October 8, 2025 • 28 mins
Many people make New Year’s resolutions in January to make positive changes to improve their lives. But why wait until January? The October Theory suggests that the last three months of the year are a prime time for personal reflection and goal-setting leading into the New Year. The October Theory has gained traction on social media. Fearless Fabulous You Host Melanie Young discusses how to embrace the October Theory and turn the end of the year into a new beginning with handy tips.
Fearless Fabulous You is broadcast live Wednesdays at 12 Noon ET on W4WN Radio - Women 4 Women Network (www.w4wn.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
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Fearless Fabulous You is broadcast live Wednesdays at 12 Noon ET on W4WN Radio - Women 4 Women Network (www.w4wn.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
Fearless Fabulous You Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Speaker 3 (00:42):
Hello and welcome to Fearless Fabulous. To you, I am
your host, Melanie Young, and you are listening live today
on the Women for Women Network. You can hear all
my shows anytime on over sixty five podcast channels, and
I invite you to follow me not at the Connected Table.
You can follow me there too on the screen, but
also Melanie Fabulous. I also host a show called The
(01:03):
Connected Table, which you can hear live on Wednesdays it two,
so you can follow me there at the Connected Table
or Melanie Fabulous. So this is October. October eighth is
when the show is airing live. October eighth, twenty twenty five.
So October is a big month, particularly for me, Breast
Cancer Awareness Month. I am a breast cancer survivor. I
(01:25):
was diagnosed in two thousand and nine. It's always I'm
inundated with pink, pink, pink. I don't even love the
color pink. I'm not even wearing the color pink. Do
you want to quickly say? I have a book about
breast cancer, A great guide for anyone who is nearly
Diagnosed's Getting Things off my Chest, A Survivor's guide to
saying fearless and fabulous in the face of breast cancer.
(01:47):
And this is the book I wish I had had
when I was diagnosed. It is like your traveler guide
to the trip you don't want to take. It's like
the cliff note guide to say, what are the basics
I need to know, and what are the decisions I
need to make, and what are the questions I need
to ask? I talk about them in here with frankness
and a little bit of funniness, but always helpfulness and
expert guidance from experts. It's also a million other awareness months.
(02:11):
I'm getting pitched on Mental Health Awareness Month. I'm getting
pitched time so many things. But I got something this
week that was really interesting to me. I don't know,
maybe I've been living under a rock because this concept
that I'm going to talk about today came out in
twenty twenty three and went viral into twenty twenty four,
and I'm talking about in twenty twenty five. So where
(02:34):
was I Probably under a rock or probably just living
my life. But a girlfriend said it to me and
I read it. It's called the October theory. So I
thought that's interesting because there's also a big campaign in
the wine world called come Over October to get people
out and be more sociable in October. So I was
(02:55):
reflecting about the October theory and thought I would touch
on it today because it's kind of an interesting concept.
The October theory is a motivational trend that's grown popular
in recent years. It involves reframing the last three months
as a time to reflect, set goals, build better habits,
with the aim of achieving positive change before the end
(03:18):
of the year. Okay, so October is the new New year,
so doing New Year's Eve resolutions to do October resolutions, Well,
it makes sense in a lot of ways. First of all,
I was born Jewish and the and the Jews celebrate
the new year, which usually takes place it's based on
the Jewish calendar year or this year it's in twenty
(03:39):
twenty five, it's fifty seven eighty six, so happy fifty
seven eighty six if you're Jewish. But the Jewish new
year's concept or belief is that you start the year
with Russia Shana, which is the new year, and it
is the official start of the new calendar year, unlike
January first. It's also symbolic in other ways because harvest
(03:59):
is starting in the northern hemisphere, particularly in the wine
and food world. There's all these wonderful grapes being grown
in food being harvested, and in the southern hemisphere it's
spring and blossom for starting, and there's renewal Okay. So
the Russia Shana concept of is happy to year Lashanatova.
It's the new year. You eat lots of fruits and
vegetables and give sweet honey. You have honeycake, everything sweet
(04:22):
because you want your new year to be sweet. And
then after Russia Shana, there is a week of reflection
and rethinking life and repentance where you reflect on your
year to date and you repent and ask forgiveness for
any transgressions you have made. This leads up to the
(04:42):
day of Atonement, which is Kapoor, which just happened. It's
the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. And the ideas
that the Holy Being opens a book on Russia Shana,
and then that book writes there's two books. There's the
Book of Life and there's the Book of Death. And
of course you want your name be written in the
Book of life. So the blessing is, may your name
(05:03):
be written in the Book of Life. And obviously you
don't want to be in the book of death. But
God closes the book at Yam Kapoor, and you start
your new year, and you start it hopefully with more
purpose and soulfulness and an open slate to being a
new person. And that is usually always in September or October,
(05:26):
but this year it is like September into October. So
I started thinking about that, and I started thinking about
how in many ways, October is a renewal after feeling
like a sleepy summer sloth all summer, and God knows
the New Orleans. New Orleans like goes to sleep because
it's so hot. Many people leave the city. Then the
(05:48):
cool weather brings back a people, fresh air, crisp air
and you wake up. It's like a love slap in
the face, like a puppy who goes outside and they're
playing in the cool weather and they'll falling leaves, and
you just will refreshed after a hot, hot summer. And
it's before you get into the craziness of the holidays
and then the deep dark winter, which I don't know
(06:10):
about you, but I'm like, I want to hibernate like
a bear when it's cold and dark. So in that context,
October is amazing. October is one of the most beautiful
months of the year in the northern hemisphere. There's fall
foliage or down here in New Orleans, it's just cooler weather,
but it's nice. Hurricane season is slowly ending. Deep exhale.
