Decluttering is essential for creating space in your life, both physically and emotionally, and it can significantly impact your journey toward personal growth and transformation.
Sara shares her insights on how letting go of what no longer serves you—whether it's physical items, emotional baggage, or limiting beliefs—can help free your mind and energy for new opportunities and experiences.
By becoming self-aware of the clutter in your environment and within yourself, you can identify what holds you back and make conscious choices to release it.
This episode emphasizes the importance of intentional decluttering, encouraging listeners to reflect on their attachments and consider what aligns with their current and future selves.
Join Sara as she guides you through practical steps to declutter your life and embrace the possibilities that lie ahead.
Takeaways:
Links referenced in this episode:
Let's talk decluttering. In today's episode, we're going to be diving into this topic, so get yourself comfy. You're going to love this episode.
If you are feeling stuck or weighed down, or if you're feeling like there's something missing in your life and you don't know what it is, this is the best starting point. And if thinking about introducing anything new and tackling new goals sends you into a massive downward spiral, then.
Then you are going to want to listen to this episode.
We're going to be talking about why decluttering is essential, how to let go of what no longer serves you, and how just having too much stuff, whether it's in your brain, in your physical environment or in your mental load, it can really slow you down. You can find that you're wasting massive amounts of time and it's really draining your energy.
And none of that is going to help you move to a happier, healthier, wealthier life with more love and better relationships. So, goodness me, are you ready? Welcome to Start over and Rise. I'm Sarah Burton, your host, and this is the podcast for you.
If you are ready for fresh starts to reclaim your power and create the life that you truly desire.
Whether you're navigating a major life change, recovering from a setback, or simply just feeling a bit stuck, or that something is missing, this is your space for inspiration, practical tools and empowering conversations. Each week, we'll dive into topics that help you step into the person you're meant to be so that you can rise to your new desired heights.
Because here's the truth. It's never too late to make a change and it's never too early to start over. So let's get started. Hey, gorgeous. How are you?
It's so good to have you back. Well, the end of the year is coming up, isn't it?
d excited for the year ahead.:But like anything, we've got to enjoy the here and the now. And today we're talking about decluttering. This has been monumental for me in recent times.
I've always decluttered, but I've also never fully, really, really decluttered everything.
And with the house move that I had earlier this year, that was such a turning point for me because I'd Had a few moves and each time I'd gained things and I'd shed things as well. But this time it was really different because this move felt very strategic, very strategic.
And so I think I properly stepped, started to step into my next evolution. And I knew that this was big. So I decided to tackle decluttering in a very, very different way.
And so I'm going to take you through all the things like why it's essential and what it does for you. But it's your, the thing to remember about this is it is your journey and it is your version of decluttering.
And all I'll say is there are so many clues about what is holding us back when we start to declutter. And it's not just the physical stuff, because the physical stuff is a starting point. That's the easiest place for all of us to start.
But really become self aware of how you feel about things as you're doing it.
You know, if you find yourself picking up an item and you're really indecisive about whether you want to keep it, what you want to do with it, especially if you are keeping hold of something, you know, you want to let it go, but for some reason you can't, those are the big clues because it's not just about the stuff, it's about how that amplifies into whatever it is that you're trying to do next. So this is one of the reasons why decluttering is really essential for any kind of start over.
So when you're stepping into a new version of yourself, when you are looking to make a big change, or you're coming back from a major setback or a career shift, or simply that you just want to make a change, you just want to make something better, then you need to create the space for that new version of you, of those opportunities, circumstances, to actually thrive. So it's not just about the stuff.
If anything is weighing you down, wasting your time, frustrating you, and keeping you anchored in the past, then it's time to address it. Now the main one that I put in there is wasting your time.
Because that for me leads me to frustration and that leads me to the clues that there's something hankered in my past or I'm out of alignment and that's why I can't move forward. So let's have a look at the three different layers, if you like, of the clutter that we're going to be talking about.
So the first one is your physical clutter. And this seriously can bring you Down.
If you are finding that in your environment at home, or in your car, or in a particular room or your office, that's always a good one.
