02 Jan Lighten the load

I just donated nine bags of clothing. At least I think it was nine…it might have been more. I didn’t do it to get my tax deduction before the end of the year. I did it to make space in my closet…and my life.

I did it with my friend Stefania because I could never have done it myself. A visitor from Paris, she is a wiz at organization. She had to be.  For many years she lived, worked and saw clients in the best organized, most miniscule Paris apartment you have ever seen.

Most of what I got rid of was too big for me. Many of you know I have lost a considerable amount of weight in the last year or so. Despite that fact that I had not worn most of those things in at least two years, the whole process scared the bejezus out of me. Those clothes were a security blanket. Comfortable things that I was used to. Without them I really had to commit to this new way of being. It reminded me of this quote, which I first heard many many years ago. W.E.B. Du Bois said, “The most important thing to remember is this: To be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become.”

We cannot see possibilities for the future while we are holding onto the past. To grow, we need to change. And to change, we need to make room for the new in our lives.

People make lots of resolutions this time of year. I’m going to do lose weight or I’m going to do more business. But a resolution to do something without a commitment to stop something else, just makes it all harder. To lose weight, maybe you need to stop eating carbs or sugar. Or maybe you need to stop going to bed late so you can get up earlier and get to the gym. To do more business, maybe you need to stop going to unproductive networking meetings. Or pursuing leads that aren’t really your target anyway. (Yes, sometimes any business is not better than no business…but we’ll save that topic for another blog). If we are going to do something new and different, we need to make the space. And to do that, we need to clear something else, something inefficient, unproductive or just plain unsuitable out.

So make clearing your very first New Year’s Resolution. Figure out what’s no longer working and just dump it.

Because you can’t add on without making the room.

What I dumped, plus 3 more bags!