A favorite activity of many at the start of a new year is to clear out the clutter in one's home. This helps you feel like you are starting out the year with fresh energy in your physical space. This is also a wonderful time to clear out the clutter in our minds.
Just like how we clean out our closets to make space for new items, we can make room in our minds for more of what we want to manifest in our life. When our physical surroundings are cluttered, we begin to feel mentally stuck, overwhelmed, or depressed. Similarly, having a cluttered mind will keep us stuck in our current physical situation. In order to move forward in your life and become the best version of yourself - be it with a more peaceful home, better control of your finances, or becoming more adventurous - that change must come from within.
With all this in mind, I've created the following reflection to help you make more room in your life for what you really want to cultivate. If you have a new year's resolution or intention, feel free to use that as a springboard for the exercise below:
Reflection:
Find a quiet space and set aside 20 or 30 minutes when you will be undisturbed to engage fully in this practice.
First, sit comfortably for a few minutes, placing your attention on the feeling of your breath moving in your body. Breathe normally and notice your thoughts, letting them go as they arise. If you are having difficulty calming your mind and getting into your body, try pressing the space between your thumb and index finger on your hand with the in breath and release with the out breath. Either hand works.
Taking Stock:
Once you feel more present, take stock of what you would like to have more of in your life. There are no wrong answers. It could be money, health, love or tacos. On one side of a piece of paper, make a list of what you'd like more of. When the list feels complete, pick one item and contemplate the obstacles in your way to achieving this. These may be physical barriers, like time, money, or other people. Or they may be mental blocks like feelings of low self-esteem or depression. On the back side of the paper, write these obstacles down. Select one obstacle and think of ways that you could remove or lessen it. Again there are no wrong answers and I’d encourage you to think outside the box here.
Solving Obstacles:
Obstacles can be tricky. Often we run into our own self-limiting or world beliefs that we believe in so absolutely that no one can tell us otherwise. Remember that if you are ambivalent or don’t want to remove an obstacle, then you won’t be able to no matter how hard you try. If this happens, you can notice this belief as a solid obstacle that you are unwilling to change, go back to your list, and try another obstacle. You may even come up with an obstacle to removing your obstacle! If this happens, find a solution for the last one and move backward until you find a solution to the original obstacle.
Some brilliant advice I read in a book basically said that if you want something bad enough and are ready to make a change, the obstacles tend to naturally fall away. But if we aren't ready to make the change, then the obstacles will continue to pile up. If you notice the obstacles seem insurmountable, maybe do some reflection around what you get out of keeping the original challenge around.
Making Room:
Once you have figured out a solution for the obstacle you are focusing on, it's time to let go of the belief behind the obstacle. Obstacles are generally kept around by an unconscious belief. Sometimes, these beliefs are old and no longer needed. Often, we just need to prove that belief wrong to let it go!
Here’s a very simple example:
Goal: I want to eat more healthy
Obstacle: Don’t want to try new foods
Belief: Healthy food is gross
If you make an effort to work on the obstacle and try a few new things, you may find just enough new foods that you enjoy to shift your belief. Then you will have a lot more variety of foods to choose from and adopting a healthy eating lifestyle will be far easier!
Creating More of What We Want:
By letting go of these beliefs behind the obstacle, we not only remove the obstacle, but prevent it from coming back. This creates a permanent physical or mental space that you can fill with whatever you like! Without the obstacle in the way, take a moment to figure out your next steps. Be mindful of what you want to put in that fresh space and how you will achieve your goal. A plan of action can work really well to determine the amount of effort needed to accomplish your goal.
For example, if you want to create more time for friends, just setting aside time for a coffee meet up every Saturday morning at 10 isn’t going to do much if you don’t also reach out to a friend every week to plan the meeting. Figure out what your plan of action will be!
Feel free to take your time and work through your original list. You may want to contemplate one a day, or week, or month. I wish you the best of luck on your journey and all good things on your path!
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