Messes create distractions and can keep you from moving forward with full focus and energy. If you want new experiences and achievements in your life, you often have to create room by getting rid of what no longer works. As Q4 kicks off, it’s a great time to evaluate what areas in your life could use a cleanup.
Below are 5 areas where you may need to get out the sweeper. A key question to ask yourself as you review each area is: Does this help me feel and be my best?
1) Relationships. Yes, peeps. Relationships. You may have been hoping I was talking just about the clothes in your closet or the knickknacks on your living room shelf (and I’ll get to that), but one of the biggest favors you can do for yourself is let go of relationships that aren’t helping you feel or be your best. That friend who is always talking about herself without listening in return. The neighbor who’s always unhappy and drains the energy in the room. It’s time for a tough conversation or a decision to just let go. Yes, it’s important to help others (frankly, I think that’s why we’re all here) – but not at the expense of you feeling and being your best.
2) Closet. Twice a year, it’s important to go through your closest and put clothes and shoes you haven’t worn for a year into a pile to either sell, donate or throw away. Then organize your closet by type (pants, skirts, tops, etc.) and then color. This will help make each outfit decision easier and save you time. It’s worth it. Turn on your favorite tunes and dedicate two hours to a closet cleanse. (It’s a satisfying and uplifting feeling to stare at my closet after I complete my own closet cleanse.)
3) Food & Drink. Throw away the crap – anything with partially hydrogenated oils in particular. What you put in your body affects how you feel, how your brain functions, and what energy you have to put toward being your best self. Hesitant to waste what’s in your cupboard? I appreciate a message from Kris Carr’s book “Crazy Sexy Diet” – you’re not a garbage disposal! Don’t just eat something because you don’t want to throw it away. Your health is more important. You can change your life by changing what you eat. And on that note, another book I highly recommend on this topic is Deepak Chopra’s “What Are You Hungry For?”
4) Finances. Are your income, expenses and debt in an Excel spreadsheet or software program? Are your finances organized in a way to make tax time easy? Do you dread getting bills in the mail? Are finances a tough topic for you? Regardless of your financial situation, being organized about it will serve you well. It’ll help you get control and feel more empowered. This cleanse doesn’t have to take long. Mint.com is a great, free money manager tool – online and a mobile app. It categorizes all your expenses for you and gives you an up-to-date total on all the bank accounts and credit cards 24/7. I use this tool and love it! If you’ve got some fearful energy around finances, I like this book: “Pocket Your Dollars” by Carrie Rocha. It’s an easy, fun read.
5) Home. Do you have clutter in your home or garage? What’s attaching you to things you don’t need? If you’re hanging onto items that you haven’t used in years “just in case” – it’s time to let go. Take a close look around your kitchen, home and garage to determine if items are helping you be your best or draining your energy? Use the same keep, donate, sell or toss review that you did with your clothes.
There are beliefs and emotions that can connect us to people and things that don’t serve us well. I certainly haven’t reached perfection (and never will) in all these areas myself. So, as you go through these cleansing exercises, use them as an opportunity to increase your awareness about what you may be holding onto that no longer serves you and why.
Cleansing can take time. How about making a commitment to complete these by the end of the year so that 2015 kicks off with a freshness and focus?
Please let me know which one of these areas was your biggest challenge and why? I’m happy to follow-up with you if you provide a comment. And I want to hear about the progress so we can celebrate!
Leave a Reply