I’m about to get rid of something that I love very much. (Yes, even Professional Organizers struggle with releasing sentimental things.) Over the past few years, this thing has helped me connect with people, make friends, and refine what I offer to the world. It is a source of immense pride, but it no longer serves my needs. So I must let it go.
Holding onto it tethers me to the past, obscures my destiny, and traps me in perpetual doubt, and feeds the regret of “Coulda, woulda, shoulda”. It takes up the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual space needed for newness and growth. This precious possession no longer represents who I am. So I must release it.
This Paradox Applies to Every Aspect of Life
We know that holding onto the past keeps us stuck in prolonged agony, yet we hold on anyway. Think about the expensive but too-small sweater buried in the dresser drawer. A job that pays the bills but sucks the life out of you. A relationship that leaves you feeling badly about yourself. A wedding dress from a broken engagement (true client story). Just looking at or thinking about it weighs you down. You know it’s time to say Goodbye.
While plenty of people embrace change, I am not one of them. It’s uncomfortable, time-consuming, emotionally exhausting, and often expensive.
So how do you move forward with change when your head tells you that it’s too difficult or painful? It requires thoughtful reflection. Any process of change requires assessing where you are currently.
Three Questions That Enable Change
Here are three questions that facilitate reflection:
- Why is this specific Change important?
- Why now?
- What will my life look like next year if I don’t make this specific change?
Take some quiet time to dig deep when answering these questions. As an example, here are my answers:
- This specific change is important because my business has evolved over the past few years. My offerings are now more specific and better align with what brings me joy. This needs to be presented in a way that attracts my ideal clients.
- This change needs to happen now because my business, my clients, and I, can’t live in the past. I want to present my current self to the world so it knows what to expect. Keeping the Old will confuse both my clients and myself. Making change now means saving time and alleviating frustration later.
- Unless I make this specific change, people will be confused about how I can assist them in simplifying their homes and lives. If I do nothing, I will waste both my and my potential clients’ time explaining my New services and correcting assumptions that are based on the Old. I will be stuck in the past, and miss out on serving my best clients.
So What am I Releasing?
It’s my old website. Four years ago, I created it all by myself using GoDaddy’s Website Builder. As a Technophobe, this was a monumental accomplishment. The layout, sourcing pictures, creating links to the pages, e.v.e.r.y. word of copy- I did that all by myself. Looking at it brought a smile to my face.
Until it didn’t. It started making me sigh and grimace, because it no longer reflected the content, look and feel that I wanted to project. Over the past four years, my business has expanded beyond what GoDaddy’s Website Builder can accommodate. I have to get rid of the Old to make room for the New.
Worthy of Investment
Revamping my website required a huge investment of my time, energy, attention, and money. As noted above, my technology skills are quite limited. I would rather slowly chew, taste, and swallow fried worms than try to learn WordPress or a different website builder platform.
Fortunately, I was referred to Niki, a fabulous website designer who listened to me describe what I wanted. She is highly skilled, patient, compassionate, and provided individualized solutions for my vision. My new website is once again a source of immense pride, and I feel pretty smart for paying a skilled professional who can do the job better and faster than I could. Saving myself time and frustration is definitely worth the investment. I am worth the investment.
I don’t ever want to forget what my home-made website looked like, but I don’t need to keep the whole thing. Just a screenshot of the Homepage is enough to remind me of my hard work, creativity, and fortitude. It will live forever in both my online journal and on this blog. Knowing that I can revisit it at any time makes it much easier to exchange the Old for the New with confidence and zero regret.
Every person on this planet is created with talent and purpose. Part of our purpose is to use our talent to help others. That’s why helping others feels so fulfilling. Niki used her talent (website design) to assist me in sharing my own talent (Professional Organizing). I use my talent and expertise to help others reclaim their time and sense of control in their homes and lives. It is a never-ending, expansive spiral that applies to everyone.
Take Action
Are you holding onto something that you know you need to release? Is it making you feel stuck and weighed down? You owe it to yourself and to the people who need your specific talent to take action.
Take inventory (review the questions above). Ask for help. Many times friends can assist. Other circumstances require professional help for professional results. I can testify that exchanging the Old for the New will bring you joy, peace, clarity, and excitement about fulfilling your purpose in serving others with your own talent.
The Seasoned Organizer specializes in guiding Individuals, Business Professionals, and Olders in decluttering, organizing, and streamlining their homes and lives so that they have more time for their priorities. Feeling overwhelmed by clutter and disorganization? Click here to set up your complimentary, judgment-free Discovery Call.
This article contains non-affiliate hyperlinks to outside resources. I receive zero compensation from the sources; my sole desire to be helpful.