Have you experienced stress and anxiety when working out what to do next? Those negative emotions and thought loops can contribute to doubt and inaction.

What if instead, you chose a more supportive way forward? What if next wasn’t so stressful?

There are lessons to learn about figuring out what’s next from various sources. These can help you progress in a quieter, more curious, and gentler manner. How would it feel if the next step was less contentious?

I will share three sources that have inspired and helped me: a crocus, a quote, and a message. I hope they will be helpful for you, too.

Three Lessons About Next

1. The Purple Crocus

I’m taking one cue about next from nature’s playbook. Spring is my favorite time of year. While I love the entire season, I especially enjoy pre-spring. Seeing tiny signs of color and growth slowly transform the gray winterscape is uplifting.

One of my most joyful sightings is when the purple crocuses with their bright green stems emerge from the dirt to bask in the sunshine. I’ve often written about my delight in spotting the crocuses and the hopeful feelings they evoke.

Lesson for Finding Next: Channel the confidence and energy of the crocus. Envision yourself emerging from indecision and gently take your next step. Allow the hopeful feeling that new growth brings to guide you forward. The crocuses bloom, and so will you.

2. The Quiet Quote

In Oliver Burkeman’s book Four Thousand Weeks, he shared a Carl Jung quote about next that resonated with me. I thought you would appreciate it, too. Jung said,

“. . . quietly do the next most necessary thing.”

I love the emphasis on “quietly.” Do you often go forth loudly, brimming with self-doubt, putting up obstacles, or fighting every step of the way? Instead, what if you approached that next thing in a calmer, lower volume manner?

Lesson for Finding Next: Change the volume of your approach to next. Turn down the sound and minimize the obstacles to help you find next with greater clarity, curiosity, and focus.

“. . . quietly do the next most necessary thing.”

— Carl Jung

3. The Internal Message

The messages you tell yourself can help or hinder progress. I recently wrote about deviating from my routine for wrapping up last year and planning the current year. My departure from previous patterns, wasn’t just a change. It was more like I didn’t do any of those rituals, at least, not in the formal way I had been for many years.

Wrapping up the year and planning for the future involves several steps and requires considerable time. Given all that was going on, it didn’t happen. Here we are and it’s almost spring. I officially decided to stop berating myself for not accomplishing my self-imposed expectation, and instead focus on what makes sense at this juncture.

One of the tasks was figuring out my motto for the new year. It didn’t happen. Instead, I decided that the theme from last year, which served me well, gets to have another year to work its magic. With quiet ease and a gentle prompt, I remind myself, “You got this.”

Lesson for Finding Next: Repeating something that works isn’t cheating. Using the familiar to build from is a kinder, gentler path forward. Next doesn’t have to be complicated or completely different. Let next make sense for this present moment.

Reimagining How Next Happens

There are various ways to reduce stress and anxiety about determining your next steps. Nature's prompts, inspired quotes, and reframed internal messages can help you change how you navigate next.

How would reimagining next make a difference in your life? Which of these ideas resonate with you? What helps you figure out next? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

How Can I Help?

Do you want support organizing, editing, planning, or figuring out your next step? I’d love to help! Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – local feel with a global reach.

Please schedule a Discovery Call, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, or call 914-271-5673. Figuring out next is possible, especially with support.

What are your days like? Is life moving along smoothly? Or are your days filled with overwhelm, ups and downs, and challenges? There are times when finding your next step flows easily. At other points, the next step feels elusive. What if next included embracing “small awe” moments? How would that change the mood for your day and your experience of next?

Have you ever seen or experienced something that evoked such a sense of awe that you could barely find words to describe it? I remember visiting the Grand Canyon decades ago. My husband and I stood on the edge, looking at the magnificent expanse and feeling that deep awe. We were speechless.

Experiencing big awe because of natural wonders, cosmic events, encounters with wildlife, moments of surprise, spiritual experiences, human achievement, art, scientific discoveries, or personal transformation is amazing yet rare.

Small Awe Concept

The idea of small awe is more readily accessible. I was introduced to the concept when I visited the Dinner Gallery in New York City with my daughter, Allison. We saw the Time Is A Fire exhibit by artist Langdon Graves, who gave a talk about her work. Langdon used the phrase “small awe” to describe the intent behind some of her pieces. I’ve been thinking about that idea ever since. She said these tiny moments of awe are always available to us. However, we often don’t stop long enough to recognize them.

a Small Awe Next Step

What if your next step was discovering and enjoying a small awe moment? That might be . . .

• Seeing the first purple crocus of the season emerge from the earth

• Hearing your client declare confidently the progress they are making

• Crossing off the last task on your to-do list for the day

• Feeling the sun warm your body after days of gray, gloomy weather

• Going to the post office to mail your tax packet to your accountant

• Basking in the post-mindfulness meditation calm

• Taking in the coffee aroma and flavor from your favorite mug

• Sensing the warm water cover you as you shower or soak luxuriously in a tub

• Enjoying the open space you have in your closet after decluttering, organizing, and donating some clothes

• Hearing the sound of your loved one’s voice on the other end of the phone

• Climbing into your cozy bed after a long day

• Making progress on that big project, you were procrastinating about

• Having a great conversation with dear friends

“Be on the lookout for a ‘small awe’ moment.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Next can be a grand gesture or something smaller. It can be infused with awe. Are you stuck and unsure about what to do next? Be on the lookout for small awe moments. It might be just what you need to help you joyfully move forward. What moments are available to you? What will be your next step? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you want guidance with your next step, I’m here to help. Please email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or click here to schedule a Discovery Call. Next is doable, especially with support.

