THE CLUTTER SERIES
The ‘Clutter Series’ discusses important aspects of the clutter in our homes and minds, including the close relationship between clutter and our general well-being.
Click here to read a summary of the main insights of this series.
For most of us, decluttering our home is a challenging project.
Like other bigger projects it needs proper preparation.
Prepartion of a decluttering project
A proper preparation is super-important if we want to ensure that we have a good start with our decluttering project and to increase our chances to arrive safely at the finish-line.
Removing the clutter without a deep understanding of its causes and its ‘purpose’ in our life is like ‘sending it on a short holiday’. We remove the symptoms for a while but we don’t resolve the underlying problem(s). The clutter will come back!
How our values and vision help us make (declutter) decisions
Before we can start to make decisions about our belongings, we have to become well aware of where we are now, how we got there, why we want to change our home/life, and where we want to go.
Having a deep understanding of our current situation, our values and our vision for the future enables us to make the right decisions during the decluttering process and to get and stay focused and motivated.
Today, we talk about our values, in another article we will discuss why we need a clear vision for our decluttering success.
OUR VALUES
Decluttering can be seen a process of honouring our deepest held values.
Every time we decide to keep or let go of an item, we are effectively saying, “This matters to me” or “This is no longer a priority.” We must make this decision hundreds of times while we are decluttering an entire home.
In order to make the right decisions, it is vital for us to clarify and confirm our personal values and motivations before we start to develop a vision for the next chapter of our life and set goals for our decluttering projects.
Differentiating between values and goals is important because, in the long run, it’s our values – not our goals – that direct and motivate us. We experience our greatest personal alignment with ourselves when we set goals and take actions that align with our values.
Values are what we find meaningful and important in our life, they give us clarity and direction. They are like an internal compass that guides and motivates us.
Values exist, whether we recognise them or not. Life can be much easier when we consciously acknowledge our values – and when we make plans and decisions that honour them.
Knowing and honouring our values helps us make decisions.
Having clear values not only keeps us focused and motivated. They help us make decisions.
Whenever we have to make a decision or choice, we can ask ourselves
‘Is this (activity, decision, commitment, possession) in alignment with my values?’
Usually, our decision to declutter or make changes in our lives has to do with our values. We are probably not happy with the current reality because we have neglected some of our important values—we haven’t ‘valued’ enough what’s really important to us.
Knowing our values helps us understand our ‘Why’.
Redirecting our attention to our core values helps us to truly understand our Why – the purpose behind our decluttering ambitions:
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- Why the clutter in our home (or the change in our life) is a problem for us,
- and why we decided to get active and to do something to make things better.
Whenever, later in the decluttering/change process, we struggle to set goals or decide on the next action steps, or when we experience a drop in energy and motivation, we can remind ourselves of our core values and let them guide us.
HOW CAN I HELP YOU?
Are you tired?
Tired of trying to (re)organise the various areas of your life entirely on your own?
Fortunately, you don’t have to figure it out all by yourself.
We can do it together.
You can decide to get my support, advice, and guidance – and achieve the desired changes in your life so much faster and easier.