Happy 2021! We made it. Did you feel a giant sigh of relief as you said good-bye to 2020 and welcomed the New Year? Was your holiday season different because of the pandemic? It was much quieter for us. We had virtual instead of in-person gatherings and visits with our family and friends. While virtual wasn’t the same as being shoulder-to-shoulder, it felt special and comforting to find other ways to be together. During many of our conversations, we reflected on the past year and shared our hopes for the future.

January is an excellent month to reflect and reset. We get that added motivation boost from the “fresh start effect,” which is even more potent at the beginning of a New Year. One technique that can enhance your fresh start is the Three Things Reflections, which I started using last year. With a small time investment of 20-30 minutes, this series of questions will guide you to think about the past year as you set intentions for the new one. It’s hard to have clarity in the present unless we make time to honor and let go of the past. 

Three Things Reflections

The Three Things Reflections includes six pairs of questions. Each group has a prompt about the past year and a coordinating one for the current year. You can answer all sets, only those that resonate with you or add other thought-provoking questions. The exercise can be a private or shared experience. After completing the Reflections last year, I added two bonus questions. They helped me to assimilate the past and consider the future in a fuller, more vibrant way.

1a. What were three things you learned this past year?

1b. What are three things you want to learn in 2021?

2a. What are three memorable moments from this past year?

2b. What three things are you looking forward to in 2021?

3a. What were three challenges you experienced this past year?

3b. What are three strengths you used with those challenges that you will bring to 2021?

4a. What are three places you enjoyed being last year?

4b. What are three places you’re looking forward to going to in 2021?

5a. What three words describe this past year?

5b. What three words do you hope will describe 2021?

6a. What are three things you said “yes” to this past year?

6b. What are three things you hope to have the opportunity to say “yes” to in 2021?

Bonus Questions

7a. Is there anything about the past year that is not reflected in these questions that you want to remember?

7b. Is there anything about the current year that is not reflected in these questions that you want to add?

“It’s hard to have clarity in the present unless we make time to honor and let go of the past.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO

Like most 2020 experiences, New Year’s Eve was atypical. Last year, we had a small group of friends over for a hands-on, make your own taco New Year’s Eve party. This year we invited our friends to a virtual New Year’s Eve cocktail party. I delivered party bags to them in advance of the event. In addition to items like blowers, napkins, and treats, I included the Three Things Reflection. Several of our friends enjoyed answering the questions by themselves or with their partners. On New Year’s Day, my husband and I wrote down our responses and shared one pair at a time. As tough a year as 2020 was, we identified many positive things we were grateful for and wonderful things to anticipate in 2021. 

We each have unique ways of setting goals and intentions. I hope you’ll find the Three Things Reflections a valuable way to enhance your fresh start. Do you have another approach that you use? What are you looking forward to this year? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation!

As we approach the end of January and the first month of the New Year, it’s a great time to pause, check-in on your fresh start and notice where you are. Some of us are entrenched in working on new goals and habits. You might be in the process of getting organized by editing and letting go of your excess stuff. You might be learning how to find homes for your things and practicing the retrieval/return process that is integral to maintaining that system. You might be arriving for appointments on time or preparing your meals for the week. Or, even though it’s the New Year, you might feel stuck and not sure what changes to make or goals to set. All of these are typical experiences, especially at this time of year. 

Recently I discovered this insight from one of my favorite authors and creative thinkers, Todd Henry. He says, “Your life and success will not be defined by the nouns you choose. It will be defined by the verbs.”

“Your life and success will not be defined by the nouns you choose. It will be defined by the verbs.”

— Todd Henry

He elaborates and encourages us to, “Set noun-based goals in 2020. But choose verb-based daily activities to support them.”

“Set noun-based goals in 2020. But choose verb-based daily activities to support them.”

— Todd Henry

Todd Henry’s advice is a simple, yet dynamic way to attain our goals. While taking time to think about what we want to accomplish or change is essential, nothing will happen until our daily actions align with our desired goals. For example, one of my goals this year is to focus on my health and well-being. That goal gets turned into ongoing verb-based activities such as:

• Practice yoga

• Practice mindfulness meditation

• Buy nutritious food

• Eat more vegetables

• Take walks in nature

• Spend time with family and friends

• Sleep 7-8 hours a night

• Write in journal

It can be challenging to stay motivated when the goal is as broad as mine:  focus on my health and well-being. Doing specific daily activities to support the big idea, like practice mindfulness meditation, creates a positive environment for change. Small, continual actions are the secret sauce. The doing creates the being. 

What goals have your attention? Which actions or verb-based words are leading your fresh start? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to leave a comment and join the conversation!

The latest installment (v26) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature is here with my recent discoveries that inform, educate, and relate to organizing and life balance. I’ve included unique and inspiring fresh start-related finds, which reflect this month’s blog theme. You are such an incredibly engaged group. I am grateful for your presence, positive energy, and contributions to this community.

