Decluttering your life

There’s nothing you have to do.

The things on your calendar. The items on your to-do list. The miscellaneous tasks swirling in the back of your mind. The goals floating around and the dreams tucked away in your heart.

You don’t have to do any of it.

None of it—doing or not doing it—can increase or decrease your worthiness as a human being.

All these things are simply options in your beautiful life.

And among your options, you get to choose what you want to do, what you choose to do, and what you're committed to doing. Because of what you want to create and who you want to be in your life.

Think of something you think you have to do. It could be something that’s been sitting in your mind, to-do list, or calendar for a while.

Let's say, for example, it's decluttering the garage.

Now, delete it.

What happens?

What stories does your brain tell you when it’s removed from your plate?

If it didn't make a difference, can you give yourself permission to let it go altogether? Shelve it for another time? Or consider something between doing and not doing? (e.g. sort and organize 1 box this weekend).

If it created unwanted consequences, can you reflect on how doing this thing IS what you want right now? (e.g. what you want is the end result of an organized space where it takes one second to find the tool you need).

You can even take a step further and ask yourself why this thing is on your plate to begin with. Do you like the reason?

Try this exercise for everything your mind is telling you that you have to do.

List it all out.

Take a step back.

Remember that everything you see in front of you are your options. You don’t have to do any of it.

Examine each one:

Does doing this thing serve my long-term goals? Align with my values? Contribute and add to my life? Feel most like me and the person I want to be? Would I do this thing today if I could redo today?

Decide what to release. Decide to let go of pressure and expectations. Then decide what you want to do and choose it.

The more you practice choosing and committing on purpose, the more space and energy you open up for the specific things you want to take action on now.