Ready to Live Better? Here are the 3 Things To Do Next

You’ve recognized the overwhelm and you are serious about making some changes.  Now you might want to just go right at the mess, but chances are you will hit a wall and the state of your place will revert back where you started.  I don’t want you to hit a wall.  I want you to make life-long changes so that you will not be overwhelmed again.

Now is the time to take a thoughtful, step-by-step, Nest Happy approach, so that you can overcome your overwhelm for good.  Full disclosure:  know that this approach does take some time and commitment.  Only those truly willing to commit will see and live the results.  

​Which brings me to the 3 things you do next:

1. Think of what you will do with your time when you are finished de-cluttering for good!

What will you do when you have huge blocks of free time, with a clear house and clear mind.  What will you do when you can actually have physical space to surround yourself with the things you love, or have creative space to have a hobby again, or have time to enjoy just sitting and enjoying company of your loved ones.

Oh the time you will have to do meaningful things like building life-long traditions and thoughtful memories with your kids.  

I want you to get really clear for yourself.  What is your end goal?  What is the life you are envisioning when you are all done with de-cluttering, organizing, and setting up functional systems that work?

Now this next step is important:

      2.   Write it down.  

Or even better:  share it with me so that I can remind you of this goal and keep you accountable.  Seriously: write down your goal. 

You can write it in a notebook, in a note on your phone, in Evernote, or on your bathroom mirror or next to your bedside table.  Write it down so you will see it (best) or know its there to reference (less good but still okay).

Ok the last step:

     3. Commit to doing what it takes to reach your goal.  

Get resolved to start de-cluttering.  Put a target date on it.  Set aside realistic blocks of time on your calendar.

For me it was hard for me for awhile to have something clear in my mind. That’s how overwhelmed I was.  It was hard for me to see past it.  I knew that I wanted to be able to take a picture of my kids without being worried about all the crap in the background.  I found myself actually stopping myself altogether from capturing super sweet moments because of the mess.  

But after peeling away some of the layers of mess and then realizing this critical step, I did get really clear with myself and my focus and aspirations broadened.  I actually visualized starting a hobby (!), imagine that.  I can visualized spending an hour of quality time with my children 1:1 everyday without physical or mental distractions.  I saw myself baking, cooking, and creating photo books at leisure.  

I planned on working on meaningful gifts that I’ve planned annually for holidays but have never seemed to get around doing.  

This year I will finish our family recipe book, complete with pictures!  I will get back to the dance studio, and going on regular hikes and perhaps bike rides too.  I will just get outdoors!

What about you?  What is your goal and when to you want to reach it?  

​Dream big, write it down, put it on the calendar and share your commitment. 

Share it with me, your accountability partner, or in the comments below.  We are all in this together, and together, we can achieve :)