If you work from home and you're finding that you can't find things, or you put something down and then it's lost, or you go to move something and then a pile of stuff falls over all of these things, it's such negative energy and it wastes so much of your time. And I did a little experiment and I encourage you to do this one. That if you find you are in that space where you're like, where is that?
I thought I put it here, or I can't find it, or if you're wandering around with an item in your hand and it doesn't have a home, these are really, really big red flags that you need to do something about your cluttered environment. So when it happens, be really mindful of how much time you are actually wasting by not being able to find these things and so on. Calculate that time.
Everything holds energy. And just the fact that you're beginning to feel frustrated or a negative emotion is like, right, time to do something about it.
The second area is the emotional clutter. And what I mean by this is these are the things that are unresolved.
Things like guilt or shame or old attachments, things that keep you stuck in the past or stuck in a pattern of behavior that just isn't doing you any good when you're not in alignment with what it is that you want to be achieving. Then the third is the mental clutter.
And this is the things like our limiting beliefs, when we fall into overthinking, when we're feeling massive amounts of self doubts, when we can't move forward with something, we can't think straight, when we've got a foggy brain and so on. Then that also is a big red flag that it's about clearing away stuff.
So when you feel in a bad mood, if you feel low, if the world feels like it's on your shoulders, it's well worth identifying what it is that you need to declutter or decondition. And it's about letting go of the old in order to make room for the new.
And that's one of those things that you've probably heard time and time and time again. But when we actually stop to really think about what that means, it's so flat, simple. It really is. It's very easy to start something new.
But what happens is if you haven't let go of the old, it's just going to keep rearing its head or coming back to haunt you or reappearing and just getting in the way, you know, in your clutter, in your house, it just keeps coming back. And that, what that does is it dilutes what you're trying to do that's new, where you're trying to move on.
So it's really, really important that we let go of the things that no longer serve you. That's such an overused phrase these days. But letting go of something that no longer serves you or something that pisses you off, right?
It pisses you off and you want to let go of it, you want to move on from it. It requires courage, it requires honesty and it requires a willingness to release old things. Old habits are a bit like old, familiar, comfy slippers.
You might not necessarily like the look of them, but man, they feel good, right? And so you keep. You keep going back to them, but there's nothing better, is there?
That when you get rid of those old slippers and you get some beautiful new, comfortable slippers, then that do look good, then that is so much better. But it's a very real thing when you don't want to leave your old slippers because you're worried that you won't find any others that are as good.
Same for everything else. So let's just go back to putting this into context with our physical environments.
The simplest way to put this, and you might not like this and you might have a little bit of resistance around it, I certainly did. But it is the number one thing that makes me sort my life out. I realise that this is happening, your environment.
And whether that is your home, your bedroom, your office, your car, whatever it is, if it's in a mess, it's a reflection that your mind is in a mess too. So your environment is a reflection of what's going on in your head.
Now let that just sink in for a little bit, because what you might find is some of your life, some of your environments are perfect, some of them are pleasurable places to be, you know, somewhere where you really like to. Maybe you'll feel energized by it or maybe you feel calmed by it, but it's those areas that don't make you feel like that that need your attention.
Now, that might seem obvious, but it can be.
Even that room that you've got in the house where you quickly chuck stuff in and you close the door, it doesn't matter if you can't see it, if you know it's There, it's going to affect you. Now, here's a little element for me that I call the dirty little secrets that you might be harbouring.
And I've got so aware of this now and how it actually affects me that it's almost like a seeing in the Matrix for me. But I have found that I can't record a video or a podcast, or I can't focus on things if something's not right.
Now, the reason I say that is because a lot of what I do is personal development. It's coaching, it's helping people become the very best versions of themselves. And I like to lead by example. So I'm not perfect, nobody's perfect.
But if I'm trying to talk about decluttering, for example, and I don't feel that I'm actually living what I'm doing, then I just can't do it. And I call it my dirty little secrets. And it's finding those things because that translates into the physical stuff.
So it's that stuff where you think, oh, my gosh, if someone came in and opened that cupboard and everything fell out, it would feel. How would you feel? Right?
