I hate New Year’s Resolutions. You make them you break them. They’re typically fueled by negativity and feel like penance for all the fun you had over the holidays.

I prefer November Completions. Rather then waiting until the end of the year, I spend time early in November focusing on completions that need attention. I think about what I want or need to do and the projects I’ve begun or meant to start. Then I decide what to clean up, complete, and deleted before the end of the year.

It’s a powerful practice that releases old baggage and liberates energy that can be used for new ventures in the coming year. If self-esteem is low and you’re feeling stuck, which is very common at midlife, November completions can elevate self-acceptance, self-appreciate, and self-worth which can help you love yourself and move forward. Emphasizing completion in November prepares you for the winter months and puts you in the right frame of mind to enjoy the holidays.

While I do this every year, looking at 2022 completions feels very different.  I was was diagnosed with breast cancer which gave the year a scary, transformational twist I never saw coming.

Covid-19 and global unrest have changed each of us in many ways. As a result, the exercise may be less about what you’ve accomplished and more about how you’ve changed and grown and where you’re being asked to grow next.

Taking a deep dive and being honest with yourself now will increase your confidence and self-worth. As a result you can enter 2023 embracing something new that is grounded, authentic and puts you on a path towards genuine happiness and greater, deeper joy.

Here’s how to make November Completions:

1. Celebrate Your Completions

List all the things you’ve already completed this year. Then take a moment to celebrate your successes and achievements. Sit back and savor how much you’ve already accomplished. Doing so will fill you with “Yes I can” energy, which will make tackling things on you to complete list much easier.

Here’s what’s on my completed list:

• I was diagnosed with breast cancer and am now in remission and healthier than ever.
• I fired my inner workaholic and took a sabbatical. This shifted my vibe, so now I’m working and living from a more authentic heart-centered place.
• I started a podcast called Rock Your Midlife
• I spent more time with family and friends and started a local healing group.
• I wrote the forward to a soon to be released book
• I was featured on the cover of Aspire Magazine
• I spoke at a pro-aging conference in NYC for Great Lakes Wellness.
• I traveled with Kenny, my wonderful fiancee and planned trips for 2023

2. Define Your to-Completes

Write down the things you have yet to finish this year. Include all those loose ends — the cluttered closets and dirty car, the half finished craft projects, the e-mails or calls you’ve been meaning to make, unpaid bills and the work tasks you’ve put on hold. Think about deadlines that have passed that still need attention and the goals and intentions you set but have yet to meet.

Review various aspects of your life such as:

• Home
• Relationships and family
• Body and health
• Career and work
• Finances
• Mind and personal development
• Spirituality

Make a To-Complete list for each area. Don’t worry if some areas are harder to handle than others. That’s natural. Focus on the easy ones first. You’ll build the confidence you need to tackle the harder ones. Set aside a little time each day to work with your list. Doing so will bring clarity, momentum and energy to your life.

3. Define Your Deletes

This is my favorite part of the completion process and particularly important this year when we’ve been forced to question who and what truly matters. Write down everything you want to jettison from your life. Ask yourself: What can I let go of? Include:

• Relationships that aren’t good for you and people who don’t nurture you
• Belongings you don’t need, use, or love
• Commitments and obligations that drain you
• Beliefs about yourself and your life that no longer serve you
• Habits that are holding you back

Then think about what you can do to release and bring closure to the items on your delete list. Listen to your intuition. That still, small voice will help you find your truth and understand what’s right for you.

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again. —Jack Kornfield 

Kornfield reminds us that to grow and glow we have to constantly let go of what needs sloughing off so we can renew ourselves. Nature abhors a vacuum. Complete those unfinished projects and delete the old stale worn-out parts of your life now. You’ll create space to attract what you really do want in your life, and you’ll have the energy and vitality to make the most of 2023.

Remember, you can’t control everything happening around you, but you can manage your thoughts, feelings, and energy so you feel healthy, joyful, and confident every day.