(06:34):
A lot of good things happening in October. People are
out and about, schools are in session, there's a new
series of arts and culture. All the theaters make their debuts,
and new restaurants. It's a time of renewal and a
lot of new beginnings. A lot of books come out.
It's a real new beginning time of the year. Now
(06:54):
I know a lot of this is commercial, because a
lot of these things come out because they want you
to spend more money on Christmas. It's okay because it's
also a good time financially. You hope that the markets
will be really good. It's a time when many of
the companies and organizations I work for are planning new
budgets and there's an opportunity to find new business. So
it's October is amazing. So suddenly the concept of an
(07:19):
October theory resonated with me. And it's not just because
I'm you know, I have the Jewish faith, or I'm
in the wine world and it's harvests. It's because suddenly
it's a great month. It's a great month to travel.
All the summer sales are coming, The airlines are running
sales to go to Europe. It's a great time to fly.
Maybe you don't want to be with the hordes of
tourists in the summer, or you don't want to travel
(07:41):
over the Christmas holidays because it's crazy, it's cold, or expensive.
It's a great time to do many things. And you
know what, I like the October theory. It's a great
time to reset because you know, you have three months
to the end of the year to figure it all out,
Whereas when you get to January first, you really are
(08:02):
rushing to kind of get it all done in January
and February, because we all know that many resolutions just
folld by the wayside by March one. That's why people
join gyms and suddenly they don't go to the gym.
Many people admit that their year's resolutions fall off by
mid February or early March. So I think that with
October theory, you're more likely to do things and stick
(08:25):
with it. Why Because there's the promise of the holidays, Okay,
I'll get them in. There's the promise of creating a
happy ending to the year. There's a promise of pulling
together paperwork that you may need for the beginning of
the year, beginning it done earlier, so you're not rushed.
It's like a right they get about filing your taxes.
(08:46):
It's another one. So I like the whole idea, the
October theory. Once again, you know, resetting your life, reframing
what your year is to date, and you're giving yourself
three more months to make that year what you wanted
it to be so you're not writing regretful things in
(09:08):
your New Year's Day or January diary about I wish
that you had been this. You're giving yourself time to
figure it out and do it now. With that mind,
I created lists because I love lists on some things
you can do in this wonderful gift you're giving yourself
at the time of the October theory. It's not too
(09:29):
late to get started, and now is the right time.
So here's some things I think are great. First of all,
always help them well. Be October is a great time
to get your mammogram. I always I always scheduled my
mammogram in October and on Halloween because then I can
remember to do it. So October is a great time
(09:50):
to schedule a lot of your medical and dental appointments.
And I why one. You want to get it done
before the end of the year, because you I want
to make sure you're in your health insurance window. I
just got a notice from my dentist who's totally on it,
and he wrote, check your dental insurance to make sure
you use up all your benefits in this calendar year
(10:12):
before you start anew. Well, that is a great incentive
for you to go to the doctor is to get
all your medical tests and all your checkups and the
colonoskamees and you name it done in this medical year
and insurance year. Because you may be saving money. I'm
(10:32):
doing that, believe me. Because if you have a deductible
and it starts the beginning of the calendar year, whoopsie daisy,
you may be out money you didn't want to spend
at the beginning of the year or whenever. And you're
more likely not to put off doing something if you
say I need to do it before the end of
the year while I still have the coverage. Who knows
what's going to happen with your coverage next year. Things
(10:54):
change around here so much as we all know. So
get your mammogram, get your vaccinations. I always get my
flu in COVID. I think you need approval for COVID now,
But you get your vaccinations, and I do believe in them.
I always get them in end of September or October.
I got mine October done, check it off. I'm not
(11:17):
going to get the flu. Start a pre holiday exercise regimen,
maybe add one new physical activity to your weekly workout.
Then you'll be really an awesome shape for the holidays,
so maybe you can indulge more. Why wait, start now?
(11:38):
And what's great about it is that the weather is
usually really great. You can get outside. There's no more
mesquitoes hopefully where you are there still are here, but
I hate mosquitos at night. But you have you know,
the days aren't too short yet where we can get
up in the morning and go jogging or workout or biking.
They're not going to end and get too dark soon,
so you can get that golden low in work down
(12:01):
in before dinner. You still have that wonderful window of
daylight before the clock starts going back, where you can
go out and enjoy wonderful activities. And the weather is great,
so that's another reason you want to enjoy October. Then,
you know, hop on the diet track now to prepare
(12:22):
for the holidays. The seasons bring new produce, and there's
all the wonderful squashes and pumpkins and apples. Apples are
so full with fiery there's some great fruits and vegetables
that are harvested and widely available in October that are
great for you, okay, And there's all those hearty whole
(12:45):
grange you can make, which are wonderful and I miss
my New York State apples. They don't have them here
in New Orleans, and I miss them totally. But you know,
that's a great thing about October. There's some wonderful pro
to enjoy, and of course you can enjoy the latest
releases of wine in moderation, but this is when all
(13:07):
the new releases start coming out, and that's great too.
So October is a really good time to jump start
or just add to and enhance your workout to be
an optimum shape before the end of the year. So
maybe you do something really fun for New Year's that
is like a hike, but you're already in great shape.
(13:29):
Get in great shape before the holidays, and then you
won't worry about having that extra cookie or cake or
slice of pie. Okay, no, set. The second reason October
is awesome. The October theory is financial, and this is important.
This is a great time to meet with your financial
advisors to review your portfolio and make necessary changes before
(13:52):
the end of the year. That's awesome, plast talking with
your accountants and CPAs, because you want to make sure
you have all your financial ducks in a row before
you file your taxes for twenty twenty five, which will
be due in April twenty fifteen, I mean twenty twenty six.
