As this year is almost over, many of us are reflecting about the past twelve months and the year that’s about to begin. I’m thinking about the many wonderful conversations we’ve shared together on the blog. This free exchange of insights always sparks new ideas. Our conversations about change, clutter, letting go, time, organizing, motivation, life balance and more are one of my greatest sources of joys and inspiration. Thank you for being part of this special community. You inspire me to write, to think, to experiment, and to engage.

I’m grateful for and inspired by the thoughtful words and generous sharing of this community. I’ve curated twelve of my favorite quotes this year by my top engagers, Janet Barclay, Jill Robson, Seana Turner, Ellen Delap, Diane Quintana, Sabrina Quairoli, Sarah Soboleski, Hazel Thornton, Nacho Eguiarte, Jaime Steele, Autumn Leopold and Liana George, selecting one from each month and topic. I’m deeply thankful for them and everyone that adds to our conversations. You bring hope, light, curiosity, and learning each day.

Enjoy the year in review, one quote, insight, and inspiration at a time . . .

Fresh Start

“I love the energy that comes from a refreshed space. It’s clearing out the stuff but also freshening up your perspective by viewing what’s left. I take the opportunity at the new year to make the most of clearing out.”

Ellen Delap on How to Use That Energy Boost You Get From a Fresh Start

Embrace Change

“I guess letting go of what once was, and appreciating what now is, is kind of like focusing on what good things (stuff) you have, and not feeling compelled to accumulate more. Or being grateful for what’s going well in your life as opposed to being resentful about what’s not going well. Any way you slice it I think gratitude is the key.”

Hazel Thornton on Appreciating Genuine Joy With Life’s Inevitable Changes

Next Step

“Knowing what’s the next step is just part of the equation, but knowing why it is important gives us the ultimate reason to go for it.”

Nacho Eguiarte on What Is Your Next Step And Why Is It Important?

Letting Go

“Setting parameters in our lives can help us at so many levels but I think you are so right when you apply it to letting go. It can help with decision fatigue and make the process much easier! I always encourage my clients who are having trouble making a decision to give themselves a time parameter, such as I will make a decision about this item in 'x' minutes, hours, days, etc.”

Liana George on Learn One Amazing Secret That Helps You Let Go

Clutter

“I’ve identified another challenge in my home: framed pictures. Whether they’re family photos, needlepoint projects made by loved ones, or other types of art, they tend to stay on the wall long after I’ve stopped enjoying them, and then they sit in a corner until I’m willing to part with them. I think it’s because they will have little or no value to anyone else, so it’s harder to get rid of them than more useful items.”

Janet Barclay on Why Do We Hold On To Treasures, Clutter And Stuff?

Time Management

“Wow how the time has flown by. We need to drink in every moment.”

Jill Robson on Hydrangeas in Bloom Means the Wonderful Time Has Arrived

Motivation

“What motivates me to get organized is a day off…organizing is my relaxing time. A time when I can reassess and revise systems.”

Sabrina Quairoli on How to Use “Dumpster Envy” to Get Motivated

Enlisting help

“I am working on my mindfulness and finding that it does indeed increase happiness. Putting down the technology has allowed me to focus on what is here and now. By not being distracted I have been able to interact with those around me.”

Jaime Steele on 3 Useful Ideas to Help Increase Your Happiness

Success

“I need to start each day with breakfast by myself before my toddler wakes up. While eating I listen to daily mentoring recordings from Darren Hardy. This precious time really helps me set the tone for a successful day if my batteries have some solo recharging time.”

Sarah Soboleski on How to Strengthen Your Foundation For Fantastic Success

Possibility Thinking

“…you should schedule time for yourself. To think big! Make sure you have some white space in your week. If I look at my week and it’s too full it causes me anxiety right there. I have truly tried to change that. I want more white space! More time to be spontaneous with my family and more time for myself to walk, read, cook, etc.”

Autumn Leopold on Practical Possibilities For Deciding When to Think Big or Small

Wonderfully Human

“…one of the hardest things to do is to take a hard or close look at yourself and identify your own strengths. So often we focus on our weaknesses. If we turn it around ask ourselves ‘which strengths do I have to help me compensate for this weakness?’ we would be so much better off.”

Diane Quintana on Interesting Connection With Politics, Being Human and Organizing Habits

Life Balance

“If I had to single out one of your ideas for maintaining balance, it would be ‘You Are Here.’ Especially at this time of year, our minds seem to be constantly trying to fix, address, handle, solve, and deal with a constant stream of issues that bombard our brains. This just steals attention (and joy!) from the moment. I need to continually work on closing the door to the noise and live in the now.”

Seana Turner on How to Find Your Balance During This Season

What resonates with you? Is there one idea that you’d like to bring forward for 2017? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!

Holiday shopping, parties, and out of town guests…oh my! Those are some of the causes for our temporary disruption of balance and calm. Seasonal excitement and stress is evident almost everywhere I go. Some of us take off for the season to unwind and relax. No work or obligations. However, even the vacationers can experience holiday stress in preparation for taking time off.

I began wondering about ways to find balance during this busy time of year. While I was pondering, my gaze became fixed on the bowl of fidgets on my desk. This collection of miniature toys includes reminders of attitudes, places visited, childhood memories and more. When working in my office, I’m accompanied by uplifting thoughts and tiny toys to play with.

