Goals, Rules, and Action

Last week was my 35th birthday. As with all birthdays I end up doing some soul searching and reflecting on my life. And then I think about the things that I want to accomplish in the next year of my life. Usually the items revolve around some sort of unique experience or are some general goal like "lose weight". Well, I decided that this year I want to simplify my life. What does that mean? Let me explain.

I am a collector. I collect "stuff". Most of it is very useful, some of it not so useful. Why do I collect it? For various reasons. Like I said before, most of it is useful, and I want to have it handy when I need it once in a blue moon. Who wants to go buy or borrow something that you already had? What a waste of time and money. So I keep it, whatever it might be. And it takes up space in my home and in my life.

I am also very sentimental and I have a great memory. I look at things, random things, and it brings back memories or reminders of people that I love, and that have played a special role in my life. I can't bear to let that thing go because it brings me warm feelings, even though it doesn't really serve a useful purpose in my life.

I love garage sales and getting a good deal on something. I love clearance sales. I can think of very few things in my life that I have paid full price for. I don't buy things that I don't have a use for, but I do buy things that fall into that category of being useful only once in a blue moon.

Now my husband, in contrast, hates stuff. If it were up to him, he would throw everything away except his computer and pocket knife and live day to day off the land... and the electrical grid of course. He can't stand anything that is annoying to deal with. In fact, if he pays cash for something and gets back change in coins, he will actually throw the coins in the garbage can so he won't have to deal with them. Luckily our kids have piggy banks that he can feed his change to now, instead of throwing out the money.

I am admitting here and now that I have gathered too much stuff in our house. Not all of our stuff has a home, and it gets moved from one place to the next in an effort to clear out a particular area. This is not a good way to live. And it brings great anxiety into my life. And with that anxiety comes my stressed out eating habits which sabotage my weight loss efforts. And then my self esteem takes a hit. I don't need that.

I have a hypothesis that if I can streamline my life, it will be a much happier place for me and my family. So, this year I am committed to putting this hypothesis to the test.

Here are my goals for my simpler life:

1. I want my home to look the way I have envisioned it in my head.
2. I want to be able to clean my home without it being a major undertaking.
3. I want to feel comfortable inviting people over so we can make some friends.
4. I want to get rid of all the baggage that is holding me back from real weight loss.
5. I want my children to learn to manage stuff better than I did.

So, with those goals in mind, here are some rules that I will live by in this process:

1. All "stuff" must have a permanent home.
2. Stuff can only come into our home if we really and truly love it or need it.
3. All mail will be sorted and dealt with as soon as it comes in the door.
4. I am only allowed to buy one "goal" clothing item for when I lose the next 10 lbs. All other clothing must currently fit me. (with the exception of the maternity clothes I have boxed up in storage)
5. I will let my children be accountable for their own stuff.

And these are my action items for streamlining my life:

1. Monday through Saturday I will do some small project to organize our home.
2. Twice a week I will take on a large project to organize or beautify our home.
3. I will follow my cleaning schedule.
4. Sundays I will write in my kids journals or do some sort of family history project or scrapbooking.
5. I will do some sort of deliberate exercise every day.
6. I will blog about what I have done each day and my current feelings about my progress.