Spring Cleaning: Clearing out the cobwebs of our heads, hearts and homes. 

Declutter & Simplify your Space, Time, Relationships & Finances

Spring Cleaning is more than cleaning out the closets - it is also about cleaning out the cobwebs of our heads and hearts.  It is decluttering our entire energy field from those things that are simply ready to move on and having the courage to allow that process to happen.

It is a practice of letting go and making space for that spring energy to flow in and re-energize you! To capitalize on this influx of new beginnings and spring energy, the work of cleaning out the cobwebs is paramount. 

So Let's unpack Spring Cleaning and do the prep work for Intentionally Designing the Life you Desire!

We are going to cover:

1. A practical 3-question strategy to simplify and reduce friction around this process.
2. Closer look into Objects, Things & Wearables; People & Relationships; Time & Finances
3. Activating your Courage by decluttering your Why

I want you to approach this with a ferocious curiosity and a sense of adventure! Like you are playing the most interesting game of hide and go seek EVER! I want you to bring the energy to this process as if your very best friend in the world is hiding and the thrill and excitement of finding them completely override any fears or doubts that will inevitably bubble up in this process ….. because in reality…our best friend IS on the other side of this process…You. We're just making room for that version of yourself!

Lets start with the 3-question strategy:

I can’t remember now where I first heard this, but I have used it for YEARS, and it hasn’t failed me yet! We are going to apply the same process to many different areas of your life.

Imagine you go into your closet and pick up an item of clothing, OR you could be in the kitchen looking at the juicer (that you may or may not have actually used in the last six months)… I want you to ask the following questions:

1. How does this make me feel?
   1. Does the item lift you up, excite you, and bring life, vitality, and energy to you? Or does it seem heavy and cumbersome, like a weight?
2. Is it needed and if so is it in the right place?
   1. And I mean genuinely need people. If you haven't interacted or engaged with it for a year there is a really good chance that it needs to be gone. 6months? Still take a really hard look. And again…does it seem to lift you up, excite you, and bring life, vitality, and energy to you? Or does it seem heavy and cumbersome, like a weight?
   2. And then is it in the right place? Like the juicer, it has an important and valuable job but maybe it is better suited to live in the pantry instead taking up valuable real-estate on the counter.
3. Does this align with my values, goals, and my service? If it isn’t working for you, it is going to be working against you or weighing you down unnecessarily.  

Now, this strategy is deceivingly simple yet decisively potent. It will immediately cut through any BS. So let's start to apply it as a process in different areas of your life.

Objects, Things, and Wearables

The most obvious area of life to evaluate is ‘Objects, Things and Wearables’. This is stuff that is found on shelves, in closets, drawers…moving item by item and critically evaluating how it makes you feel, do you need it and if so is it in the right place and does it allign with your values, goals and service?

Pro Tip #1: You want to weigh your first ‘gut’ response a little heavier than the response that follows from your logical, analytical (and excuse-making) part of the mind.

In this area it is also helpful to remember that the goal is to simplify your space. Where can you de-clutter, and is there anywhere that needs a little organization? This applies to the kitchen, and bedrooms as much as it applies to your office, garage, attic, and basement. Physical clutter holds stagnant energy that will clog the natural flow of energy through your house.

Pro Tip #2: How you keep your space is a direct reflection of your mind. I will often give people that struggle with scattered and generally disorganized thinking this project. As they declutter their space and put the systems in place to maintain a more organized and streamlined environment, they usually find their thoughts are less scattered and disorganized as well.

Time

“Time has a way of showing us what really matters.” ~ Unknown

Where we spend our time is a good gaudge to:

1. Show us where our values are REALLY weighted.
2. Point us in the direction of beliefs that are not actually aligned with our desired values leaving self-sabotage to riddle itself through our day.

Let me explain. If you were to track exactly where you spent your time for a full week, including day and night, you would likely find some surprises and miss alignments with what you THINK your values are and where you ACTUALLY spend the currency of your time.

The cool thing is that we can reverse-engineer this! So say you have tracked your entire week down to the 15 min. intervals, and you notice that you are spending WAY more time than you thought on tasks that lack Intention, Direction or Purpose. In fact they are taking away from the family time you genuinely value but are not engaging in. You might find when you look a little deeper that there is some fear around family time that isn’t being realized and it is literally sabotaging the quality time that is really important to you.