I had things where I think, oh, I'd feel so guilty, or I'd feel that they think I was really lazy, or I'm just messy, or I'm so disorganized. All of these things, all of these stories that I would be telling myself simply because I had a cupboard, that was a bit of a nightmare.
Now, what happens here is it's just a negative energy that is going round and round and round.
The other thing with your environment and physical things, that was a big changer for me that I want to put out there is that when you're making a change and you run, it's like being on a journey, right? And when we go on a journey, we tend to pack.
So if you're going on holiday, you open up your suitcase and you only put in the things that you want to take with you on that particular journey. It's the same for personal transformation, it's the same for personal development and change and trying to evolve into something else.
So, for example, one of the things that I did when I was losing weight was I was getting rid of the clothes that were now too big for me. Why? Because I didn't want to go back to them.
And I found that if I left them in my wardrobe, if I kept those items, what I was subliminally telling myself is when I put weight back on again, then I'll Be able to wear it, then what? What kind of thinking is that?
If you're on a journey where you want to become fitter, healthier, and that involves losing some weight, then why would you sabotage yourself by keeping the clothes that are now too big for you? Because you've started on that journey. This is transformational stuff, let me tell you.
So when you start to look around you, you can start to look at the item you have in your. In your home or in your car or any of your physical environments, and you can actually ask yourself, does this item add value to my life right now?
Does it align with the person that I'm becoming? Does it reflect the standards that I want for myself now and what I feel I deserve more of?
Or are you just holding onto it because there's something unresolved, or it's for nostalgia, or you're just scared to let it go? So it's about being sensible with your stuff.
You know, if you are constantly falling over things and you can't find anything, it's just slowing you down. Searching for misplaced items or navigating through a chaotic space wastes time and energy.
And it's time and energy that you could be spending doing more positive things, thinking about new strategies, thinking about your future, maybe pursuing some opportunities, or just having more time for yourself.
It always makes me laugh when people talk about, hey, the best way to, you know, manage your time better is to stop watching Netflix and use that time to work on your business, or that time to research something or, you know, do whatever it is. But the thing is, most of the time for me, Netflix is one of those things that does. I don't do all the time, but when I do, I love it.
I love the whole, oh, I'm going to sit down and watch this movie. It sometimes calms my mind. It takes, you know, me out of something. But the worst way of wasting time is not watching Netflix. Not in my mind.
It is that looking for things or moving things from one place to another, where you make one area tidier and just recreate, you know, just create another mess somewhere else in your house or shove it up in the attic, and it's just a job that needs to be done at a later date. It's still there. The energy is still there. When we're frustrated, it becomes stressful.
If you can't find something, that frustration is again, it's draining your energy and your focus, and you're losing momentum, maybe for something that you were actually really stepping forward with. And here's the Worst one, it causes distraction. If you've got too much stuff, every piece of clutter is a tiny demand on your attention.
And the more you have, the harder it is for you to concentrate on whatever it is that you are trying to do, whatever it is that actually matters that you should be spending your time on. So clearing out clutter removes these barriers and it creates an environment that supports you. You know, there's nothing better, is there?
When you walk into a room and there isn't loads of clutter everywhere, you get clarity, you have a sense of calm, you can get on with the things that you want to be doing. There's no extra mental load of I've got to clear this up or oh my goodness, what am I going to do with that?
You want to be using your time and your thoughts far more positively. So isn't it better to get that sorted and think about the amount of time that you would actually gain?
Way, way better than, you know, skipping a few things on Netflix. Other points of view, of course, are available.
I'm not suggesting, by the way, that you get rid of everything because if you have got items and they, as Marie Kondo says, they do bring you joy, you do love to look at them, they do make you smile, then brilliant. Because that's all positive energy, that's all positive vibes around you and things that make you happy.
So do things with those, but don't let that be excuse. Don't tell yourself that everything that you've got brings you joy, because it doesn't and you know it's a lie. So be mindful of that.
But the point of this is think about that physical stuff. Do you really need it? Is it something that you would pack for your journey, that you're moving forward in?
