SPRING CLEANING YOUR LIFE (PART 1)

Ok, so where do I start?

Since moving from a 3 bedroom ‘artist loft' with 3 kids (and a husband) into a cozy apartment with-IN in my parents house, quantity suddenly matters a great deal. And honestly, I am pumped that decluttering has become a part of the American zeitgeist (thanks Marie Kondo), and I feel 100% certain that I can confess something to you:  Decluttering is integral to my personal survival strategy.

 

Almost daily I find things, items, stuff that I moved across the country with only to give away to my local thrift store. Life evolves, and instead of just thinking outside the box, we are taking it to the next level and just letting the box go. For me to stay that nimble, it’s imperative that I simplify.

 

So this spring, in addition to the therapeutic health benefits of cleaning our living space, I am also paying close attention to the internal benefits to my mood, motivation and mindset using the two simple exercises below.

1. Refresh your “WHY”

In sales we often hear this a lot, that we need to have a strong WHY. So to piggyback off of our MIND YOURSELF blog, I want to say that it all starts in asking those questions about where you want to realize your life in the next 5 years.

Take the time to write down what these things are (goals), then write down what’s so important about these goals that make it essential that you achieve them (who are you serving). Push yourself until your vision is emotionally clear- when you can really feel what it’s going to be like to be living that dream, then post it. In your bathroom, living room, office, closet WHEREVER it will be habitual to stop, read it, and have a solitary moment to reflect.

Carry this WHY with you as you sift through your belongings. And yes, put all of your like items together when you go through them- then you can’t play cute games with yourself and end up keeping 2 coffee serving carafes because they were in separate rooms at the time….ahem...

2. IF IT DOESN’T SERVE YOU - LET IT GO

Literally & figuratively. You don’t need 2 coffee serving carafes and you certainly don’t need to hang on to the craft project you were going to ‘make happen’ 4 (ok, fine, 6) years ago.

Everything in your home should be worth the space it takes up in your life. Every. Thing.

Did you feel that little shiver of fear?  I am going to stop you right here…….my mind was already racing with “but I need” and “what if x happens?!”  So stop, drink some water, breathe, and refuse to be overwhelmed.

Every thing in your life should be worth carrying into your dream future.  Each item/person/idea/self-belief should be worth the weight that will be placed on your shoulders as you haul it towards your goals. Sometimes it will be easy and sometimes it will be hard. But when you commit to each thing being worth the weight ~ THAT is the shift from surviving to thriving.  I tell my kids all the time that sometimes the fear won’t go away and so you’ll have to do it afraid. And man oh man is this our family motto. Followed closely by the anthem HIGH HOPES (Panic! At the Disco).

 

GOTCHA- BUT WHAT ABOUT CLEANING MY BATHROOM?

 I thought you might ask that....but that is another blog, for another day.

In the meantime:

~Write down that dream future & place it prominently in your space

~Learn to let go, practice breathing (not a joke), breathing tells the body you're okay

~I'll be back soon to share some logistics of 'clean' & 'tidy'

I LOVE creating this community with you and revel that we can support each other as we continually seek simple & essential truths/ideas/self-care (and coffee carafes...), so that we can truly live the life that we dream on.

Until next time loves,

Jes