After four weeks on the *New York Times'* best seller list with her tell-all autobiography *Losing It,* Valerie Bertinelli says she's found her true purpose in life. "Every time I hear from someone -- they come up to me and say 'you've inspired me' -- it fills my heart," Valerie says. "They've said they've been inspired, which is exactly what I wanted from this book, that it's very relatable." And those praises are confirming Valerie's own goals: "This is what I want to be here for. I want to be helping people." From drug use and infidelity to her @[struggles with weight loss](http://www.jennycraig.com/successstories/blog/valerie/) and the painful breakup of her marriage to Eddie Van Halen, Valerie says writing about her past is her way of creating a clean slate. "I just decided that I was going to purge everything because I had purged all the weight that I wanted to lose, now I want to purge all of the shame that I felt in my life," she explains. "I don't want to feel shame about anything any longer because I am who I am today because of all of the good choices and even the bad choices that I made, and the mistakes that I made. I wish it hadn't taken me 47 years, but I'm proud to be who I am today." Writing her autobiography also had a positive impact on her relationship with her rock star ex. "Once I took responsibility for all the actions that I did that I wasn't real proud of, I was able to let it go," Valerie says. "There were apologies between Ed and I and we were able to connect in another way so it's actually very good." She's astounded by the success of the book -- especially that it debuted at #1. "I couldn't believe it, who can? How lucky am I?" Valerie asks. "I want to shoot big, but I didn't know that I would actually get there on the first week!" With her life in such a strong place, Rachael asks Valerie if she thinks she's now hitting her stride. "I feel I'm getting there," Valerie says. "I feel that now I'm on the path that I'm supposed to be here for. Now I'm really going to do what I'm here on Earth to do." Could that include her own talk show? "I don't know," she says. "If it could be an inspirational show that women could tune in and just say 'yes I'm inspired today.'" She also hopes to write a follow-up book. "There are so many stories inside me. I want to write about divorce and treating our children right," she says. "We just keeping forgetting that our children should come first. It doesn't matter how much you hate that other person. Love your child more."