Last week (?) I issued a challenge on my Facebook page; I challenged my readers to get rid of 5 things that “will help you in the new year.”
Please don’t think that because this challenge has passed that you shouldn’t jump in. In fact, stop reading right now, take a quick glance around you, or maybe you already have the 5 things in your mind– whatever the case, go grab them right now and put them in a donating box or trash bag. All ready to go. But don’t forget to come back and finish this post.
Do you want to know what I did? I got rid of one tote. That tote was a bunch of jeans that I had great plans to cut up and turn into rag quilts for third world countries, maybe even our own children. Whatever, I did not want them to go to waste. I was holding onto that guilt of not completing it and even in the back of my mind, I felt like letting it go meant that I wouldn’t do great things for the children that I so long to help. Do you have anything like that in your home? A project a friend gave you that you want to fulfill because you know they took the time to think about you? Maybe its a book you have been wanting to read for the past 3 years. Whatever it is, you can just let it go now. If your time is valuable, precious, and not to be taken for granted do you want to use it feeling guilty or would you rather see it as using your time wisely.
But that little challenge sparked a whole new mindset in me. Last year I did the Marie Kondo, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” I really reevaluated why I have objects in my home. I think that was one of the reasons everyone gravitated toward the “Spark Joy” method was because it was a starting place for decluttering. Having the items in your house that brings you joy resonated with a lot of people. I mean, would anyone seriously want stuff that would make them unhappy? For me, I saw that I was holding onto a lot of things because I didn’t want it to go to waste. I didn’t want to regret my decision later. I didn’t want to have to rebuy the item.
We are coming to a new year. This is the time that everyone does their biggest purging, organizing, and getting in a simpler mindset for the new year. According to Statistic Brain the top 10 goals for 2015 were: weight-loss, organization, financial, enjoying life, health, love, and family. Based on what I know my friends and family were hoping to change in their life, I would say that this is dead on for even 2017. A new year is like monday– a fresh start and a set up for failure. People groan when Monday comes around. Its just a hard time after a weekend. January is the same mindset… we’ve had a partying kind of December and now its back to the routine of life and the newness and all these changes we want to make. So what will set you up for success? I don’t have a tried and true answer for that, but what I can tell you is what I am doing.
I have a goal, lets say “simply my life” and then I have steps to reach that goal:
“Cut back from activities”
“schedule my days”
“have a routine in place”
and so on.
Let’s look at another one, “lose 25 pounds”
– cut out sugar
– walk 10,000 steps daily
– Follow Trim Healthy Mama consistently
Having it broken down like that is going to help me reach a destination. I’m not just keying in a destination with no map/direction on how to get there. Following this has helped me reach a goal I had last year of reading daily to my children.
So how did I get from writing about decluttering to new year goals? Well, it all fits together. Since decluttering is bound to be in someones new year goal, including myself, I thought I would share a few things I learned that maybe useful to you!