Excuse me, but how many times you wait in the
last minute. Why wait in the last minute. Give yourself
(14:14):
the leisure of time to get your ducks in a
row starting in October, and then you're not scrambling around.
You know, make sure you have all your bank statements downloaded,
all your credit card statements downloaded. Update you know, get
all those receipts pulled together. Do it now so you're
not crunching to make a deadline in a spring. Another one,
(14:35):
update your technology in accounting, in terms of your bookkeeping.
Why for the same reason I just told you to
update all your other paperwork. It's a great time because
if you need to buy technology or new computer or
phone or whatever, this is a great time to do it.
It's a tax deduction, right because if you're self employed
or you have a business, get your write offs now,
(14:56):
and October is a great time to do it. Another
good reason is October, and of course November there's deals.
You can probably find better deals on certain things, so
really shop around and look for what Autumn October Columbus
Day deals there are and then if not, wait until
November for Black Friday. But you know Columbus Day or
(15:16):
Indigenous People's Day, what do you call it, They always
have great shopping deals. This is a great time to
look into it. One of my favorites purchase flights. I'm
getting notices from my main carriers are Delta and American Airlines,
but it just got air France Fair sales are awesome
in October, so is travel. Travel prices actually drop in
(15:37):
many areas and you can get a great deal, and
this includes hotels and car rental. And October is a
great time to travel. It's before the craziness of the holidays.
It's after the really craziness of the summertime. Usually the
kids are in school. So if you're you know, a
mature couple and you want to go and have less
(15:57):
lines at favorite tourist attractions, this is a great time
to travel. And also it's not hot like summer, so
that is a really big big deal is travel deals,
so you should be shopping those around. And if you're
looking at a cruise, consider that. I can tell you
that I have my timeshare in Hawaii up for Thanksgiving
(16:18):
Week and it still hasn't sold at rented excuse me,
and I've just dropped it and it's a deal on
redweek dot com. Redweek has so many deals because they
got to drop the prices and offer specials to get
everything booked before the end of the year. Any kind
of travel deal is a good one here in October.
(16:40):
Another important thing to do is really sit down and
while you're downloading all your credit card statements and bank statements,
but you want to do that now so you're not
crunching to do it before tax time, really sit down
and look at them hard and look at and see
if you have any auto renewals that you didn't really
want to have automatic subscriptions, annual renewals, make lists of
and find out when they do renew so you're not
(17:02):
caught behind, you know, caught off guard and find out
that you're getting this charge for renewal that you maybe
forgot you had. I did that and I found a
couple of renewals. I were like whoa, and bank charges
and I'm like, WHOA. Get it done now, because you
want to get your finances in order and also save
money so you can enjoy more during the holidays. Another
(17:25):
thing I have done, and it's a great October thing,
is to sit down and look at all your insurance policies. Now,
this is a great thing to do in October. First
of all, for health insurance. If you're going into the
health insurance marketplace that opens up November one, and there
is a window when you can get health insurance. If
you're on the Obamacare health insurance marketplace, which I hope
(17:46):
still stays, so you want to do an analysis of
your current health insurance it, make sure you know when
it expires, and really shop around, try to get a
navigator to help you or an insurance agency. You're getting
the best still and the best coverage, and that's for
your medical But likewise, with your insurance policies, do a
hard reset on those and again find out when they
(18:09):
were new. Are there any charges that are going to
change in the next year. Now is the time to
do that, so you can renegotiape policies and decide if
they're still even right for you or if you want
to surrender them. Ditto if you have loans against them,
find out what they are on, what the insurance rates are,
so that you can decide if it's worth it. Oh,
(18:29):
I just did this, and I actually gave up some policies.
They were just no longer worth it. So I'm saving money.
October is a great time to do this, so that
you're saving money before the end of the year and
better prepared for the new year to have a better
financial slate and plan. So I think i'll cover two
of the most important to me, finance and health and wellness. However,
(18:53):
there's more. There's of course, your personal and your social connections.
Why wait until December to have a holiday party when
everybody else says I always used to laugh when people
would say to York, I need to see you before
the end of the year. I'm like, but you never
see me during the year, So why are we waiting
(19:13):
until the last month to do? You know, cram it
all in? Now was the time to say, gosh, I
haven't talked to so and so in a while. I
haven't talked to somebody in a while. I'd like to
get together and get together when we're not all crazy.
He had to be busy with other things or family opportunity,
family obligations around the holiday. So I have a holiday
party in October, doesn't have to be Halloween, by the way,
(19:36):
I'm a big Halloween person. But you could have a
get together wine tasting, or let's all get together for coffee,
or you know, do a covered dish event. But October
is a great time to do it. You know what
else is fun is we're all trying to probably save
money and not spend a lot on holiday gifts. I
can't stand the consumerism of Christmas. I don't even like
things anymore. So one I think October is a great
(19:59):
time to declutter. You're flipping your closets, so I hope
you're flipping your closets into putting away all your summer
clothes and bringing out your fallen winter clothes. Well, first
of all, perge, perge perche, take a look at what
you're thinking you're gonna want to wear next summer, and
go Does I sweat in that a lot? Is this
starting to look a little ratty tatty? Yes, particularly if
you live in New Orleans. So the first thing you
(20:20):
do is put your clothes and shoes into two categories.
I want to keep because it's still awesome. Not for sure,
Maybe I can repurpose it so I'm not wasting money.
