Believing You Can Get Organized
by: Hellen
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Word Count: 690
A majority of my clients feel overwhelmed by the amount of clutter and chaos that faces them every day in their homes and offices. They tell me that they hired me because they want more calm and control in their lives. Some clients ask me "is this the worst you've ever seen?" They often have difficulty believing they can ever get organized, because many of them have lived in a disorganized state for years.
Yet, my clients are bright, creative and successful people. Many of them have responsible jobs, or manage their own businesses from home. But when it comes to being organized, they have no faith that they can do it.
How can we achieve anything at all if we can't imagine that we can do it? Believing in yourself is vital to success, no matter what the endeavor. There is no magic to being organized. It's a matter of believing you can do it, and then taking the right actions.
But, you ask, "how do I get to a state of belief that I can get organized? How can I continue to believe, when the going is slow, and I have some setbacks?"
Here are some suggestions:
Remember a time when you were successful.
Write down everything that you did to lead you to the success. Remind yourself that it was probably a process, that took some time and practice. Perhaps you learned to play an instrument. Perhaps you remember a successful relationship. Perhaps you can recall good parenting experiences. Perhaps you threw a great party. Whatever it is, you did it, and somehow you learned the steps for doing it. And if you were successful at something, you can learn to be successful at organizing.
Don't compare yourself to others.
A guarantee of discouragement is to imagine that everyone in the world except you is organized. It just isn't true! Some of us are born "knowing" how to be organized. Others (including me) are not organized by nature. The truth is, everyone needs to continually organize her life because life is complex and is continually changing. We all have different skills, talents, and weaknesses. But that doesn't mean we can't learn, even if we learn slowly, making mistakes along the way.
Find a role model.
Think of the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, almost any inventor or creator or writer. Almost everyone who is successful has paved the way with some failures. Yet they keep going. And so can you.
One of my role models is a baby learning to crawl or walk. She just keeps on trying until she learns. Each success leads to more successes. It never occurs to her not to believe she can learn to walk.
Be an immigrant into the new world of organization.
Even if you don't have faith that you can do it, make the commitment and continue on as if you had complete certainty. The belief in yourself will grow with each small success. When immigrants come to a new country they are afraid and uncertain. But something keeps them going. It's blind faith in themselves. Imagine you're venturing into a new world (of being organized) and that once there, your life will be better, even if it means hard work.
Organize in small steps.
If your expectations are unrealistic, you will easily become discouraged and think "this is too hard." Start with a small area in one room perhaps the top of a bureau or one bookshelf, or perhaps just organizing your purse. You'll see the results and will begin to believe you can do more!
Acknowledge each small success along the way.
After an organizing session with a client I ask the client to step back and admire the newly-organized space, whether it's a whole room or a desktop. Take time to congratulate yourself on your success and make a commitment to maintaining the order in that space. Beware of focusing of all that is not yet done. Enjoy your recent success, attend only to the next small step, keep believing that you can do the next small step, and soon you'll look back on big accomplishments!
Author: Patsy Murray and SimpleLife Organizers
www.TheWritersOnline.com
(Read or Write Your Way to Big Success)
About the Author
Patsy Murray is a Professional Organizer and organizing coach working with clients in Watertown, Massachusetts and the greater Boston area. She organizes homes and home offices of people who feel overwhelmed by too many commitments and too much clutter. She helps them manage their time and simplify their lives so they can work more efficiently with more time to enjoy life. Patsy is the author of the booklet "Moving To A Smaller Home: 50 Tips For Living Clutter-Free in Less Space" and the Simple Life Weekly Planning System. For free organizing tips, visit Patsys website, http://www.simplelifeorganizers.com.
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