My dear friend Maria at Gracefulorder.com is my organizing mentor. I admire how great she is at what she does and how it seems to come so naturally for her. Being an organizational guru is truly a gift!
However, for some strange reason (I even shocked myself) 2018 has started out with a cleaning and organization frenzy for me. My youngest daughter and I started January 1st tackling the kitchen pantry, my home office and our laundry room. You would think that it would stop there BUT it hasn’t! We went on to tackle our garage, the back patio and even set up an herb garden! I have moved on to my closet and boy what a task that has been. However I have found that take things in sections it prevents me from feeling overwhelmed by the task at hand.
But this renewed love for all things organized has me thinking…where is this coming from? AND…why now? Yes, I ask myself a lot of questions and I sometimes even answer myself—yikes!
If we look all around we are being bombarded from social media to our work environments to set goals for the New Year. While I am a defender of goals setting, I am not for creating goals for the sake of going along with the crowd. You see, in order for any of your plans to succeed you need to get organized and that means organized both physically and mentally.
Some of us are under the impression that all of the prior year “stuff” will clear out of our minds and lives on its own. We tell ourselves that time will make it go away. That when the clock strikes 12:01am on January 1st, we magically get a clean slate! But we both know that this couldn’t be further from the truth.
We need to be intentional about anything that we want to succeed at in our lives. ANYTHING!
So here are some tips—
- Start with small victories. Meaning, set aside 30 minutes to clear out a small area. Don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed by the entire project.
- Share your plans. Share your plans with someone that will help you stay on track and be accountable.
- Take pictures. Yes, before and after pictures is such a great boost to your energy and enthusiasm. Post it on social media…everyone can use a little inspiration to tackle their own projects.
- Donate. When in doubt you probably don’t need to keep it. It is said that if you haven’t worn a piece of clothing in a year—you probably never will. Also, chances are that if it doesn’t fit…it never will. Sorry to be so brutally honest but if you do lose the weight; you will most likely want a fresh and new look anyways. So, let’s sing along to let it go….let it go….
- Celebrate. Celebrate the big and the small wins. Shout it from the mountain tops and keep going.
So have I set my goals for 2018? Nope not yet, I haven’t because I am still clearing and cultivating the ground in which these goals will be planted in to flourish.
Take some time to make room both in your physical space and mental space. I have intentionally cleared my January calendar to do just that….no appointments until February so I can step into this new year with the best environment I can have for myself and those around me.
Cheering you on to the best new year ever my friend!
Until next time,
Silvia
Challenge Activity
What physical or mental activity are you going to start clearing out today?