We all have it, to varying degrees.
The books we bought and meant to read so we could learn and be inspired, but haven’t… yet. The clothes we bought that looked great or were a great deal but we just never seem to want to wear. The notes you took at that great transformational seminar 15 years ago that if you just read them and implemented would probably change your life. The gift you got from a friend that is still sitting in the box it came in because you don’t really love it or want to use it, but you don’t want to appear ungrateful by regifting it or throwing it away.
If you look around your home or office, chances are you’re dealing with clutter of some kind.
Clutter tends to start because you think you need to hold on to things or people because of a deep belief that somehow you are not “enough.” We use clothes, possessions, knowledge and relationships as a way to define who we are in the world.
But there comes a time in life when you realize that looking outside yourself for approval or authority was just an illusion.
When you declutter your physical and emotional environment, you have more psychic bandwidth to make better decisions, confidently set priorities, and create space for new creativity, possibilities and ideas to come to you.
If you’re ready to open up space so more of your brilliance and creativity can come through, here are 3 steps I highly recommend to help you declutter your way to the next level of success.
1. Survey The Landscape
I am generally a pretty organized person, but sometimes I feel awash in clutter. Especially when I have multiple projects or client work on the go, things can get messy quickly. Up until recently, my philosophy has been to designate certain time as “declutter time” and work on a zone that has been bugging me until it gets cleared. So I put on some music and will declutter my office or kitchen for 5 songs and then call it a day. That helped me to break down the decluttering process into more bite-sized steps.
However, I recently experienced the power of tackling an entire category at one time having been inspired by Marie Kondo’s book, The Magic of Tidying. I tackled my clothing in one fell swoop – every stitch of clothing I owned was taken out of cupboards and closets throughout my home and put into one space. I had to survey the ENTIRE landscape of my clothes, rather than just tidy up parts of it here and there.
Initially it was daunting to see the huge heap on my bed, but then I just got started. For each piece I picked it up and asked myself whether this item brought me joy. Not “was this a good deal and should I keep wearing it” or “should I keep it just in case I lose a few more pounds and can wear it again” but “Does this bring me JOY?”
After a few hours, I had 5 large bags ready to be donated to a local charity and 2 very streamlined closets where I could actually see what I had to wear! Every day since, it’s been a joy to select my clothes and I now realize how much my energy was being weighed down by having too much clutter.
2. Prune Your Garden
Every good gardener knows that a thorough pruning helps your plants become even more vibrant and healthy. It’s important to take stock and prune what’s grown in the garden of your life on a regular basis. Leadership expert Marshall Goldsmith nailed it when he said, “What go you here, won’t get you there” on the road to success. The habits and strategies you use for one level of success need to be uplevelled or released in order to take you to your next goal.
When you’re looking to release the things that are cluttering up your life, here are some of my favorite “pruning” questions:
What’s working?
Celebrate your successful habits, relationships and systems. Give yourself a big pat on the back and keep what works.
What’s not working?
Get real with what isn’t getting you the results you want. Does something need fine-tuning or is it obsolete?
What needs fertilizing?
Sometimes there are things we do that are just starting to yield results and they need a little help. Perhaps you can find an accountability buddy for making those sales calls, or join a group committed to the same goal. What is ready to blossom for you but just needs a little more time and attention?
3. Bless and Release
One of the hardest things to do when you’re releasing clutter is when there is a lot of sentiment attached to it. I do believe that everyone and everything comes in to your life for a reason, and a season. I took Marie Kondo’s advice to say thank you to my old clothes and it helped me let go of some old favorites I was sitting on the fence about keeping or not. I thanked my old business suits for their service to me when I worked in the government and released them to find good homes with other women who would really treasure having them.
Whether it’s time to let go of an old favorite sweater that you never seem to wear or an old friend where you’re growing in different directions, take the time to express your gratitude for their presence in your life.
STEP INTO YOUR BRILLIANCE
Time to take stock of where clutter is weighing you down. When you walk into your home, identify the first 3 areas where you notice your attention being pulled by clutter, mess or a sense that something is incomplete. In the next 7 days, commit to one hour to tackling the clutter zone.
One Response
Well said, Carolyn. It’s the #1 issue I deal with when working with clients—-we all have too much stuff. Recently my husband and I transitioned to a smaller space. I thought, as the professional Feng Shui expert that I am, that I wouldn’t have much to sort through. Was I wrong! But, I feel so much better now that we’ve down-sized and, like you, I can find things again—–things I had totally forgotten about. Thanks for writing this article.