We'll come back to some of this again in a moment, but I just want to move on to the emotional clutter. Let's just have a few thoughts around this now. Emotional clutter is, is a lot harder to see, but it's just as impactful.
And yet again, it's all down to becoming conscious of what you're actually feeling. So when something is causing you discomfort, is causing you irritation in some way, look for the clues, triggers when you're triggered by something.
If you suddenly feel a negative emotion in quite a big way, stop. Think to yourself, what am I holding onto here? Is this guilt? Is it resentment? Is it regret? Is it what is it that is keeping you stuck?
Because it's one thing to identify it, but then you need to go A level deeper and actually go to the root of that negativity, what is causing it. And it'll be something. It will be something that you identify that maybe is, I'm not good enough or I feel, I don't matter. I feel I'm invisible.
All those kind of feelings. And if they keep coming up, then it is time to really face where that comes from and heal it. And it's.
Sometimes it is painful, sometimes it is really upsetting. But I promise you, I've done this so many times now that I'm almost.
The fear is coming out massively for me because it's like, oh, God, this is going to be another thing that's going to be really upsetting that I've got to deal with. But you know what? I'd rather deal with it because I know it helps me move on. So look for those triggers, those things that suddenly erupt in.
You don't necessarily have to be big bursts of anger or things like that, but just something that you feel physically inside, something that is a big emotion that is trying to get out. Are there relationships or dynamics in your life that drain your energy? You know, we want to be surrounded by people. We want to be in environments.
We want to be in places where we're nourished and we are growing and we're having a nice time. So if there are things that make you feel, oh, God, I don't want to go and do that, or I don't want to see that person question, why? What is it?
What needs to be addressed? What emotions do you need to release to be able to step into your future self? It can be just as simple as that.
So sometimes letting go emotionally means forgiving yourself. It's not just about letting others go. It's. It's about forgiving yourself or forgiving another person.
And it doesn't necessarily mean that you're saying, oh, it's okay that that happened. Forgiveness is immensely liberating because it allows you to forgive the situation. Most people do things for a particular reason.
It might not be the right reason, but there will be a reason. And it may be that you've made choices in the past that now you can look back with hindsight, you feel cringy over, but there's nothing you can do.
It has already happened. You can make amends with the other person, but most of the time you don't even need to do that with them.
You just need to do it with yourself and forgive yourself.
And if you are someone like me, I mean, gosh, I've been so bad at this in the past and I still do it now, but I'm much, much better at pulling myself out of it because it doesn't do me any good. And that is to pull yourself out of beating yourself up. There is. It is such a pointless exercise.
It is better to get real about what has happened, accept what has happened, become pe peaceful with what has happened. And that involves forgiveness and compassion and all of those things. And then you will find that you will start to declutter emotionally.
It's also an excellent way for you to start to look at new boundaries or choosing to move on from a situation that just no longer aligns with your values. You know, you. You're evolving all the time, and we're evolving.
You know, you pick up stuff that you've had for like, two decade and you suddenly realize you really don't need that in your life. You really don't need it.
And then there'll be other things that you think, I'm never letting that go for the rest of my life because it reminds you of something wonderful. And it's assessing. It's assessing you and your emotions and which ones are doing you good and which ones aren't.
And the ones that you are doing you good and you want more of, you want to amplify that. And the emotions, the. That aren't doing you any good by harbouring them and keeping them, let them go.
Let them go and let it create more space for the good stuff that you want. All right, so mentally, mental clutter. So these tend to be the things that shape your reality. So what mental clutter are you holding on to?
Are the limiting beliefs telling you that you know this is not for you, or you can't do it, or you're not good enough, that success isn't for somebody like you, or that you're not deserving of it? Are you replaying stories from the past that actually have no relevance now to you whatsoever?
What has happened to you in the past doesn't have to define you.
You can take back that control and say, okay, this happened, but I don't want to be carrying that label around, or I don't want to be carrying that around with me as something that defines me for the rest of my life or for this next stage in my life. So decluttering mentally means you've got to challenge those thoughts.
You've got to become aware of the ones that aren't actual truths, and you've got to replace them with beliefs that empower you. To move forward with beliefs that actually help you. There's so many times when I've thought to myself, what is it that I believe here?