Maybe you can repurpose it or do something with it,
and then no way, Jose, donate or maybe resell. Do
that now so you're not wasting space putting away tattered, stained,
(20:45):
sweaty growth clothes. You're never gonna wear a gown and
you're wasting space. So do that, and then bring out
your fallen winter clothes and do the same thing. Do
I really want this? I live in New Orleans? Do
I really need this heavy sweater anymore? Or could I
sell it? Mix some money? You know, you can sell
your clothes and make money and put that way for
holiday gifts or that holiday trip you want to take.
(21:07):
But October is a great time to do that because
you should be flipping your closets, and while you're flipping
your closets, clean out your drawers and purge. It's a
great time to purge. A fun thing to do is
have a swap met. Have that party that you want
to see your friends and say, look, bring stuff that
you no longer want, that you still like but is
no longer for you, and we'll do a swap mate
(21:28):
and everybody can swap out things and take home new things.
I think it's a great idea and I'm going to
do it myself, right. The other thing to do is
it's cool around, so it's a great time to call
up a friend and say, let's go take a walk,
or go dog walking with your friends, or go to
a local animal shelter and say I'd like to walk dogs.
(21:49):
If you don't have a dog, go walk somebody. Go
walk a dog that's in an animal shelter. Be a
dog walking volunteer. But say call some friends, say let's
do this all together. So you're getting exercise, you're socializing
taking care of animals at the same time. That's a
fun thing to do. And the weather cooperates because it's
October and it's it rocks. Another thing is if you're
(22:09):
not with anybody and not in a relationship and you
usually when I hit October, I actually dreaded the holidays
because I knew I would need to start planning that
single trip to go away, because I always like to
run away from the holidays rather than stay be that
single person that was me. So I start planning my trip,
and of course October was a great time to do
it because I could always get the best deals. But
(22:31):
if you really want to maybe meet somebody or meet
anybody or someone special. This may be the time to
sign up for a dating service or an online service,
or call up that person you met, or try to
go meet someone and be a little more social so
that maybe you can have somebody with you in the holidays.
(22:57):
I think that's a great thing to do, is think
about that social planning great events, and you know, look
at the arts and community calendar and where you live
and see if there's events coming up in the holidays
and go ahead and buy tickets and schedule them so
you know you're not going to be alone. There's so
many wonderful events. There's wine tastings, there's book talks, there's
(23:18):
art museum openings, there's a zillion million fundraisers. If you
don't want to spend a lot of money, go to
meet up or community calendar and see what there is.
But there's always something, so you're not just sitting home moping.
October should be the go out month. Go out and
just see. I used to love New York and October
it sizzled. There was so much energy, there were so
many great events. I'm finding that here in New Orleans
(23:41):
as well. Everybody disappeared. It was like where is everybody.
They were all up in North Carolina or May, they're
all back. There's so many events and festivals and music things,
it's almost too much. And on top of it, it's
football season. Yeah, football season, so that's another thing too.
Get to host a football party if you're into it,
host fun football party and everybody can come over and socialize.
(24:03):
Use October to be with people, use October to make
new friends, and use October to check in on friends
who may be alone because they are going to go
into that year in slump. I always went into it.
You know. The year in for me is a terrible time.
I lost my grandfather in October. I lost my grandmother
(24:25):
in December. I lost my father in November. I lost
my mother in December. Like the most important people in
my life and my best friend Julie, the most important
people in my life all died between October and the
end of the year. So it can get modeling, you know,
when the autumn leaves start to follow. My mother loved
that song. Not only I get a little sad. The
days get shorter, the nights get longer, the leaves fall
(24:46):
off the tree. Who who holidays coming? I'm not into it.
So October is a great time to get set up
for that and strengthen your psyche so you can get
through it. If you're not in to all the Hallmark holidays,
you can opt out. You don't have to do any
(25:07):
of it. You can take a trip, take a road trip.
It's a great thing to do in October. You can
go find foliage where nobody knows where foliage is. I
think David and are going to go look for foliage
in northern Louisiana because I'm determined to find foliage in
Louisiana right October is a great time to connect with
your kids because they're back in school and they're probably
(25:29):
doing sports and after school activities. This is a great
time to say, we'll have to get involved and be
a part of it. It's a great time to connect
with your kids if you have or your grandkids also
really great. There's so many reasons to love October. And
you know, somebody pitched me on like all sorts of
depressing things about October and mental health. If you have
(25:50):
a friend who's maybe having a rough time, this is
a great time to call and say let's get together.
I just did that with a friend I talked to
and talked to you in a year, and I know
she's going through stuff. I just did it myself. Do
it now in October. Don't wait. Why wait to the
end of the year to tell people you care about
them just because it's the holidays. Start the holidays now,
(26:12):
or just make October your own special month. It's your
new year. It's your way to turn the end of
the year into amazing new beginning and give yourself more
time to do it. So to get the ball rolling,
make a list like I do. Get a diarrhea, say
these are the things I have three amazing months of
(26:34):
the year left. What do I want to do with them?
Start the new year, and then you know, when the
new year comes, you can start again and make another list.
But why wait? Do it now? And that's the October theory.
I think. I like the theory. I'd love to hear
about you, what you think and what you're going to
be doing to make your October your October. Okay, I'm
(26:58):
wrapping the show up early because it's just me. I
don't know if I can go for fifteen more minutes.
So I'm Melanie on Finally One Last Me, author of
the book that inspired the show Fearless, Fabulous You. Lessons
on living life on your Terms. A lot of what
I've been talking about today is kind of in here
(27:19):
been an essay form. I wrote this book as therapy
after breast cancer, and it is still a great read
for anyone who's just kind of going through stuff, who
wants to figure out how to rethink and reframe. October
is about doing that as well. End the year on
a high note. Start the year on a high note, right,
(27:39):
Just keep the high notes high and happy and upbeat.
