Need To Make Significant Progress? Start With This
Declutter!!!
There are mindsets, people and environments that are capable of holding you bound and dragging you backwards. Instead of taking 20 steps, what you end up taking is 5 or 10 steps. Although this might look like progress, but in the real sense you’re just marking time. So, rather than achieving more, you keep achieving less. You’re making progress, quite alright but it isn’t significant and you are getting worried and frustrated.
“Clutter is not just the stuff on your floor, it’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living.” Peter Walsh
Are there things, people in your life or spaces that you belong to that are no longer serving you? What are you doing about them?
When did you last declutter?
“The best way to find out what we really need is to get rid of what we don’t.” Marie Kondo
Decluttering helps you to remove things from your life and space that are no longer needed.
If you do a thorough assessment you’ll discover that there are a lot of things in and around you that are slowing down your progress and inhibiting your growth you need to do away with.
To make significant progress in life, you only need things/tools that are working effectively, spaces or circles that aid your growth and people who are committed to see you thrive.
“Your home is a living space, not a storage space.” Francine Jay
Likewise your life
As you advance in life, there are certain things you hold dear that you must discard and let go of. Not out of hatred, pride, arrogance or sheer stupidity, but out of growth. These things might have served you for a very long time at a phase in your life, but as you climb up the ladder to another phase, you will discover that these things will no longer serve you.
One major reason why a lot of individuals don’t make significant progress in life and why they remain stagnant is sentiments. They get too attached to things, spaces and people that have served them at some point in life and are no longer serving them.
So, when it’s time to let go, they become sentimental — choosing to rather keep the things that are no longer working, stay in the spaces that are no longer helping them — mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally and stick to or hang around people who no longer want the best for them over their progress.
“If your stuff isn’t serving you, it won’t be serving you any better packed away in a box somewhere.” Melissa Camara Wilkins
The fact that you spent a lot of money purchasing that item shouldn’t stop you from getting rid of it when it stops working. The fact that your grandma, grandad, parents or a loved one gifted you an item doesn’t mean that you should hold on to it when it is no longer working. That you found a place — a church, a fellowship or a circle where you once felt welcomed, loved and appreciated doesn’t mean you should remain there when it is time for you to leave.
Some of the things you’re holding on to are things that aren’t working anymore!
For you to successfully declutter, you must take the following steps;
- Always carry out a routine check in your life as often as you can.
- Do an inventory and make a mental note (a physical note also) of things, people and spaces that you’ve outgrown and are no longer serving you.
- Be brutally honest with yourself.
- Get rid of sentiments.
1. Declutter your thoughts
“For as a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” Proverbs 23:7.
Thoughts are powerful energy that can affect your reality.
Your thoughts are powerful. They are capable of either slowing you down or keeping you dead in your tracks .They are like seeds. When sown, they have the natural tendency to grow and manifest in your life if you constantly feed on them.
The thoughts that pass through your mind are responsible for almost everything that happens in your life. They can influence your behavior and attitude, affect your actions and reactions, and shape your reality.
Get rid of those negative and self-limiting thoughts that have held you bound for years. If they didn’t serve you in previous years, they won’t serve you now.
Though difficult but doable, always be conscious of your thoughts. When the negative thoughts start to creep in, be quick enough to replace it with positive thoughts.
2. Declutter your mind
“The mind is a powerful force. It can enslave us or empower us. It can plunge us into the depths of misery or take us to the heights of ecstasy. Learn to use the power wisely.” David Cuschieri
As an engine is to a car, a vessel, an airplane, etc., so is your mind an engine house to your body (life).
Your mind is a power house. It doesn’t need to be mismanaged, ignored or overcrowded. What you store in it is capable of making your life beautiful and easy and also capable of crippling you and killing you.
Declutter your mind on a daily basis. The Bible refers to it as renewing your mind. Doing this will transform your life.
“Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God — what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 NET
Whatever you don’t want to see grow and manifest in your life, you shouldn’t take it in and store it in your mind.
“Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.” Earl Nightingale
3. Declutter your circle
How many of us still find ourselves in circles, gatherings, fellowships, friendships, relationships, etc. that aren’t serving us any longer but are too afraid to leave?
Let me paint this scenario. Imagine that you are at a particular level in life and for you to scale through that level successfully, you need to associate, interact and bond with someone or a group of persons. Now you’ve scaled through successfully, and you’ve climbed the ladder to a higher level, would you want to stay at your previous level, learning about things that aren’t and won’t be useful to you in your present level? I thought as much, you wouldn’t.
The above scenario is enough to enlighten you on the importance of decluttering your circle.
How is your circle helping you? Is it helping you to grow, thrive and become a better version of yourself? Or is it keeping you stuck?
4. Declutter your space
Your space here could be your room, or a place you go to to find inspiration, motivation or generate ideas.
Declutter your space. Do away with whatever isn’t working or useful. The more spacious your space is, the more comfort and serenity you’ll find in it.
Decluttering your space can help reduce stress and anxiety. It can also boost your confidence and self worth.
Take Away
Decluttering makes your life a lot more easier and meaningful. It is so powerful that it can produce a fundamental shift in the way you think about and live your life.
Don’t keep things that aren’t working in your life. Remove the waste and deadweight that are no longer serving you — there’s no virtue in keeping them.
Acquire things that are important, keep them and effectively manage them. Subscribe to circles, connect to people who are instrumental to your life’s pursuit and purpose and ensure you get the best from them. Search out for places that will aid your growth and propel you forward while journeying through life and stay committed. But also know when to transition and walk away from things, people and spaces that no longer serve you in the long run with all humility and maturity.