What am I telling myself? And then when you say out loud or you write it down, you can sometimes think to yourself, well, I could just not think like that anymore.
I could just not do that anymore. So to mentally declutter this stuff is just amazing. It is honestly start to become aware of the things that you need to declutter.
Now we've got an idea of what we're talking about. And before I go any further, I was going to tell you one of the things that I was decluttering earlier today.
And it's funny because I have got an addiction now that if I find. I can't find something, it really, really annoys me.
And because I think I don't want to be this person, I want my life to set up, to make my life as simple, as pleasurable, as fun as possible. And in order to do that, you have to keep letting the details pop up and grab you and say, hey, I need sorting out. And one of them is my computer.
It has been my Mac. I love it. I've had it years. I record this podcast on it. I do all sorts of things with my Mac and. But it started to slow down.
And no wonder, because I have got so much clutter on this machine in my icloud. I mean, many ways. Gosh, the icloud and online storage, it's terrible for us, right?
You can look at things and go, I've got terabytes of stuff that I don't actually need to have. And if you're paying for storage as well, there are so many other things you could be spending your money on if you're just decluttered.
All of these things, you know, I don't know about you, but, like, my phone, for example, has got so many photos on. Well, because I'm all Mac everything. And it goes in the cloud, then it's also on everything else.
And I've got pictures of like, you know, something else or in the supermarket that I'm sort of checking. You know, say my son wants something and I might take a picture of it and go, is this what you're looking for? Is this what you mean?
And then it's just on my phone, I don't delete it. So, you know, you've got all these photographs, all these files, all these things that you just don't need.
And it is so wonderful when you start to clear it all up. Remember that feeling. Whatever it is that you take from today and you start to declutter, I really want you to. If you find something random.
I've gone off on a tangent here, but I'll come back to the point in a minute. If you find something random that really bugs you and you take. You pick it up and you go, right, that is now going.
And I've done this where I've literally got into the car with that one item and I've driven it to the charity shop and I've taken it in and donated it, and then I've walked away and I've come home. And in many ways you could say, what a waste of time. Why didn't you wait until you had a whole bag of stuff?
Because sometimes you don't have the time to do that. But I'm able to alleviate that annoyance or that. Or get rid of that energy that is in my world that I don't need. That's not doing me any good.
So it's by far better for me to go right and take 20 minutes to literally go and get rid of it and come back and to be able to move on.
And that's what I mean about really tap into how it feels when you declutter something, because it spurs you on to go on and on and do it in all areas of your life, all areas of your life. That your own environment is also your body.
You know, I said think about it in terms of your car and your office and all that sort of thing, but your body is also your environment. What do you need to declutter there? What are you holding on to?
And that might be stories about why you look the way you look, or why you wear the kind of clothes that you wear. It's so exciting when you start to dive into it all. Okay, I did digress there a little bit, but I think you get the point.
I'm really passionate about this because when I work with my clients and, you know, I sometimes get their eye roll when it comes to decluttering. But the minute they start to look at it in terms of. Actually, my environments hold the things that I need for my life now and where I'm going.
So as I said, those sentimental things, put them in a beautiful box and have them on the side so that whenever you want to, you can go and look and enjoy them, rather than them a tenth of all this box of stuff, boxes of stuff that you've got up in the loft. So when you want to look for something that you really love, that it might only be once a year.
Or when a family member comes over and you want to show them a particular photograph and you can't find it, you say, oh, it's somewhere up in the loft. But if you've gone through that process and got rid of the other 90% that you didn't need, you can enjoy that stuff all the more.
All right, so here are a few pointers. There's going to be lots of questions in here, you know, prompts for you to ask yourself.
But these are the main things that I've certainly found have held me back in terms of not decluttering. Okay, so the first one, and this goes across all, all areas of clutter. You've invested money, time or energy in it.
So maybe you spent a lot of money on a particular item. And now let me just say kitchen things, right? This is a classic example. I held onto a yogurt maker. I was never, ever using the damn thing.