I'm Melanie on this is Fearless, Fabulous You. I want
you to know that you can choose to live life
on your terms, and you should. You should always choose
your terms and not adhere to other people's terms or
what they think you should be and you should be doing.
(28:01):
You listen to your heart, you listen to your gut,
you listen to your head. Those are your superpowers. And
remember you always have choices to live life on your terms,
so always choose fearless and fabulous. Thanks for joining me.
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Hello and welcome to Fearless Fabulous. To you, I am
your host, Melanie Young, and you are listening live today
on the Women for Women Network. You can hear all
my shows anytime on over sixty five podcast channels, and
I invite you to follow me not at the Connected Table.
You can follow me there too on the screen, but
also Melanie Fabulous. I also host a show called The
(01:03):
Connected Table, which you can hear live on Wednesdays it two,
so you can follow me there at the Connected Table
or Melanie Fabulous. So this is October. October eighth is
when the show is airing live. October eighth, twenty twenty five.
So October is a big month, particularly for me, Breast
Cancer Awareness Month. I am a breast cancer survivor. I
(01:25):
was diagnosed in two thousand and nine. It's always I'm
inundated with pink, pink, pink. I don't even love the
color pink. I'm not even wearing the color pink. Do
you want to quickly say? I have a book about
breast cancer, A great guide for anyone who is nearly
Diagnosed's Getting Things off my Chest, A Survivor's guide to
saying fearless and fabulous in the face of breast cancer.
(01:47):
And this is the book I wish I had had
when I was diagnosed. It is like your traveler guide
to the trip you don't want to take. It's like
the cliff note guide to say, what are the basics
I need to know, and what are the decisions I
need to make, and what are the questions I need
to ask? I talk about them in here with frankness
and a little bit of funniness, but always helpfulness and
expert guidance from experts. It's also a million other awareness months.
(02:11):
I'm getting pitched on Mental Health Awareness Month. I'm getting
pitched time so many things. But I got something this
week that was really interesting to me. I don't know,
maybe I've been living under a rock because this concept
that I'm going to talk about today came out in
twenty twenty three and went viral into twenty twenty four,
and I'm talking about in twenty twenty five. So where
(02:34):
was I Probably under a rock or probably just living
my life. But a girlfriend said it to me and
I read it. It's called the October theory. So I
thought that's interesting because there's also a big campaign in
the wine world called come Over October to get people
out and be more sociable in October. So I was
(02:55):
reflecting about the October theory and thought I would touch
on it today because it's kind of an interesting concept.
The October theory is a motivational trend that's grown popular
in recent years. It involves reframing the last three months
as a time to reflect, set goals, build better habits,
with the aim of achieving positive change before the end
(03:18):
of the year. Okay, so October is the new New year,
so doing New Year's Eve resolutions to do October resolutions, Well,
it makes sense in a lot of ways. First of all,
I was born Jewish and the and the Jews celebrate
the new year, which usually takes place it's based on
the Jewish calendar year or this year it's in twenty
(03:39):
twenty five, it's fifty seven eighty six, so happy fifty
seven eighty six if you're Jewish. But the Jewish new
year's concept or belief is that you start the year
with Russia Shana, which is the new year, and it
is the official start of the new calendar year, unlike
January first. It's also symbolic in other ways because harvest
(03:59):
is starting in the northern hemisphere, particularly in the wine
and food world. There's all these wonderful grapes being grown
in food being harvested, and in the southern hemisphere it's
spring and blossom for starting, and there's renewal Okay. So
the Russia Shana concept of is happy to year Lashanatova.
It's the new year. You eat lots of fruits and
vegetables and give sweet honey. You have honeycake, everything sweet
(04:22):
because you want your new year to be sweet. And
then after Russia Shana, there is a week of reflection
and rethinking life and repentance where you reflect on your
year to date and you repent and ask forgiveness for
any transgressions you have made. This leads up to the
(04:42):
day of Atonement, which is Kapoor, which just happened. It's
the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. And the ideas
that the Holy Being opens a book on Russia Shana,
and then that book writes there's two books. There's the
Book of Life and there's the Book of Death. And
of course you want your name be written in the
Book of life. So the blessing is, may your name
(05:03):
be written in the Book of Life. And obviously you
don't want to be in the book of death. But
God closes the book at Yam Kapoor, and you start
your new year, and you start it hopefully with more
purpose and soulfulness and an open slate to being a
new person. And that is usually always in September or October,
(05:26):
but this year it is like September into October. So
I started thinking about that, and I started thinking about
how in many ways, October is a renewal after feeling
like a sleepy summer sloth all summer, and God knows
the New Orleans. New Orleans like goes to sleep because
it's so hot. Many people leave the city. Then the
(05:48):
cool weather brings back a people, fresh air, crisp air
and you wake up. It's like a love slap in
the face, like a puppy who goes outside and they're
playing in the cool weather and they'll falling leaves, and
you just will refreshed after a hot, hot summer. And
it's before you get into the craziness of the holidays
and then the deep dark winter, which I don't know
(06:10):
about you, but I'm like, I want to hibernate like
a bear when it's cold and dark. So in that context,
October is amazing. October is one of the most beautiful
months of the year in the northern hemisphere. There's fall
foliage or down here in New Orleans, it's just cooler weather,
but it's nice. Hurricane season is slowly ending. Deep exhale.
(06:34):
A lot of good things happening in October. People are
out and about, schools are in session, there's a new
series of arts and culture. All the theaters make their debuts,
and new restaurants. It's a time of renewal and a
lot of new beginnings. A lot of books come out.
