The One Mental Shift Needed to Simplify your Life

The mental shift that you need to simplify your life…

We can make all kinds of changes in our life and our home.
We can do some decluttering work and we can do some simplifying work, but to be really effective and to get to where you want to be, you have to do some mindset work.
If you’re in a home that’s cluttered and you want to be in a home that’s minimal, it begins in the way you think about things.
The main shift is what you believe you are capable of, what you believe can happen.

If you don’t believe something is possible, then you won’t take the steps needed to make it happen.

This is most evident in thoughts like, “I don’t have the time” or “I don’t have the energy.”
To shift that, you need to tell yourself, “I have the time to do what I need to do. I have the energy to do what I need to do. I am capable of decluttering my whole house. I am capable of embracing minimalism. I am capable of living a simplified life.”

Habits

You have to believe it’s possible to change your habits.
When we decide to change your habits, a lot of times we’ll set ourselves up for failure.
We’ll self-sabotage because we really don’t believe it’s possible.
How many times have you thought “I’m going to change my morning routine so I’m going to do these 25 different things and it’s going to take me 45 minutes to accomplish.”
We can do that for a couple of days.
But after that, it’s just we get to the point where we just want to throw our hands up and justify, “Nope, I’m not capable.”
Instead, require small things of yourself.
When I teach routines, I just require the very basics of

• washing the dishes,
• clearing the counters off,
• throw the trash away.

If you require too much of yourself, you’ll just want to quit.

Simplifying your calendar

If you don’t believe it’s possible to have free time on the calendar, then you won’t take the steps needed to make it happen.
You won’t look at it objectively and really evaluate what’s important and what’s not, what’s just filling up space and what really adds value to your life.
And you need to be able to believe it’s possible as you sit down with the calendar and look at it, and determine what you want there and what you don’t want.

Decluttering and organizing

The same thing applies!
If you want to get the kitchen completely decluttered and organized, then what steps do you have to take?
Well, you have to focus on one room.
You have to do little things every day.
You have to move things out of the house and make those decisions.
In order to really follow through with that, you have to believe that you are capable of decluttering.
And you are capable!
Each one of us is capable of getting our homes in order.
It might be little steps at a time, but every little step will get you closer to your goal.
That’s it. That’s the shift that you need.

It’s just to believe that you are capable and believe it is possible.

And then you can approach simplifying in a way that you know will get the job done.