When we work with people around lifestyle changes, one of the main areas to focus on is the potential hurdles that get in the way and prevent our success. These come in many shapes and sizes and very often people mention things like lack of willpower, too little time, no support, insufficient knowledge, competing priorities etc. One that is rarely recognised and identified yet often becomes evident in our coaching sessions, is the sheer amount of “clutter” that exists in our lives! Now this may be physical clutter – ie can’t find my running shoes, clothes or hand weights in all the mass of belongings in the house, or it may be mental clutter where our minds become too full of things to remember to really make a plan that we can stick to.
I was interested to read that there is now a professional organisation who governs a new industry of professional organisers and was struck by how closely related our work would be. In today’s overwhelmingly complex life full of materialism and choices, people become frozen by indecision or lack of clarity around what they want, why they want it and how the heck to get started. And most of this is simply because their lives are full of excessive “stuff”. Hanging on to useless possessions can indicate that someone is not coping and can really bring a person down. Many times we have worked with people who want to lose weight and helped them create a plan to get their past five years tax returns lodged – before they begin to sort out the pantry!
So when you think about your unachieved goals, ask yourself? Is there any area of my life that is creating a potential block in letting me move forward? It may not be the obvious, time worn obstacles to change.
Whether you use a Wellnesss Coach, a professional organiser, or both, change takes time and energy and an impartial third party can be just the ticket!