Today on the podcast we're talking about visualization (it's really wild) and three mindset shifts to help you declutter your home. I'm also giving you a sneak peek of my upcoming masterclass!

Simple Life

Visualization. The practice of sitting there, thinking about what you want, imagining how it feels and smells and looks, getting very detailed, running yourself through the space and process of being there. All of these things are wiring new thought patterns in your brain and your brain thinks they are legit!

VISUALIZATION WORKS AT CHANGING OUR BRAIN’S THOUGHT PATTERNS

SO when you are preparing to DO THE THING whether it is run a race, or have turkey with your crazy family, or declutter your basement—you get more success at figuring out HOW to do and more success achieving your vision BECAUSE your brain has started laying the groundwork.

Action for today

Science is telling us that visualization is your mental dress rehearsal that increases your likelihood of achieving the outcome you visualize. The main reason it works is because we FIND WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR. When we are preparing for the worst, that is all we will see. When we are preparing for the best then our brain looks for evidence that it is true.

So often we go about our day getting anxiety over the worst possible outcomes that COULD HAPPEN. We are still using visualization but in a negative way. So, take something in your future and consider the best possible outcome you want from it. Then start to use visualization to imagine and practice it.

THREE MINDSETS TO SHIFT BEFORE DECLUTTERING YOUR HOME

I think what we miss when we look at checklists of things to remove from our home is the MINDSET that is required to make it effective.

We need to investigate what we think about getting started, why we want to do it, how much believe we have in ourselves to accomplish it and so on.

In my experience with life coaching women on this topic and decluttering my own home—I think there are three mindsets that can be very common hurdles to getting started with decluttering.

I want to break down some of them here and offer you a mindset shift you can try for each one.

1. Decluttering is a chore I don't have time for

In the past, I had always viewed decluttering as a chore. It was work to go through all those boxes in the basement, and there was other ‘more important’ work I could do instead. So it wasn’t getting done. I had no motivation to declutter until I had a vision and a ‘why’ for myself.

My ‘why’ was this drive to rehaul how I was living in my home with my ‘stuff’. My ‘why’ was to create an atmosphere in my home where my kids had SPACE to play, create, imagine. My ‘why’ was to create a place that was inviting to anyone who came to our door.

mindset shift: decluttering is an action i take to create the space i want to live in

2. I already have enough of everything, I don’t really need to declutter.

When I started decluttering and was face to face with how much stuff I had bought that I didn’t like or didn’t need or never have used – I got this achy knot in my stomach. All that money that I spent, all the time I spent shopping, all those things I thought I needed.

I have more than enough. I have enough clothes (that I never wear), and kitchen gadgets (I never use), and books (I never read), and why do I have like seven half-used conditioners and four curling irons in the bathroom??…you get the idea.

mindset shift: decluttering will help me determine what i do have enough of and where there is excess i can let go of

3. I'm a victim of my home

When I started decluttering, my big goal was to clear space, and then once that space was clear it felt like a clean slate to create the home we wanted. We have invested in the long game of decluttering and creating spaces that we love and our kids love. I will say now, that I truly love my home (the same home I was so eager to move out of so many times).