It took up so much room in my cupboard. But I had invested money in it and now I didn't want it and I never used it. So I actually harbored the emotion around.
It was a bit like, you're such a waste of money. That was such a waste of money. That was such a fad thing that you did. You know, it goes into that negative talk every time I saw it in the cupboard.
My goodness.
There were so many things that were in my kitchen that were expensive items to buy, but I didn't want to let them go because they'd cost me money, and yet I wasn't using them. The minute I thought to myself, I don't need to be like this, and I put some of it on ebay.
I've given some of it to charity shops and so on, or friends, and it's so much better. It's so nice to be able to open cupboards that aren't rammed full of stuff that you are just not using.
So ask yourself, am I holding on to this because it cost me or because it still has value in my life? If it has value in your life, if you use it, then keep it. If you don't, let it go.
And sometimes we can find that you, when you get real about it, you think, oh, yeah, I've only had that a year or two. And you go, actually, no, I've had it six years and I haven't used it.
The chances of something happening where you suddenly need to use it are pretty low, so you need to get real about it. Also, the other question is, would you Buy that item now. Adopt this belief.
If you're looking at it and you think, no, I might use that one day, well, do you have a need for one right now? Do you have it on your list of like, gosh, I must get myself one of these because I need it?
Chances are it's no, it's time to release it and make space for something that aligns with who you are now. And that might just be extra space. Wow, think about that for a little second. So the second one is it feels safe and it feels familiar.
So sometimes we hold on to things and that can be physical items, thoughts, behaviors, because they make us feel safe, they're part of the identity that we have, or here's the thing that you have had, or they're part of an environment that you've known for years, even if it doesn't fit with where you're heading next.
So this is especially true for the emotional side and the mental side of things, you know, because it might be habits or behaviours that you're still doing. Let's name some of those that we would all love to be getting rid of completely. Procrastination, People pleasing.
It's those things that make us feel comfortable because that's what we've always done. And like anything, when you make a change like that, it feels weird to start with, but then it becomes your new comfortable.
So what are those things that you do because it's safe? And there might be things that you tell yourself and you go, it's not the time now for me to make that change.
I'll just do what they say or I'll just. I'll just run that errand for them or whatever it is like that, because that's what you've already always done.
That's the relationship that you have with someone else. Does it actually serve you now? Does it actually. It is actually something that you want to keep hold of, to ask yourself if.
If it's an item or a thought or a behavior. Does this make me feel safe? Am I doing it out of habit?
Or what would your life look like if you chose to let that go and trust yourself to move forward. Letting go requires stepping into the unknown. It really does. And as dramatic as that might sound, it's true.
And just be aware of what is happening to you when you are questioning these, what emotions are coming up for you. But it's stepping into the unknown and it's in that unknown where your growth and transformation will happen.
And that's why you need to create the Space. That's why you need to stop doing the things that aren't doing you any good. Declutter them. Think of it like that.
This is not a behavior, this is not a habit that I will be taking forward with me because my life isn't going that way anymore. I hope that makes sense. I'm sure it does. Which brings me nicely onto the third one, which is there's an emotional attachment.
Now, some things feel hard to let go of because they're tied to emotions or memories, and often that is of loved ones or a habit feels like part of your identity.
So maybe you do something because it reminds you of a person, or maybe you go to a place because it reminds you of a particular situation or a circumstance that something, something once happened. But it's okay to honor these feelings.
But it's also important to recognize that when the attachment is holding you back, rather than lifting you up or pushing you forward or gently supporting you forward, then it is time to let it go.
If you've been listening to the podcast, you know, I lost my mum last year, and my sister and I had to clear her belonging, you know, her flat and so on. And there was a particular cupboard, and it had been in mine and my sister's life for, well, for as long as we could remember.
It was first my grandmother's. It had been in both of our houses at some point, and it managed to get back to mum's place and so on.
And we were so attached to this, but it wasn't something that we wanted. Neither of us could put it in where we were living.
And it just sort of came to the end of the road and we realized that at the end of the day, it's just a piece of furniture. It wasn't something that was going to stop us from having great memories or you know, of, or at times attached to that particular piece of furniture.