This can sound like:

• “It was easy to love my kids when they were little but now that they are getting older I’m afraid they will grow older and forget about me”
  • Fear & Limiting Belief: If I love to much then it will just hurt more when I am all alone
    • (This is likely an ‘Irrational Fear’ at play and driving a wedge between the desire to deeply connect with the kiddos and fear of being alone and in pain)
• “I can’t make Tommy’s swim meet because I have to work late again”
  • Limiting Belief: Work has to be a sacrifice.
    • (This person likely doesn’t consciously think this but it is driving his actions and is clearly not in alignment with his core values)
• “I can’t call my son because it has been so long already. I wouldn’t even know what to say”
  • Fear: “He is going to reject me” 

Once you see the fears informing the limiting beliefs that are sabotaging your core values - than you can 100% do something about it!

Where are you putting your time? Are there any discrepancies or misalignments with your core values? Can you identify any fears or limiting beliefs taking you off course from those core values? What can you do to correct course?

It is also important to look at the Commitments that you have made and apply the same 3-Question Process! As life changes, it is important to evaluate where we are spending our time and energy because it is easy to continue things that become a habit or pattern from a place of mindless (or worse…resentful) obligation. This will contribute to un-needed stress, overwhelm and drain.

People & Relationships

This is a really tough one for most of us! You still apply the 3-Question process but because of emotional attachments to people and relationships it makes this a much more nuanced and challenging process.

Some reasons that makes this harder for people is because we are afraid of loosing those that we love, or that have a significant place in our lives even if the releationship causes us exessive stress, heartake or dysfunction. The closer the person is to us the deeper the attachments will be and the more challenging this process. As you apply spring cleaning to people and relationships remember:

1. Try not to make decisions from an emotionally overwhelmed place.
2. Have grace and patience with yourself and the process.
3. It likely doesn't have to be figured out ‘Right Now’, give yourself time.
4. Try a ‘pro and con’ list if you start to get stuck.
5. Watch out for ‘All or Nothing’ Thinking. It may be that you just need to re-adjust your boundaries around this person or relationship to completely shift the dynamic!

You might also consult a trusted friend, coach or therapist to help you untangle this one. But the goal is the same, to evaluate if the person or relationship is infusing growth, meaning and vitality into your life or do you always feel drained, frustrated and resentful with them?

WARNING: Check in with yourself to make sure you don’t use this Spring Cleaning process as a way to avoid hard but necessary dynamics or conversations that may be primmed for personal growth.

Finances

Yes, you heard me correctly! Making sure that as you are moving into a new year, tax season behind you (hopefully soon!) you want to take the time to apply the same 3-Questions, however, I want to highlight a couple things.

1. When you feel into where you spend and aquire your money notice where it might feel sticky, heavy, unsettled or unstable?  Money is neutral and can take on the energy of the transaction or acquisition.  Just take note of how recieveing, saving, investing or giving money feels.  Is there any internal dialoge that is going on that is a red flag for you?  If so, what can you do to shift your relationship in these areas that don't feel alligned?
2. Is it needed?  Are there areas you are leaking money because of old habits, patterns or commitmnets that could be re-evaluated?  Is your financial focus in the right place?  Are you moving from a saving framework to an investing framework that requires you to pivot in a different way? 
3. Is there anywhere that your spending, saving, investing or giving monetarily is not alligning with your values, goals or service?  

Activating your Courage: By Dusting off your Core Why

As seasons change and we continue to learn and grow, it is important to not just focus on the letting go process of Spring Cleaning but to just as intently re-evaluate or sometimes just reconnect with our 'Core Why'.  

We need to know why we are going through all of this effort, and hopefully have some sense of where we are going or becoming with the increased mental, physical and emotional capacity we are creating!  It is what will give us the courage to make those hard and often uncomfortable decisions of letting go.  It will fortify our inner resillience and keep us moving forwrad!  

Does your Why need an update?  Does it need an upgrade? ha ha! Does it need an entire top to bottom make over?!  If so, it is equally as important to bring definition and  clarity to your Core Why as it is to practice the surrender of letting go with Spring Cleaning. 

There are many different areas that can be added to the list, but this should give you a good start!  I would love to hear if there is an area of your life that is calling for your attention more than others and always if you have any questions or comments!  Share this on Social media with your questions and tag me in your post!  

Happy Spring Cleaning!