It occurred to me, that some of the messages in my bowl were a great starting point for restoring balance and adjusting that holiday season perspective. Maybe one of these will be useful for you.

7 Ways to Find More Balance During the Holiday Season

1. Optimism

Is your glass half full or half empty? Where do you lean? Shifting your thoughts to positive outcomes and possibilities can counteract your seasonal anxiety and stress. What fills your glass?

2. You Are Here

Locate yourself. Be present. Take in the moment that is now. Sit with it and appreciate where you are, whom you are with, and what you are sensing. Don’t past or future-think. Just be here.

3. WW

Access your Wonder Woman, superhero powers. These include superhuman strength, speed, durability, reflexes and longevity. Strike a Wonder Woman power pose and feel your balance, strength and confidence increase.

4. Try Smile Therapy

Smiling creates physiological changes in the body including lowering blood pressure, releasing endorphins and relieving stress. Have you tried smile therapy? Bring back some happy balance to your days by smiling your way through the holiday season. Watch some slapstick, put on your favorite comedy, or share a smile with a stranger. Mouth corners up!

5. Feelings

This can be a tumultuous time of year that brings about all kinds of intense feelings from happy to sad to angry to frustrated. Don’t judge your feelings. Acknowledge them. Feel them. They are temporary and will move on. Don’t let them derail your days.

6. I Like Big Puns

Humor is a wonderful way to re-balance a stressful day. There’s nothing quite as fun as laughing at silly jokes with your friends or family. My brother-in-law was visiting recently and showered us with his long list of puns and jokes. Even though I’d heard them many times before, I couldn’t help but laugh. How about this one? . . .

“I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.”

7. Sparkle

Let your inner sparkle shine, while appreciating the outer sparkle of the season. There’s more glitter and glitz this time of year. I love it! I’ll admit that I love a little sparkle all year long. Let the luminosity of the season remind us to focus on the bright spots. Take the path away from the frenzy towards the joy. Sparkle on.

Which items from my bowl of fidgets speak to you? What helps you bring some balance and perspective back to this full, busy season? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation.

With the Thanksgiving season upon us, thoughts of gratitude, family, friends, food, and love are usually the focus. While there has been some “turkey talk,” more of the conversations are politics-filled, especially because of the recent election. We are passionate human beings with varying perspectives and values. Our emotions are running high. While we wouldn’t necessarily view organizing habits and politics together, I had a conversation during a client organizing session, which made me think about the connection.

My client was telling me how much she valued working with me and then mentioned an excerpt from a recent White House Press Conference, which related to her thoughts. At the press conference, President Obama was referring to the President-Elect and talking about the importance of recognizing aspects of your temperament that will or will not serve you well as President. He said that recognizing and correcting for deficits are essential to being successful in that role.

Obama used the following example to express this idea and said, 

“…I know myself well enough to know I can’t keep track of paper. I am not well organized in that way. And so pretty quickly, after I’m getting stacks of briefing books coming in every night, I say to myself, I’ve got to figure out a system because I have bad filing, sorting and organizing habits. And I’ve got to find some people who can help me keep track of this stuff. That seems trivial, but actually it ends up being a pretty big piece of business.”

We all have strengths and challenges. Even the President needs help staying organized. Positive outcomes happen when we’re able to work from our strengths and enlist the right support for our challenges.

Uncertainty exists, especially in this tumultuous political climate. However, you can choose to embrace change with the things you have within your control. Are their habits that no longer serve you? Do you see an opening for change? What support do you need to move forward? If it’s organizing help that you desire, I’m just a phone call away. Reach out. Let me help you change your corner of the world.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation.

One of the greatest joys in life is spending time with your loved ones. At least it is for me. There’s nothing quite like having shared experiences and some good old human, face-to-face interaction to strengthen our relationships and understanding of each other.  I had the chance to do just that on a recent a road trip with my husband, daughter and her friend. Car time is wonderful for conversing, sharing music, and enjoying each other’s company.

On this particular trip, aside from actively participating in the conversations, I was also the driver. While I was paying attention to the speed limit, traffic patterns, and road signs, I neglected to notice the gas gauge. I was so focused on dialoguing and driving, that I ignored a very important sign until it was too late…well, almost too late.

At one point my attention shifted when I noticed the yellow “out of gas” indicator light and the “zero miles remaining before the gas ran out” gauge. Fortunately, I saw the warnings right before an exit. Despite the fact that the highway exit sign didn’t indicate gas stations available, I opted to get off the highway. I thought, as did my passengers, that it would be better to run out of gas on the exit ramp than on the highway. As the story goes, there was a gas station located at the bottom of the exit. Phew! We pulled up just in time and filled the tank.

I felt stupid and embarrassed. This could have been inconvenient, not to mention dangerous. After berating myself, I had to let it go and move on. Mistakes happen. Focus shifts. No one got hurt. Our gas tank was now full. This experience left me thinking about distractions…as in in how many things can we effectively focus on at once? As it turns out, we can’t handle too many.

The moral of the story: If you have too many distractions and competing priorities, you may find yourself running on empty.

What distractions surprise you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!