We all carry a list. You know the one I’m talking about.

A new job.
A new relationship.
Better health.
Abundance, blessings, growth.

Beautiful asks. Ask for all of it. But before you lay your list of desires at the Creator’s feet, ask one more question:

Who do I need to be to receive it?

When our sight is fixed only on outcomes, we forget to nurture our identity. And if a blessing arrives for a person who isn’t ready for it, it doesn’t land as fulfillment or peace—it tends to actually multiply chaos. Rosh Hashanah is the annual invitation to recreate you. To recreate your identity and your consciousness into one that can receive. Asking for the life we want also means letting go of the version of ourselves that we are now. We have to let go of the parts we’ve outgrown.

We might say we want more life, yet how often are we actually living?

Seneca wrote that we live only a small part of our lives—not because we lack time, but because we don’t spend it as we should. Similarly, the author Anne Lamott asks, “What will you do with the days you’re issued? Will you taste this life? Will you become who you’re meant to be?”

Rosh Hashanah arrives and holds up this mirror: Where am I playing small? Where can I be even more honest? Today, following our month of teshuvah, we bring forward the “should haves,” the “shouldn’t haves,” the slips in consciousness—not for shame, but for transformation. In the Light, even our missteps are fertile material. We bring it all on Rosh Hashanah and we ask the Creator: show me who I’m becoming. Make me brave enough to become that person.

An easy way to begin is by assessing the first thought you have in the morning. Is it gratitude or dread? Curiosity or complaint? We all lock our doors, password-protect our accounts, and insure our belongings—yet we unconsciously let our attention and time be stolen by worry, judgment, and distraction. Guard every thought you have like treasure, not only when you feel aligned and purposeful but when you feel strain or doubt. Especially then.

I reference this story often but it continually bears repeating because it is an undeniable example of choosing your thoughts with precision and purpose. In 1971, 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke fell from the sky into the Amazon forest, the sole survivor of a plane crash that also claimed the life of her mother. Injured, grieving, and alone, she followed water, waded streams to avoid land predators, and used what she knew to stay alive until she was found. Desire carried her; knowledge guided her, and I imagine, her consciousness of determination fueled both.

Now, most of us won’t face jungles like that, but we’ll face days that test our perspectives, our devotion, and even our desires. Today, you probably want transformation. What about a month from now? What about on a tough Wednesday? Can you have the level of commitment and elevation you have today during the toughest or most mundane moments?

These two days are a portal and we can walk through that portal on purpose. We can also use the practices we apply at Rosh Hashanah throughout the rest of the year (and I highly recommend that you do!) For the next 48 hours:

Catch your first thought each morning. Choose gratitude on purpose.

Protect one sacred hour from distraction. No scrolling. No spirals. Fill it with study, prayer, or service.

Do one visible thing that expresses your true self—wear the color, say the truth, make the ask, create a piece of art. (Set down that 8-color box of crayons and pick up the box of 120 colors.)

Fulfillment is so much less about what actually happens and more about how you’re meeting what happens. When you start showing up for yourself the way your soul has asked you to—responsible, consistent, honest, kind—your life won’t just look different. It will feel different.

This is your creation moment. Bring your whole self to the Light: the parts you’re proud of and the parts you’d rather hide. Let it all be made use of and let yourself be recreated. Become the person your blessings are already looking for. May you live every day of your life. And may your life—this year—finally feel like the one you’ve always dreamed of…

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