It wasn't that every time that we looked at it, it triggered a whole bunch of emotions. It was. It just was a piece of furniture, something that we had just got so used to seeing in our lives.
And it didn't mean that we didn't love our mum or our gran. It just meant that it was time for it to go and bring joy to someone else.
You know, someone else who would love it, would have space for it and so on. So sometimes we have to do that. A lot of the time it's just stuff. It's just stuff.
And if it's holding you back and you don't need it to, then you don't have to do that to yourself. So ask yourself, am I keeping this because it genuinely brings me joy or because I feel guilty? Or do I feel nostalgic? Yeah.
And if those things are positive, but you don't want to hold on to it, find a way to cement those memories, to keep those feelings, those positive feelings going. But let it disattach it, declutter it from the actual item.
So you can ask yourself, can I honor the memory or meaning behind this without keeping the physical or emotional weight of it? Do I actually really need it?
Sometimes it's not about letting go completely, but reframing what it means to you, reframing the relationship it has with your past. Again, the clues are in the struggle. The clues are in the bit that you're wrangling with.
One of the most revealing parts of letting go of anything is the internal tug of war that happens when your head says, I've got to let this go, but something else inside of you says, no, keep it or don't stop doing that. That struggle is a clue. It's a sign to dig deeper and to understand why you're resisting letting that go.
And often it's because that thing, that thought, that behavior is connected to a fear of change or loss. Sometimes you think, okay, if I let go of that, I might never get that again. I may never have an item like that or an opportunity like that again.
But it could be. It's connected to an old story about your worthiness or your identity. It could be connected to a belief that you're just not ready to move forward.
And you know what? Sometimes that is? No, I'm keeping hold of it because I'm not ready to move forward. But you know that you might be ready at some point.
And my advice is keep it. If it's not a hell yes, it's a no. But just question, question what it's actually doing for you.
And unless it's doing something positive for you, then, you know, put it somewhere where it can just be and you can come back to it at a later date. Ask yourself, what am I afraid of losing if I let this go? Because that's a massive, massive clue.
And is this resistance coming from a place of fear or a place of alignment? Is it something that actually once was really, really important to me and really matters? But actually so much has changed now.
It's just you being out of alignment now, and that's why it's causing you frustration or irritation. And the other thing to ask yourself is, if I let this go, what could I gain instead?
And when you name the fear or the attachment, it just loses its power.
And when you realize that you're holding you, that you're holding on is more about protecting the past than creating the future, then it makes these decisions so much easier. It isn't about raising the past. It's about honoring the past. It's about making a conscious choice to step into your next chapter.
And I always say that we only look back for two reasons. We look back to look back on the fond memories of things and the great learnings that we've had. And that's it. The rest of it, we can move forward.
We can move forward from. And that trust, when you have trust in yourself, you don't need to carry these security things, you know, these safety nets with you.
You don't need to carry all of that with you in order to move forward. You can trust that you will be able to make the right decisions, see the right opportunities in order to move forward.
Really, really super empowering.
So ask yourself those hard questions next time you feel resistant about letting something go, because the answers will guide you to what truly matters now. And it will give you the courage to release what doesn't matter anymore. And that what is just clutter.
Just clutter and remembering that when you release stuff, it leaves space for something new.
So if you are in that space where you have that feeling of, I don't know what it is, but something is missing if you start to declutter, if you follow that process, you are freeing yourself up to allow what is missing to appear. New opportunities, new people. You will just gain that clarity because you made space for it to enter itself effortlessly.
All right, so let's get practical. Decluttering. I think you've got the message here. It's the most effective thing that you can do when you approach it holistically.
And here are some of the layers to focus on with the physical decluttering. Start with your space. Okay. Does everything in your home or your office align with the life that you're creating now?
Is it in align with the standards that you want, with the values that you have, with the direction that you're going in. And if it isn't, it's time to say goodbye when it comes to the mental decluttering. Write down your thoughts.
Get conscious about the beliefs that you are living your life by. They can weigh you down if they are the wrong ones, if they are outdated.
You know, we update our phones all the time with the latest operating system. It's the same thing.
