before you declutter | envision your desired life

Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal, and also a time when many people choose to declutter their homes, work spaces and garages. If you've decided it's time to declutter and organize your home, it's important for you to first to take time to reflect on what you envision as your desired home and life to be.

Diving right into a massive decluttering without having a clear picture of the life you're trying to create, you could find yourself off track and discouraged when you hit the murky middle - the place that lives smack dab in between huge amounts of progress and a very long road ahead.

A clear vision of your most desired life is often the fuel to make it to the finish line.

My favorite way to envision the future is through good old-fashion reflection. Having been blessed with some amazing coaches and mentors throughout my corporate career, I have learned first hand the power of personal reflection. For me, reflection starts with a few important ingredients that include a quiet space, a cup of tea and some thought-provoking questions.

Six questions to jump-start your Spring reflection

1. What am I grateful for?

2. What brings me the most joy in my life right now?

3. What areas of my life feel cluttered right now (place, time, mind)?

4. What words best describe my most desired home and work spaces?

5. What do I love about my current home and work spaces?

6. What's not working/getting in the way in my current home and work spaces?

As you reflect on the answers to the above questions, keep in mind this is a progress over perfection exercise. This might take you a couple hours, but it might also only take 30 minutes. Be gentle with yourself as you reflect on the past and get excited about what the future has to offer.

Additional tools to help you

Having lead both small and large teams during my corporate career, I know the power of a template to help get someone's thoughts on paper. To that end, if you are looking for a bit more structure as you consider your most desired life, check out the instant downloadable worksheets I've created to help you (example shown below).

My Desired Life Planning Worksheets

The My Desired Life planning worksheets begins with a personal assessment shown below. Once you have your current state of your life in mind, you will move into creating some goals to help you achieve the life you're looking for on page 2.

Each year, I complete the My Desired Life template a few times. I usually review it in December looking at the past year and setting my intensions for the new year. I often look at it in the Spring to see how my year has begun and then again in the Fall to see if there are any changes that need to be made for the last 100 days of the year.

You certainly don't need to go after it with the same level of intensity that I've chosen. Thinking about the desires you have for your life and taking actions to get there is something that is definitely helpful overall and will be helpful before decluttering, because it will become more clear for you to determine what you want to keep in (and send out) of your life.