I look forward to your participation and additions to the collection I’ve sourced. What do you find interesting?

What’s Interesting? . . .

1. Interesting Read – Fresh Start Goals

Hot off the press is the insightfully written organizing book, Organizing and Big Scary Goals – Working With Discomfort and Doubt to Create Real Life Order by my colleague, Sara Skillen. I am a big fan of Sara’s blog and enjoyed reading her “how-might-you?” book, where she uses her organizer and coach lens throughout. While she includes a few how-tos, Sara weaves engaging, relatable stories throughout, including overcoming one of her challenges, the fear of bike riding. These stories help readers understand that finding solutions to their organizing challenges can be done in a relaxed, exploratory, and uniquely personal way. Sara concludes that “…big change can happen for anyone…by letting go of external messages, embracing their fear and discomfort, and asking for help when they need it…they can achieve unexpected results and stay consistent.” If you’re struggling with getting organized and reaching your goals, read Sara’s book, which offers you a compassionate fresh start.

2. Interesting Product – Fresh Start Papers

If your desk or kitchen counters are piled with papers, and you can’t find the ones you need, consider using this stylish desktop file, the Arc basket. You’ll be able to organize your VIP papers in an instant. It is spacious enough to accommodate the essential items, yet not so large as to overwhelm you or your space. This U Brands open file box is shown in green and also comes in white and pale pink. Give your desk or counters a fresh start with this sleek hanging files bin.

3. Interesting Perspective  – Fresh Start Clarity

Gordon Hempton, an acoustic ecologist, spent his life preserving the world’s silent places by traveling the world and recording sounds. Many of these places are endangered due to the encroachment of modern life. In this short video, Sanctuaries of Silence, Hempton invites you to experience the preciousness of these beautifully captured explorations.

“Silence isn’t the absence of something, but the presence of everything.”

— Gordon Hampton

Life can be noisy. We have busy thoughts within combined with external physical distractions. It has become more challenging to hear our own thoughts, let alone experience quiet. Activities such as daily mindfulness meditation, yoga, and nature walks help me to create periods of silence. With a clarity of mind and calmness of soul, I am better able to be open, aware, and grateful for each moment, and a fresh start.

4. Interesting Season – Fresh Start Organizing

Winter can be more of an indoor season, at least it is for me. With this extra time inside, you might be feeling disorganized, overwhelmed, and unsure of how to move forward. Take this opportunity to reset your organizing goals, declutter the extraneous, and create the calm you deserve. Change is possible, especially with support. Enlist help from a compassionate and non-judgmental friend, family member, or professional organizer like me. You’ll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish when you work side-by-side with an organizing buddy. I’m ready to help. Let’s talk. Call 914-271-5673 or email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com.

5. Interesting Thought – Fresh Start Time

What is that phrase, “Attitude is everything?” When it comes to how we feel about a new day (or Mondays,) your approach to new can make all the difference with how you do or don’t do next. The start of the New Year gives us an attitude boost for a fresh start and new beginning. Yet the excitement can quickly fade. Remind yourself that you can embrace a fresh start any week, day, hour, or moment. Let go of what you didn’t do, cut yourself some slack, reset, and begin again. 

What are your interesting finds? Which of these resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Join the conversation!

Several months ago, while on a day-trip adventure visiting the New York Botanical Garden, I stopped in their gift shop to look around. They had beautiful, healthy plants for sale. One, in particular, caught my attention. It was a small, happy plant with a life-affirming sense about it. Even though the plant was still, its bright green leaves appeared to dance and swirl with joyful movement. I brought it home and placed it on my kitchen counter. Every time it catches my glance, it makes me smile. Are you wondering what this story has to do with perspective shifts, change, and fresh starts?  Please stick with me. I’m getting there.

A week ago, I noticed that my happy plant wasn’t looking so good. The leaves had some brown spots and were droopy. The soil was moist, so it didn’t need watering.  I admit that while I love plants, my husband is the green thumb of the house. He waters, cares for, and repots them as needed. I am the resident enjoyer. However, this little guy needed something right away. While we have natural light in our kitchen, the plant wasn’t getting direct sunlight like some of our others. So I decided to move it to the windowsill in the dining room. I thought it might thrive more in a different location. 

Within a day, my plant perked up and looked like its happy self again. It clearly responded to the new view and sun-filled spot. And sometimes, it’s that simple. When we cease to thrive, making one tiny change can give us that energy boost and fresh start we need. If you think of yourself like the plant, it was enjoying its corner until it wasn’t. A change was needed. Do you ever feel that way? You are ok, and then you’re not. You are thriving, and then a life shift or transition happens, and what used to work no longer does. Or maybe you just become complacent staying in the same place? Is that a familiar experience?

When this happens, we might think that a significant change is warranted. But sometimes, one small shift in perspective, location, or routine can provide the spark that’s necessary to move you forward in a positive direction.

Where are you feeling stagnant? What slight shift can you make that will encourage a fresh start? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to leave a comment and join the conversation.