It takes courage to move forward when you’re overwhelmed, unsure of where you’re headed, or confused about what to do next. However, as you bravely take that one tiny action in the face of uncertainty, this will propel your fresh start.

The beginning feels murky at best when you’re stuck and not moving anywhere. With movement, what is unknown quickly becomes visible. Amazingly, one step encourages more because it builds momentum.

Getting Unstuck

I discovered this beautiful John Muir quote. He said, “And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” This brings forth many ideas. Taking a walk “into the forest” or anywhere offers an opportunity. Walking is movement in action. The physicality of motion goes beyond the benefits your body experiences. As arms swing, feet advance, and the breath deepens, you are filled with aliveness and energy. This movement encourages possibilities and a “can do” attitude.

If your walk happens to be in nature, there are additional benefits that surrounding yourself in a green environment brings. It can

• Reduce stress

• Boost mood

• Enhance creativity

• Increase concentration

• Improve sleep

Walking can get you unstuck. There is such significance in taking that first step and then another.

Letting Go

The next part of Muir’s phrase, “to lose my mind and find my soul,” illustrates other ideas. I connect losing “my mind” to letting go. Instead of focusing on negative, unhelpful thoughts or holding onto things and ideas that no longer serve you, release them. Be present.

Connect with something deeper within, your “soul.” Find the courage to let things unfold. See the wonder in what is here now.

I arranged a surprise birthday weekend for my husband a few weeks ago. What was the surprise? Our kiddos and their partners came home to celebrate and share several beautiful days together. One of the things we did was walk down our block, through the woods, and to the Croton River. I love walking, and doing this with my family made me happy!

Feeling supported in my hiking shoes, I noticed each step as my feet connected with the ground. Walking helped me release the to-dos and projects occupying real estate in my mind. I had several upcoming project deadlines that I was thinking about. I knew the work could wait. I was thrilled to have everyone home and have time with the crew. A thought adjustment was needed.

To do this, I focused on the sounds of my loved ones’ sweet voices. I watched them energetically walk as they meandered into different pairs and groupings. I felt their loving presence as we held hands and connected. Into the forest we went- walking, talking, laughing, listening, photographing, and watching.

“It takes courage to move forward when you’re overwhelmed.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Small Step

Choose your next tiny step to get you unstuck. Will you move your body to create momentum? Will you talk with a trusted friend or loved one to download your thoughts? Will you take one small step on your big project to bridge the gap between planning and action? What tiny, courageous step will you make to set your fresh start in motion?

If you feel stuck and overwhelmed or find it challenging to determine your next step, I’d love to help. Please email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or click here to schedule a Discovery Call. Let’s work together so things can flow.

You are more than halfway through the first month of the new year. Have you leaned into the energy boost a fresh start brings? Or are you feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and weighted down by your clutter? Clutter can keep us frozen in time, be demotivating, and make activation challenging. Physical clutter can include things like paper piles punctuating counters and surfaces. There can also be mind clutter, internal thoughts, and ideas swirling around the brain. Clutter can be time-related. It can infiltrate calendars and is visible as over-committed schedules with no breathing room.

One of the focus areas this month with clients has been helping them clear a variety of clutter. They want to feel calmer, happier, and more in control of their space, time, and thoughts. I’m continually thrilled by how much progress clients make during their one-hour virtual organizing sessions. They further their goals by working independently in between sessions, too. Relief and joy are typical feelings they experience due to their decluttering efforts.

When clutter is released, you increase your capacity to attend to what is most essential and fully embrace the life you want.

Declutter Physical Things

I recently worked on my own physical and mind clutter that weighed on me. It felt great to make space for the new year. For decluttering the physical things, I

• Removed and archived last year’s papers

• Made new file folders for the current year (I love my Brother PTouch label maker!)

• Edited papers I no longer needed

• Shredded and recycled

• Bagged household items to donate

“When clutter is released, you increase your capacity to attend to what is most essential and fully embrace the life you want.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Declutter Thoughts

Because my mind was cluttered and filled with too many competing thoughts, I needed help focusing and getting clear. To release mind clutter, I

• Wrote in my journal

• Reviewed past journal entries

• Shared my thoughts out loud with a few people (I’m a verbal processor)

• Engaged in email exchanges to tease out more thoughts

• Filled out the Three Things Reflection (a set of questions to review the previous year and future-think about the current one)

• Practiced patience while allowing ideas to percolate

• Meditated

• Practiced yoga

Like my clients, I experienced relief, clarity, and joy after decluttering my things and thoughts. My physical and mental capacity has improved. The slate feels clear and clean. I chose to embrace this fresh start with renewed energy and open arms.

