Spring Cleaning Series: The Secret to Finding Your Freedom to Flow

"Success is not defined by the quantity of actions taken, but the quality of actions taken toward accomplishing your goals."

Hi there!  Can we start a conversation around the subject of decluttering?  So lately I have been STUCK!  My creativity has been stagnant, my energy has been sapped, and I have been feeling just plain tired!  So much has been going on in my life, and I realized that I was becoming immobile.  I wasn't accomplishing much, wasn't feeling very productive, and my momentum was grinding to a screeching halt!  A few days ago,  I decided to stop, take a step back, and write about why I was feeling stuck.  I realized that I was so overwhelmed with all that I had to do that I just shut down both mentally and emotionally. 

Now, what comes to mind when you hear the word "declutter?" Many times we think of cleaning and organizing our physical space, but can it relate to our mental and emotional space as well? Of course! You see, I've been on a mission to clean up the chaos of acquired things in my life that no longer serve me.  Our home is on the market, and I realized that I have so much clutter that I have carried with me over the years, from one home to the next.  I literally donated and recycled 10-15 bags of STUFF! Can you believe that!?  It's true.  On this journey, I have truly felt the grief of letting things go (but that's another post for another day.) 

After three phases of decluttering, my home is now feeling much more spacious, cleaner, and looks gorgeous! Most importantly, my mind has been clearer and much more focused as well.  Today, I want to share with you how I have decluttered my To Do List in order to allow more freedom to flow in my business and in my life. I love the word "flow," because it speaks of smooth & continuous motion regardless of the present circumstances.

Do you want to be successful? I do. What does success mean to you? For me right now, success means to be able to give to and inspire those around me, and live a fulfilled well-rounded life without extra stress.  Many times we define success by the quantity of things we can accomplish in a day. So often, we pack our To Do Lists with a multitude of tasks, and then we feel like failures when they aren't all accomplished!

This is why I began to declutter my To Do List. You see, I begin to feel trapped by my To Do List. Life would happenen, the list wouldn't get completed, and the unaccomplished tasks would haunt me and cause great anxiety. This became my constant story until I decided to change it.  I now declutter and minimize my To Do List on a weekly basis, and I have also changed the word, task, (which implies something unpleasant that I HAVE to do,) to action steps, (which implies momentum, and my CHOICE to move forward toward a goal.)  I also changed my list title from "To Do List," to "Goals," "Daily Actions," "Success List," or "To Accomplish."  Again, these words are just a bit more empowering and take the drudgery out of the everyday goals that need to be completed.

Decluttering my list means to weed out the less important actions, and action steps, that can be delegated, or performed by someone else.  Minimizing my list results in only a few action steps that need attention.  Scaling down from a list of 15-20 actions to five quality actions, allows me to have more freedom in my day to complete them, freedom for creativity, freedom to rest, freedom to connect with others, freedom to flow, to move, and to be inspired.

After accomplishing the few quality action steps, I began to feel more in control and empowered to add a few more actions to my list.  Don't forget, you can ALWAYS add more actions to your list.

Is YOUR To Do List long and overwhelming?  Here is an activity that may help.

In your journal:

1. Define & prioritize your goals.
2. Create a Master List of action steps necessary for accomplishing each goal.
3. Break down your Master List into a list of mini action steps.
4. Begin with only three to five mini action steps a day to accomplish.
5. Accomplish these mini action steps, cross them out, check them off, and celebrate!  (Feel free to add a few more action steps if you desire.)

By decluttering my "To Do List," I have become unstuck.  I have been able to create more momentum in my life and business, which inspires greater action and results in greater success.  I now feel more accomplished and in control, my day is more profitable, and I have found the freedom to flow.

What are YOUR thoughts?  How do YOU work through feelings of overwhelm when you have a lot to accomplish? Comment below to continue the conversation.

xo Nicole