Making Space: Doing Some Spring Cleaning Inside Yourself

Copyright (c) 2011 Kim Schuld

I've got the windows open this week. It really seems like only yesterday that I was shivering in front of a space heater while the roads outside were covered over with ice. Although I haven't quite adapted to the daylight savings time change yet, I am ready to do some Spring cleaning! It is so refreshing to have some clean air flowing through the house and to catch a small whiff of honeysuckle from a neighbor's yard.

The idea of Spring cleaning extends far beyond washing all the windows, cleaning the floors and moving all the furniture to get those errant dust bunnies. We can also clear out the clutter of our inner lives. Is there any mental or emotional clutter holding you back from epic success or phenomenally joyous living?

To start, clear out the mental clutter holding you back. Change negative thinking to empowered thinking. Your mind cannot hold a positive thought and a negative thought at the same time. You create personal power when you think in the affirmative, and this opens up space for success. You also de-clutter the mind when you take full responsibility for yourself and your thoughts. For example, if you made a New Year's resolution to lose weight, well, here we are at the end of March. Have you lost the weight? If you're thinking, "No, I just can't lose this weight," I challenge you to turn that around and say "I won't lose the weight."

Whoa! Are you serious Kim??? Yes, I am. You can clear out a lot of clutter by changing can't to won't - it doesn't sound good, but it puts the ball back into your court. When you say I won't lose weight, you are making a decision to stay where you're at and we want to clean that out by raising your consciousness to make a different decision! So start to be really clear and really honest with yourself because that is what will empower you to make the changes you want to make. When you choose to not take control of a situation, you are giving up your power. Take it back with a mental house cleaning.

Maybe you're feeling good in the positive talk area but your environment is a cluttered mess. This is a good time to complete, delegate, or ditch. If you set aside just a few hours at a time during the week to focus on clearing the clutter, your priorities may also get a little housecleaning! Make it your goal to complete those thank you notes or file those papers and just plow through it for an hour. It will feel less like a burden if you know you're only going to spend 60 minutes on it. And if it's been sitting around unused or undone for more than two months, could it be that it is no longer a priority? Is there something that has been on your To-Do list for more than a month? Maybe it's time to ask if it's really all that important. Either ditch it or complete it, but get it off the list!

And what have you been doing that your assistant at work could be doing or that your teenager could be doing? When you do it all yourself, you are robbing others the chance to learn and grow. Stop doing your teenagers' laundry and teach them how to do it themselves. Or maybe ask them to be in charge of making the family dinner one night a week. How will they learn if you do it all? It's the same with your co-workers or assistants. When you do it all, you are telling them that they are not trustworthy. Give over those small tasks and see who rises to the challenge.

Clearing out the mental, emotional and physical clutter will open up space inside of you for great ideas to grow, new successes to come or relationships to flourish. You don't have to be everything to everyone, or do everything yourself, or even hang on to things because that's the way it's always been done. Clean up your inner house and get ready for the growing season!


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Kim Schuld is a nationally published writer and speaker who spent over
twenty years in politics honing messages on complex issues. Kim now uses
her talents to help people see through confusion to pinpoint problems
and solutions, and to find their heart-felt callings as a life journey
coach. You can find out more about Kim by clicking here