If you feel frozen and overwhelmed by clutter and want help, I’m here for you. Please email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or click here to schedule a Discovery Call. Experience the joy, relief, and clarity decluttering and organizing brings.

Have you noticed lately the chatter around picking a Word of the Year? Maybe you’ve heard people sharing their words or have been asked about your word. Perhaps you’re stressing that you don’t yet have a word or wondering why you need one. You might have read articles and books, done Internet searches, or attended a word-selection workshop. And with all these, you’ve been searching and perhaps even feeling pressured to find your word. What is the significance of choosing that one word? How can it energize your fresh start and create a single intention for your year?

What’s the Value of One Word?

Recently, I went to a Nest by Revel workshop on The Power of One Word, led by the dynamic and inspiring Coach and Strengths Strategist™, Petra Krebbs. Even though I had already selected my word, I was happy to learn more. Petra highlighted some benefits of picking one word to flavor your year. They included simplifying your New Year’s resolutions, creating deeper focus, and having one overarching intention for the year.

She suggested selecting a word that aligns with your strengths. Do you know what your strengths are? If not, I highly recommend taking the Gallup CliftonStrengths® assessment.

Petra also shared compelling statistics, which makes a case for choosing one word instead of creating unrealistic goals and resolutions. She said:

• 7 in 10 U.S. adults set goals at the start of the New Year

• 9 out of 10 people fail with their resolutions

• 23% quit by the end of the first week

• 50% will fail by the end of January

• 80% will fail by mid-February

• Most people quit on the 2nd Friday in January, known as National Quitters Day

Petra said, “One Word simplifies New Year’s Resolutions. It sticks. No list of resolutions, no list of goals. Just One Word that helps to create a great year.”

“No list of resolutions, no list of goals. Just One Word that helps to create a great year.”

— Petra Krebbs

Word of the Year

Do you remember me mentioning the stress people feel over finding their word? That was me. I become so attached to the word I had for the previous year that I don’t want to let it go. Does that sound familiar? Letting go can be challenging, not just with our physical possessions but also with ideas or things that no longer serve us.

I’ve discovered how important it is to reassess each year and choose a new theme. Repeating the same word isn’t effective for me. I need the hope a new word brings to create something different and energizing each year.

Knowing I needed to transition from my 2023 word, nourish, to my 2024 word, I went into collecting mode. Whenever a potential word ‘candidate’ popped into my head, I wrote it on a sticky note and put it in my 2024 Visioning file. The words came from things I read, heard, felt, or experienced. When I was ready to commit, I pulled out my folder and reviewed the list. While all of them had merits, none of them felt exactly right.

Next, I spoke with my husband, Steve, about my word dilemma. He thought of a word for me before I told him my possible choices. As soon as he said it, the hair on my arms stood up, my body tingled, and I knew that was it. Somehow, the one word he picked incorporated all the words I was considering. I was grateful for his insight and help.

And now for the big reveal! My word for 2024 is . . . embrace.

This year, I want to lean into all things, experiences, relationships, and discoveries with passion, love, and presence. Embrace will be my guiding force.

Motto of the Year

In addition to selecting one word for the year, I like to pair it with a motto. I use the phrase to help me when I’m stuck, offer perspective, and guide my choices and actions. Pairing a word with a theme for each year works beautifully.

My motto in 2023 was inspired by Zoe Chance. It was, “What would it take?” When I went down a ‘can’t do’ rabbit hole or noticed my typical solution-oriented focus inaccessible, I’d ask, “What would it take?” That simple phrase cut through all the internal noise and helped me to refocus and shift my mindset to a proactive, positive place.

For 2024, I chose a new motto. This year, it is, “You got this.” I’m tired of wasting time doubting myself and my abilities. Will there be moments when I don’t ‘have it?’ Of course. But history tells me I have a pretty good track record. I want to suspend any unnecessary doubt and embody confidence. However things go, I know I can navigate the obstacles and successes. “You got this” is my daily reminder to stress less and move forward with more ease.

Let the power of one word and motto inspire your year to unfold brilliantly with the strength of water flowing down a river.