It's a real new beginning time of the year. Now
(06:54):
I know a lot of this is commercial, because a
lot of these things come out because they want you
to spend more money on Christmas. It's okay because it's
also a good time financially. You hope that the markets
will be really good. It's a time when many of
the companies and organizations I work for are planning new
budgets and there's an opportunity to find new business. So
it's October is amazing. So suddenly the concept of an
(07:19):
October theory resonated with me. And it's not just because
I'm you know, I have the Jewish faith, or I'm
in the wine world and it's harvests. It's because suddenly
it's a great month. It's a great month to travel.
All the summer sales are coming, The airlines are running
sales to go to Europe. It's a great time to fly.
Maybe you don't want to be with the hordes of
tourists in the summer, or you don't want to travel
(07:41):
over the Christmas holidays because it's crazy, it's cold, or expensive.
It's a great time to do many things. And you
know what, I like the October theory. It's a great
time to reset because you know, you have three months
to the end of the year to figure it all out,
Whereas when you get to January first, you really are
(08:02):
rushing to kind of get it all done in January
and February, because we all know that many resolutions just
folld by the wayside by March one. That's why people
join gyms and suddenly they don't go to the gym.
Many people admit that their year's resolutions fall off by
mid February or early March. So I think that with
October theory, you're more likely to do things and stick
(08:25):
with it. Why Because there's the promise of the holidays, Okay,
I'll get them in. There's the promise of creating a
happy ending to the year. There's a promise of pulling
together paperwork that you may need for the beginning of
the year, beginning it done earlier, so you're not rushed.
It's like a right they get about filing your taxes.
(08:46):
It's another one. So I like the whole idea, the
October theory. Once again, you know, resetting your life, reframing
what your year is to date, and you're giving yourself
three more months to make that year what you wanted
it to be so you're not writing regretful things in
(09:08):
your New Year's Day or January diary about I wish
that you had been this. You're giving yourself time to
figure it out and do it now. With that mind,
I created lists because I love lists on some things
you can do in this wonderful gift you're giving yourself
at the time of the October theory. It's not too
(09:29):
late to get started, and now is the right time.
So here's some things I think are great. First of all,
always help them well. Be October is a great time
to get your mammogram. I always I always scheduled my
mammogram in October and on Halloween because then I can
remember to do it. So October is a great time
(09:50):
to schedule a lot of your medical and dental appointments.
And I why one. You want to get it done
before the end of the year, because you I want
to make sure you're in your health insurance window. I
just got a notice from my dentist who's totally on it,
and he wrote, check your dental insurance to make sure
you use up all your benefits in this calendar year
(10:12):
before you start anew. Well, that is a great incentive
for you to go to the doctor is to get
all your medical tests and all your checkups and the
colonoskamees and you name it done in this medical year
and insurance year. Because you may be saving money. I'm
(10:32):
doing that, believe me. Because if you have a deductible
and it starts the beginning of the calendar year, whoopsie daisy,
you may be out money you didn't want to spend
at the beginning of the year or whenever. And you're
more likely not to put off doing something if you
say I need to do it before the end of
the year while I still have the coverage. Who knows
what's going to happen with your coverage next year. Things
(10:54):
change around here so much as we all know. So
get your mammogram, get your vaccinations. I always get my
flu in COVID. I think you need approval for COVID now,
But you get your vaccinations, and I do believe in them.
I always get them in end of September or October.
I got mine October done, check it off. I'm not
(11:17):
going to get the flu. Start a pre holiday exercise regimen,
maybe add one new physical activity to your weekly workout.
Then you'll be really an awesome shape for the holidays,
so maybe you can indulge more. Why wait, start now?
(11:38):
And what's great about it is that the weather is
usually really great. You can get outside. There's no more
mesquitoes hopefully where you are there still are here, but
I hate mosquitos at night. But you have you know,
the days aren't too short yet where we can get
up in the morning and go jogging or workout or biking.
They're not going to end and get too dark soon,
so you can get that golden low in work down
(12:01):
in before dinner. You still have that wonderful window of
daylight before the clock starts going back, where you can
go out and enjoy wonderful activities. And the weather is great,
so that's another reason you want to enjoy October. Then,
you know, hop on the diet track now to prepare
(12:22):
for the holidays. The seasons bring new produce, and there's
all the wonderful squashes and pumpkins and apples. Apples are
so full with fiery there's some great fruits and vegetables
that are harvested and widely available in October that are
great for you, okay, And there's all those hearty whole
(12:45):
grange you can make, which are wonderful and I miss
my New York State apples. They don't have them here
in New Orleans, and I miss them totally. But you know,
that's a great thing about October. There's some wonderful pro
to enjoy, and of course you can enjoy the latest
releases of wine in moderation, but this is when all
(13:07):
the new releases start coming out, and that's great too.
So October is a really good time to jump start
or just add to and enhance your workout to be
an optimum shape before the end of the year. So
maybe you do something really fun for New Year's that
is like a hike, but you're already in great shape.
(13:29):
Get in great shape before the holidays, and then you
won't worry about having that extra cookie or cake or
slice of pie. Okay, no, set. The second reason October
is awesome. The October theory is financial, and this is important.
This is a great time to meet with your financial
advisors to review your portfolio and make necessary changes before
(13:52):
the end of the year. That's awesome, plast talking with
your accountants and CPAs, because you want to make sure
you have all your financial ducks in a row before
you file your taxes for twenty twenty five, which will
be due in April twenty fifteen, I mean twenty twenty six.
Excuse me, but how many times you wait in the
last minute. Why wait in the last minute. Give yourself
(14:14):
the leisure of time to get your ducks in a
row starting in October, and then you're not scrambling around.