Your beliefs, your thoughts, they're all connected, or they should be all connected to what you're doing now and where you're going next. So challenge those thoughts and replace them with affirmations, with thoughts with beliefs that are much more in alignment.
In fact, not much more that are in alignment with your goals. And the emotional decluttering, this is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
Reflect on unresolved emotions or lingering attachments and give yourself permission to process them, to understand them, to accept them, and then to release them. Decluttering isn't about removing stuff. It's more than that. It's about replacing things.
It's about giving yourself space so that you can have that clarity over the things that you need to be focusing on next. Like this. And I hadn't. I always thought it was about getting rid of stuff, putting it into lovely plastic boxes and organizing it. And on we move.
This is a new approach to decluttering. So I want you to declutter with intention. I want you to make your decluttering process intentional and meaningful and really feel what comes up.
Feel the joy. Feel when it has created that space, when it has, has lifted a weight off your shoulders. Really enjoy it.
So a good place to start with is just start small.
Pick one item and it might be that you're flicking through your wardrobe and you're going through all these clothes that you never, ever, ever wear and you suddenly have a moment of, they could go today. List them on vintage, which is loads of fun, by the way. I don't know if you're doing it, but I love it.
You know, if you've got some lovely items, why not make yourself a little bit of extra money? You can put it towards something, I don't know, like I've got a friend who, she only has spa days out of her.
She says, the stuff that I sell, I have spa days. It feels like fun. It's a nice old fashioned exchange. But if there's something that is peeing you off, pick it up, get rid of it.
You will love yourself for it. What I found for me that helped was if I did something there and then, it invariably led to bigger projects, to more intentional decluttering.
Because you get taste for it. You get a taste for how good it is.
Second thing that is really good is ask the future you when you're deciding what to keep or what to release emotionally or physically, would the person that I am now or I am becoming, would they hold on to this? It is so simple, it can be so liberating. And celebrate your progress. Every item, every thought, every emotion that you release is a massive victory.
Celebrate the space and the energy that you're creating for yourself and free yourself up a little bit. Decluttering isn't about perfection. It's not about living in a show home. And it's about what works for you. Okay. What works for you.
But if you are surrounded by a lot of clutter, just try it. You might find you're going to have a lot of tears over this as well, because it does.
When you're releasing emotions, when you're letting things go, when you are letting go of things that maybe you've had a very long time, you know, grieve it. It's not about perfection. It's about progress and it's about moving in the right direction. Let's have a little recap.
Decluttering is about so much more than just tidying up. It's about letting go of the past. It's about stepping into your new identity and your standards and your values and your direction.
And it's creating space for the extraordinary life that you want next. It's about your next project, having the space and creativity to be able to thrive.
And every time you release something that no longer serves you, that isn't doing you any good, you are making room for clarity and energy and alignment. You're opening the door to the person you're meant to be. How amazing is that? And the future that you want is way more likely to happen as a result.
So that's all I have for you today. Thank you for joining me on this episode.
If this resonated with you, I'd love to hear about your decluttering journey or even a single item that made a difference to you. So whether it's a physical space you're clearing or an emotion you're releasing, or a belief you are rewriting, re empowering yourself.
Share your progress with me. I would, you know, tag me on Instagram, whatever, just let me know because I love this stuff.
It can be the smallest things that make the biggest changes when it comes to transformation. So, big episode today. I hope you've enjoyed it. I definitely went off on a few tangents, so if you're still with me now, thank you so much.
And until next time, don't forget, it's never too late to make a change. It's never too early to start over. And I'm excited for your decluttering journey. I hope you start today. You take care. I'll see you soon. Bye.
If you love this episode and want more of that, don't forget to subscribe and follow the podcast. If you really loved it and you want to show show your gratitude, then please do leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
It really helps grow the show and put this content out to more people who would love this free resource.
And if you're ready to go deeper and accelerate your personal development, your start over and rise in whatever it may be, then go check out saraburton.co.uk there you'll find resources and courses and ways that you can work with me should you be ready to do so. And finally, remember, in order to start over and rise to win, you must first start over and rise.