Here is an exercise I use with my clients at the end of each year to get them ready for the possibilities of the year to come. It can be a lengthy process; in fact, I encourage you to spend as much time on this exercise as you need, be it twenty minutes or a few hours. You will not be disappointed. You can use this process at any time (now would be a good time!) and not just as an end-of-year practice. If you’re just starting out with the Laws of Attraction, this process will really kick-start everything for you by making sure you’re headed in the right direction, and with enough space available for all the goodness that will come to you.

As you start this process, you may want some tools available to help you jog your memory about your past year. Here are some things you may want to have handy:<

• Your calendar
• Your journal
• Any notes from your coaching sessions if you work with a coach
• Financial records
• A friend or two to help you remember!

Also, as you do this exercise, it may be helpful to have several sheets of paper, where each sheet represents one area of your life, including: friends, health, personal growth, spirituality, money, career, home, possessions, fun, recreation, etc.

The process consists of answering the following questions with as much detail as possible. Remember, you’ll be using this information to “empty your closet” of old stuff so you can make room for the new. So, don’t dwell on anything, and definitely don’t find any more reasons to judge yourself harshly!

1. Make a list of all your disappointments, failures, losses, upsets and breakdowns that have happened in the past year. Acknowledge what these items are simply by listing them. You’re listing the items with the intention of making a decision about what you want to do with them. You can choose to let them go, carry them forward, or convert them into something new and different. Also list any judgments or bad feelings you’re holding about yourself or anyone else, including decisions you did or did not make that you presently regret.

Identify the ones you are willing to let go and on a piece of paper, create a symbol that represents this list. State to yourself, “I now release all old energy back to the Universe and make way for all new possibilities coming my way. And so it is.” Take your paper symbol and release the energy back into the Universe by burning it, burying it, or tearing it into tiny bits and throwing it away. This physical gesture does create a great release of energy.

Because the Universe wants to fill this new empty space with something, it is important that you complete this exercise, and also the exercises in the three subsequent chapters in this section. When you have a clear vision and specific goals, the Universe then knows exactly what to replace these negative things with.

Identify the ones around which you commit to making a new promise and hold onto them to include in your wish list and goals – your new intentions.

2. Make a list of any unfinished business that is still occupying your thoughts or energy in any way. This would include any of your relationships, anything having to do with your health, your home, computer, car, office, files, clothing, and so forth. When’s the last time you had your teeth cleaned? Have you backed up your computer lately? Do you fret every time you’re in the middle of a big, important document? List all these things as you did with the first list.

Identify what you want to do with each item on the list. Do you want to complete it? Delegate it to someone else? Simply let go and move on? What specific actions do you want to take to resolve anything that’s taking your valuable energy?

3. Make a list of all of your wins, successes, joys, delights, breakthroughs, and just awesome things that have happened to you in the past year. This is a chance to celebrate and own what you have become. Where did you step into your power and greatness? Please don’t gloss over these. The little stuff does count and no modesty is allowed! It’s time to validate and take ownership of all you have accomplished in your life up until now.

These are things you will not let go! They are what you will build from because they hold the positive feelings and foundation for your positive attitude. Allow yourself to smile when you think of all you’ve accomplished!

4. What have you learned about yourself and your life? What insights have you gained? True insights have the transformational capability to shift us into a new, more alive place. As we are blessed with insights, it is important to nurture and deepen these new understandings. These are our wonderful foundation for personal growth.

5. What are you grateful for? This list might include some of the above, and/or anything else you truly appreciate about yourself, the people, the things or activities that are in your life. There is a basic principle that whatever you appreciate and give thanks for will increase in your life. Read that last sentence over because it is important. Give thanks for that quarter in your pocket and it will multiply. Feel sorry you only have a quarter in your pocket and sorrow will multiply.

6. What would be a fun, special, personal thing to do for yourself in celebration of your accomplishments? How will you honor yourself? You deserve it!

This is a powerful exercise designed to put your life in perspective as you prepare yourself to move forward with power, grace, and ease. It sets the stage for your continued use of the Laws of Attraction on a daily basis with your loose ends firmly tied up. I guarantee you will rediscover some wins you forgot about, learn some things about yourself, and you may even be able to eliminate some energy drains and leave them in the dust as you move forward into your new life!

Life is always full of possibilities and potential just waiting for you. Luck is preparation meeting opportunity, and there is an abundance of opportunity at all times. All you have to do is clean the dust from your lenses so you can see it!