I’d love to hear from you. Do you have a word for 2024? If so, what is it? Do you pick a motto or theme, too? I’d love to know your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Let me know if you need support finding your 2024 focus and getting the most from your fresh start. I’d love to help you make this a great year! You can call me at 914-271-5673, email linda@ohsoorganized.com, or click here to contact me.

This is the newest release (v43) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature, with my latest finds that inform, educate, and relate to organizing and life balance. These unique, inspiring, fresh start discoveries reflect this month’s blog theme.

You are a passionate, generous, and engaged group. I am deeply grateful for your ongoing 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? – 5 Best Fresh Start Discoveries

1. Interesting Workshop – Clutter-Free Fresh Start

Do you feel overwhelmed with the clutter and disorganization in your life? If you answered “yes,” you’re not alone. Help is here! The New Year is an excellent time to change how you approach decluttering and organization.

Join me, Linda Samuels, Professional Organizer, for an empowering workshop – My Simple Organizing Plan, on Thursday, February 8th, from 7:00-8:00 pm Eastern. Together, we’ll uncover the impact of clutter, master motivation, and create a personal decluttering plan.

During this one-hour Zoom workshop, you’ll come away with a transformative, ready-to-implement strategy to make immediate positive changes in your life. Say goodbye to chaos and hello to a calmer, organized you. Reserve your spot now!

2. Interesting Trend – Immersive Fresh Start

Color drenching is a design trend that has emerged in recent years. Amy Wax, an internationally recognized color expert, describes a color-drenched interior as “designed with one color in mind, and that color doesn’t just coat the walls…it’s everywhere…a real color-drenched interior means that the ceiling, trim, railings, doors, and sometimes even the floor all have the same color.”

Are you wondering about the connection between the color-drenching trend and a fresh start? I thought you might. Words describing this trend include daring, saturated, adventurous, all-consuming, harmonizing, sensual, and calming. As you begin this New Year and embrace your fresh start, which words speak to you? Do you want more adventures and boldness, or would you like more calm and harmony? Select a theme to ‘drench’ your year that can be a guiding force for your choices and goals. What color or word speaks to you?

3. Interesting Read – Peaceful Fresh Start

Do you desire a more peaceful, calmer life? We now have 24-7 access to people, places, and things. Life has become complicated, noisy, and distracting.  

A Simpler Life – A Guide to Greater Serenity, Ease and Clarity by The School of Life provides a path to “the simpler lives we crave and deserve.” We’re at an unusual juncture where the yearning for simplicity is historically reasonably new. “We long to unburden ourselves of excess, to have more straightforward relationships, to declutter our homes, and to avoid noise, complexity, and fuss. Simplicity has grown central to our vision of happiness.”

The book focuses on five areas to simplify- relationships, social life, lifestyle, work, and culture. If your fresh start includes the desire to release the excess, you’ll appreciate the suggestions explored. “Simplicity isn’t so much a life with a few things and commitments in it, as a life with the right, necessary things, attuned to our flourishing. Our lives will feel – and be – simpler when we’ve probed our minds to yield…the knowledge of what we truly want.”

“Your fresh start is ready for you to lean in, activate, and thrive.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

4. Interesting Product – Focused Fresh Start

During a session with one of my virtual organizing clients, she showed me an adorable gift she purchased for the holidays. Toast is marketed as a night light. However, she and a few of her friends use it differently. They turn it on to help them focus when working. It has a warm, dimmable glow, an adjustable timer, and a ‘friendly’ face.

I couldn’t resist, so I purchased a mint green one to see if it would help me. To my delight, it does. As a matter of fact, while writing this post, I brought my Toast nearby to keep me company and hold my attention. I didn’t use the timer feature, but I found the gentle light worked for me.

Check out this little fellow if you want your fresh start to include more focused work and improved concentration.

5. Interesting Thought – Promising Fresh Start

What is the best thing about the New Year? It allows you to reset, rethink, and reimagine how you want the next twelve months to be. If you want to make tiny tweaks or strive for those big, audacious goals, you have the spaciousness to make things happen. Let go of what doesn’t work, learn from your mishaps, and activate the hope-filled ‘blank canvas’ the New Year brings. Your fresh start is ready for you to lean in, activate, and thrive.

Do you have an interesting, fresh start-related discovery? Which of these resonates with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Here’s to you and a happy, healthy, joy-filled, and organized New Year!