You know, make sure you have all your bank statements downloaded,
all your credit card statements downloaded. Update you know, get
all those receipts pulled together. Do it now so you're
not crunching to make a deadline in a spring. Another one,
(14:35):
update your technology in accounting, in terms of your bookkeeping.
Why for the same reason I just told you to
update all your other paperwork. It's a great time because
if you need to buy technology or new computer or
phone or whatever, this is a great time to do it.
It's a tax deduction, right because if you're self employed
or you have a business, get your write offs now,
(14:56):
and October is a great time to do it. Another
good reason is October, and of course November there's deals.
You can probably find better deals on certain things, so
really shop around and look for what Autumn October Columbus
Day deals there are and then if not, wait until
November for Black Friday. But you know Columbus Day or
(15:16):
Indigenous People's Day, what do you call it, They always
have great shopping deals. This is a great time to
look into it. One of my favorites purchase flights. I'm
getting notices from my main carriers are Delta and American Airlines,
but it just got air France Fair sales are awesome
in October, so is travel. Travel prices actually drop in
(15:37):
many areas and you can get a great deal, and
this includes hotels and car rental. And October is a
great time to travel. It's before the craziness of the holidays.
It's after the really craziness of the summertime. Usually the
kids are in school. So if you're you know, a
mature couple and you want to go and have less
(15:57):
lines at favorite tourist attractions, this is a great time
to travel. And also it's not hot like summer, so
that is a really big big deal is travel deals,
so you should be shopping those around. And if you're
looking at a cruise, consider that. I can tell you
that I have my timeshare in Hawaii up for Thanksgiving
(16:18):
Week and it still hasn't sold at rented excuse me,
and I've just dropped it and it's a deal on
redweek dot com. Redweek has so many deals because they
got to drop the prices and offer specials to get
everything booked before the end of the year. Any kind
of travel deal is a good one here in October.
(16:40):
Another important thing to do is really sit down and
while you're downloading all your credit card statements and bank statements,
but you want to do that now so you're not
crunching to do it before tax time, really sit down
and look at them hard and look at and see
if you have any auto renewals that you didn't really
want to have automatic subscriptions, annual renewals, make lists of
and find out when they do renew so you're not
(17:02):
caught behind, you know, caught off guard and find out
that you're getting this charge for renewal that you maybe
forgot you had. I did that and I found a
couple of renewals. I were like whoa, and bank charges
and I'm like, WHOA. Get it done now, because you
want to get your finances in order and also save
money so you can enjoy more during the holidays. Another
(17:25):
thing I have done, and it's a great October thing,
is to sit down and look at all your insurance policies. Now,
this is a great thing to do in October. First
of all, for health insurance. If you're going into the
health insurance marketplace that opens up November one, and there
is a window when you can get health insurance. If
you're on the Obamacare health insurance marketplace, which I hope
(17:46):
still stays, so you want to do an analysis of
your current health insurance it, make sure you know when
it expires, and really shop around, try to get a
navigator to help you or an insurance agency. You're getting
the best still and the best coverage, and that's for
your medical But likewise, with your insurance policies, do a
hard reset on those and again find out when they
(18:09):
were new. Are there any charges that are going to
change in the next year. Now is the time to
do that, so you can renegotiape policies and decide if
they're still even right for you or if you want
to surrender them. Ditto if you have loans against them,
find out what they are on, what the insurance rates are,
so that you can decide if it's worth it. Oh,
(18:29):
I just did this, and I actually gave up some policies.
They were just no longer worth it. So I'm saving money.
October is a great time to do this, so that
you're saving money before the end of the year and
better prepared for the new year to have a better
financial slate and plan. So I think i'll cover two
of the most important to me, finance and health and wellness. However,
(18:53):
there's more. There's of course, your personal and your social connections.
Why wait until December to have a holiday party when
everybody else says I always used to laugh when people
would say to York, I need to see you before
the end of the year. I'm like, but you never
see me during the year, So why are we waiting
(19:13):
until the last month to do? You know, cram it
all in? Now was the time to say, gosh, I
haven't talked to so and so in a while. I
haven't talked to somebody in a while. I'd like to
get together and get together when we're not all crazy.
He had to be busy with other things or family opportunity,
family obligations around the holiday. So I have a holiday
party in October, doesn't have to be Halloween, by the way,
(19:36):
I'm a big Halloween person. But you could have a
get together wine tasting, or let's all get together for coffee,
or you know, do a covered dish event. But October
is a great time to do it. You know what
else is fun is we're all trying to probably save
money and not spend a lot on holiday gifts. I
can't stand the consumerism of Christmas. I don't even like
things anymore. So one I think October is a great
(19:59):
time to declutter. You're flipping your closets, so I hope
you're flipping your closets into putting away all your summer
clothes and bringing out your fallen winter clothes. Well, first
of all, perge, perge perche, take a look at what
you're thinking you're gonna want to wear next summer, and
go Does I sweat in that a lot? Is this
starting to look a little ratty tatty? Yes, particularly if
you live in New Orleans. So the first thing you
(20:20):
do is put your clothes and shoes into two categories.
I want to keep because it's still awesome. Not for sure,
Maybe I can repurpose it so I'm not wasting money.
Maybe you can repurpose it or do something with it,
and then no way, Jose, donate or maybe resell. Do
that now so you're not wasting space putting away tattered, stained,
(20:45):
sweaty growth clothes. You're never gonna wear a gown and
you're wasting space. So do that, and then bring out
your fallen winter clothes and do the same thing. Do
I really want this? I live in New Orleans? Do
I really need this heavy sweater anymore? Or could I
sell it? Mix some money? You know, you can sell
your clothes and make money and put that way for
holiday gifts or that holiday trip you want to take.
