want from life and what they can do to bypass whatever's holding them back.

"A lot of people wonder why you would even need to hire someone for that," she says. "It's great if you have wonderful support, but much of the time, my clients need someone who's objective and not emotionally attached."

That's not to say Satterlee doesn't find it gratifying when her clients make a breakthrough. "I'm their little cattle prod," she says. "I don't believe anyone can squash their passions. I love it when people want to make that discovery." She focuses mostly on helping clients unclutter their lives, as well as helping parents make the transition from childhood to adolescence along with their kids. "Too many parents are using the same parenting skills they used on their two-year-olds with their teenagers," she says. "They're not scary monsters; they're human beings who want to be heard."

Satterlee says her relationship with her own teenage children has benefited tremendously from her experiences as a life coach. Her son would initially suspect that any communication from his mother was part of a coaching technique, but now, Satterlee says, her whole family realizes that the acceptance of their own faults is key to strong relationships.

This mindset also helps Satterlee in the other areas of her life. In addition to the 10­12 hours she spends a week coaching, she's also in charge of coordinating a tutoring program at Monta Vista High School, in addition to a part-time job as a medical transcriptionist. Her husband is an engineer with Cisco Systems, which allows Satterlee the leeway to split her time between jobs and volunteer positions. "I feel pretty darn balanced," she says. "Those are the days that feel great, when I have a little touch of everything."

But even with the changes she's seen in clients as a result of coaching, she doesn't anticipate an influx coming with the new year. "Resolutions are something people do half-heartedly," she says. "You have to be ready for coaching."

Information on Carol Satterlee's life-coaching services can be found online at http://www.strengthwithin.com.