You are so hard on yourself sometimes. So am I! You compare yourself to others and come up short. So do I!
You don’t think you have what it takes to start and complete things because of your past failures.
You think you are missing a gene that would make your life clutter-free and organized.
So you get stuck. You get overwhelmed. You get distracted. You get depressed.
And you stay stuck at where we are at. You start blaming others for your lack of initiative. You busy yourself with something that does not get you to where you want to be.
You do that because what you need to do is just too hard, or at least you keep telling yourself that.
When you walk around your house, do you see many things you have started and not finished?
Do you see things you bought and never used? Do you see lots of half-read books? Do you see piles of undone and unorganized things?
Don’t despair! You are human. We all struggle with these same things.
What if you changed the inner dialogue that is running around in your head?
I have either heard these things in my head, or I have listened to it coming from others:
This project is too difficult!
This project is too overwhelming!
I can’t get motivated!
I can’t do it unless someone helps me!
I don’t know the steps to declutter this area?
I don’t have the energy anymore to declutter my home!
I don’t know where to put it all!
I don’t know what to do with all of this!
It will take forever to get rid of all this stuff!
I don’t have what it takes to do this!
I don’t know where to start!
I don’t have time to do this!
I love my stuff!
I don’t have the skills to sell my stuff online.
My mother never taught me the habits I needed to be neat and organized!
I am a messy person, and I will always be a messy person!
I can clean it all up, but then in 2 days, it will be right back to chaos!
I love to shop, and there is nothing wrong with having way more than I need.
What do I care if I leave this mess for my kids to deal with when I die, I will be dead!
I am sentimental; memories are in a lot of the things I am keeping.
I spent a lot of money on this item, and I would feel guilty getting rid of it.
It is not my job to get rid of my stuff; it is my “kids” job after I die; and they will be able to get a lot of money selling it.
What if you wrote down a small step in the right direction and made a plan to do that step tomorrow? What if you blocked out a time to do it and stuck with it? What if you told yourself over and over while doing it:
I can do this!
I am starting this, and that is a huge thing!
I will start this today and work on it until I get it done!
I can change and be a new me!
I used to be a messy person but not anymore!
GAME ON!
What project have you been putting off? Ask yourself why. Maybe you don’t know the steps to do the task. Perhaps you need some guidance or advice, or help. Maybe that can be your first step. Gather information on what you need to do. Call a friend or ask a family member. Discussing what you are trying to do with someone else can be a big first step. They may have some ideas. Sometimes just talking it out in your out-loud voice will clarify things for you.
Could you write it down? Pray about it? Ask God to help you? What is a small step you can take right now in the right direction?
Maybe it is telling yourself, “I CAN DO THIS!” It may seem small but it is not, it is HUGE!