(21:07):
But October is a great time to do that because
you should be flipping your closets, and while you're flipping
your closets, clean out your drawers and purge. It's a
great time to purge. A fun thing to do is
have a swap met. Have that party that you want
to see your friends and say, look, bring stuff that
you no longer want, that you still like but is
no longer for you, and we'll do a swap mate
(21:28):
and everybody can swap out things and take home new things.
I think it's a great idea and I'm going to
do it myself, right. The other thing to do is
it's cool around, so it's a great time to call
up a friend and say, let's go take a walk,
or go dog walking with your friends, or go to
a local animal shelter and say I'd like to walk dogs.
(21:49):
If you don't have a dog, go walk somebody. Go
walk a dog that's in an animal shelter. Be a
dog walking volunteer. But say call some friends, say let's
do this all together. So you're getting exercise, you're socializing
taking care of animals at the same time. That's a
fun thing to do. And the weather cooperates because it's
October and it's it rocks. Another thing is if you're
(22:09):
not with anybody and not in a relationship and you
usually when I hit October, I actually dreaded the holidays
because I knew I would need to start planning that
single trip to go away, because I always like to
run away from the holidays rather than stay be that
single person that was me. So I start planning my trip,
and of course October was a great time to do
it because I could always get the best deals. But
(22:31):
if you really want to maybe meet somebody or meet
anybody or someone special. This may be the time to
sign up for a dating service or an online service,
or call up that person you met, or try to
go meet someone and be a little more social so
that maybe you can have somebody with you in the holidays.
(22:57):
I think that's a great thing to do, is think
about that social planning great events, and you know, look
at the arts and community calendar and where you live
and see if there's events coming up in the holidays
and go ahead and buy tickets and schedule them so
you know you're not going to be alone. There's so
many wonderful events. There's wine tastings, there's book talks, there's
(23:18):
art museum openings, there's a zillion million fundraisers. If you
don't want to spend a lot of money, go to
meet up or community calendar and see what there is.
But there's always something, so you're not just sitting home moping.
October should be the go out month. Go out and
just see. I used to love New York and October
it sizzled. There was so much energy, there were so
many great events. I'm finding that here in New Orleans
(23:41):
as well. Everybody disappeared. It was like where is everybody.
They were all up in North Carolina or May, they're
all back. There's so many events and festivals and music things,
it's almost too much. And on top of it, it's
football season. Yeah, football season, so that's another thing too.
Get to host a football party if you're into it,
host fun football party and everybody can come over and socialize.
(24:03):
Use October to be with people, use October to make
new friends, and use October to check in on friends
who may be alone because they are going to go
into that year in slump. I always went into it.
You know. The year in for me is a terrible time.
I lost my grandfather in October. I lost my grandmother
(24:25):
in December. I lost my father in November. I lost
my mother in December. Like the most important people in
my life and my best friend Julie, the most important
people in my life all died between October and the
end of the year. So it can get modeling, you know,
when the autumn leaves start to follow. My mother loved
that song. Not only I get a little sad. The
days get shorter, the nights get longer, the leaves fall
(24:46):
off the tree. Who who holidays coming? I'm not into it.
So October is a great time to get set up
for that and strengthen your psyche so you can get
through it. If you're not in to all the Hallmark holidays,
you can opt out. You don't have to do any
(25:07):
of it. You can take a trip, take a road trip.
It's a great thing to do in October. You can
go find foliage where nobody knows where foliage is. I
think David and are going to go look for foliage
in northern Louisiana because I'm determined to find foliage in
Louisiana right October is a great time to connect with
your kids because they're back in school and they're probably
(25:29):
doing sports and after school activities. This is a great
time to say, we'll have to get involved and be
a part of it. It's a great time to connect
with your kids if you have or your grandkids also
really great. There's so many reasons to love October. And
you know, somebody pitched me on like all sorts of
depressing things about October and mental health. If you have
(25:50):
a friend who's maybe having a rough time, this is
a great time to call and say let's get together.
I just did that with a friend I talked to
and talked to you in a year, and I know
she's going through stuff. I just did it myself. Do
it now in October. Don't wait. Why wait to the
end of the year to tell people you care about
them just because it's the holidays. Start the holidays now,
(26:12):
or just make October your own special month. It's your
new year. It's your way to turn the end of
the year into amazing new beginning and give yourself more
time to do it. So to get the ball rolling,
make a list like I do. Get a diarrhea, say
these are the things I have three amazing months of
(26:34):
the year left. What do I want to do with them?
Start the new year, and then you know, when the
new year comes, you can start again and make another list.
But why wait? Do it now? And that's the October theory.
I think. I like the theory. I'd love to hear
about you, what you think and what you're going to
be doing to make your October your October. Okay, I'm
(26:58):
wrapping the show up early because it's just me. I
don't know if I can go for fifteen more minutes.
So I'm Melanie on Finally One Last Me, author of
the book that inspired the show Fearless, Fabulous You. Lessons
on living life on your Terms. A lot of what
I've been talking about today is kind of in here
(27:19):
been an essay form. I wrote this book as therapy
after breast cancer, and it is still a great read
for anyone who's just kind of going through stuff, who
wants to figure out how to rethink and reframe. October
is about doing that as well. End the year on
a high note. Start the year on a high note, right,
(27:39):
Just keep the high notes high and happy and upbeat.
I'm Melanie on this is Fearless, Fabulous You. I want
you to know that you can choose to live life
on your terms, and you should. You should always choose
your terms and not adhere to other people's terms or
what they think you should be and you should be doing.
(28:01):
You listen to your heart, you listen to your gut,
you listen to your head. Those are your superpowers. And
remember you always have choices to live life on your terms,
so always choose fearless and fabulous. Thanks for joining me.
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