It’s not officially spring yet, even though we turned our clocks forward an hour, and spring’s cues began emerging weeks ago. Our beautiful purple crocuses have come and gone. I notice new growth daily- a patch of green here, some yellow blooms there. Seeds planted are beginning to flourish.

I appreciate the present and am simultaneously in awe of what will come next. What a hopeful time of year this is!

While the seeds I mentioned were literal ones yielding plants and blooms, there are other seedlings. You . . .

• Plant new ideas

• Create positive habits

• Change behaviors

• Alter mindset

• Chase goals

• Experiment

• Nurture relationships.

These require patience, compassion, consistency, awareness, trust, and receptivity. When we tend our garden in this way, those seeds will thrive.

Coach and artist Jane Pollak, CPCC, said, “Before you know it, the seeds you plant will leaf.” What a powerful idea! While you’re in the planting or becoming phase, it seems like nothing is happening. It’s hard to see any progress or change. The seeds sit quietly in the dirt. Movement and growth are imperceptible. You wait while occasionally adding water and fertilizer to stimulate growth.

While next might be nothing because you over or underwatered, more often, growth will be visible in time. I see this with my virtual organizing clients. The seeds planted begin with a goal and a desire for something else. Less clutter, more time, more space, or less stress. We use that seed idea and work to get there. I love helping with these internal and external transformations.

• Challenges with letting go bloom into ease of releasing.

• Stress caused by clutter morphs into calm from clearer spaces.

• Being overwhelmed by full schedules develops into relief by creating boundaries.

“Before you know it, the seeds you plant will leaf.”

— Jane Pollak, CPCC

You are now on the other side. You’ve patiently done the work. You’ve tended your garden even when you were unsure. You trusted the process so you could succeed. Your seeds have leafed.

What will be your next step? Do you want to reassess? Do you want to bask in the gorgeous blooms? Are you ready to plant new seeds to nurture? Progress and growth are yours. How will you build from here? What tiny step are you able to take? How can I help? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

When change happens around and within us, it can be challenging to feel settled or figure out the next steps. In the northeast, with winter ending and spring on its way, the weather can vary wildly from 70 degrees and sunny one day to 20 degrees with a snowstorm the next. Do I bundle up in my winter gear or walk outside with just a light jacket? These are easy decisions.

We have mask mandates lifting, people fleeing and fighting for their lives, and babies coming into the world as elders pass on. Inflation is higher than it’s been in decades. Gas prices jumped 40 cents a gallon in one week, and let’s not even talk about the supply chain.

It’s a tumultuous time. You might feel various things, from being paralyzed to being energized. One thing that brings me great hope is working with my virtual organizing clients. They are dedicated to making changes in their lives and working towards their goals. It’s inspiring to be part of their journey and provide ongoing support. 

Sensing that we could all use an infusion of hope, this week, I’m sharing a personal journal entry I wrote recently during a retreat led by my wonderful friend and colleague, Yota Schneider. After she guided us in a group meditation, we did a ‘free write,’ reflecting on what came up during the quiet. 

 Linda’s Journal Entry

Tonight I needed to rest. My body lay down, the room was dark, and the magnificently scented candle burned. Yet my mind was in motion. There were no particular ideas but simply a running pile of words like a treadmill of thoughts. I needed to rest. 

An earlier thought came into focus, planted by the question, “What was the last time you felt joy and were inspired?” The answer came in a moment.

It was this morning. Before breakfast, I looked out of the low ground-level dining room window. In the last few days, I noticed the greenery of the first crocuses emerging from the earth, but no flowers. However, this morning when I looked out, there she stood – a beautiful, happy, healthy purple crocus about to open.

It wasn’t enough to see it through the window. I needed to get close. I went out through the back door, feeling the warm air on my skin. It felt good, like spring air. I crouched down low, getting as close as possible to the crocus to welcome her back.

Joy flooded my being. Memories of the years of ‘crocus sightings’ with our children came rushing back. Every spring, we constantly looked for the appearance of the crocus. Whoever spotted it would announce to the family with exuberance, “Look, look! The first crocus is here!” We’d gather and rush outside to see and admire its beauty.

But it wasn’t just its beauty then, nor was it this morning. The crocus is hope. It’s the comfort in knowing life has a cycle, growth is continual, and a new season has or is about to arrive.

On that early March morning, joy and inspiration were palpable. My lovely purple friend joined us yet again, growing towards the sun. I snapped a photo and sent it to our kids so they too could enjoy this beautiful sign of spring and of hopeful things to come.

“The crocus is hope.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

Finding next can be difficult when there is so much angst in our world near and far. Especially when life’s ups and downs are challenging, it can be helpful to revisit positive forces. Without hope, there is no next. My wish is you discover the small and big moments of joy and inspiration to hold close. Let them be your guide forward as you find next and feel more hopeful.

What brings you hope? How do you find next when life feels challenging? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.