4 Ways to Cleanse Your Life

The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to Marie Kondo your life and rid yourself of those things that no longer spark joy. Here are four ways you can cleanse your life:

Assess your Relationships

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. A relationship should empower you and not drain you. Every year my circle gets smaller and my vision gets clearer. Oftentimes growth comes with many goodbyes. As time passes I assess which relationships are in alignment with who I am. I have severed ties with a few people last year and not because we’ve had a major falling out but I felt we were no longer on the same path. I have a tendency of holding onto relationships due to history. One sign that has helped me identify should I continue a relationship is accessing how I feel after communicating with them. Do I feel drained or more empowered?

In a romantic, platonic, or familial relationship you should elevate one another. We should not surround ourselves with people who no longer serve us this can include: physically or emotionally abusive partners, toxic friends, and dysfunctional family members. Friendship breakups for me tend to be the toughest. These people that are no longer serving us can keep you in negative cycles with them. Sometimes people can’t love you the way you deserve to be loved.  I encourage you to take a look at your relationships and ask yourself are these people serving me?  Have they held me accountable when I’m acting out of character? Are they holding me accountable to reach my goals? Are we in different seasons in life? Some people are meant to leave their lives to make space for new people. [click_to_tweet tweet=”Gentle Reminder: You are allowed to let go of things that don’t serve you.” quote=”Gentle Reminder: You are allowed to let go of things that don’t serve you.”]

Refresh Your Finances

2020 was a challenging year and despite our financial losses, there is still time to get back on track. Have your savings depleted as a result of the pandemic? Have you secured another stream of income? Are you spending more than your making?

Your finances play a crucial role in your life let’s set the tone for our finances with these steps. The first thing you should do is review your expenses. You can create your own excel sheet or try using a Tiller Spreadsheet. I usually just write all my expenses down in my planner. Include ALL your expenses; bills & utilities, entertainment, food & dining, home, kids, and personal care just to name a few. Now once you total your expenses assess your cash flow. Check your bank statements and pay stubs to determine how much your net income is. Once you identify your cash flow you compare that with your expenses you can see exactly how much money you have to play with. Next check your debt to income ratio is your debt increasing and not decreasing? Review your statements and try to tag each purchase to see what you’re spending your money on.

Lastly, check your credit report and most importantly check the mail. It’s easy to lose track of your finances when you’re doing so many things at once. I encourage you to look at your accounts once a week or at a minimum twice a month. There’s even an app that helps you manage your finances in one spot. One thing that I’ve noticed is now that I’ve canceled my gym subscription and no longer commute into the office I can allocate those funds to paying off debt or increasing my savings. Create a budget and stick to it. Sometimes we let our emotions rule our money decisions. But you will cause yourself more pain if you add to your debt than the instant gratification you receive from your purchases. I encourage you to take a look at where you are financially and determine what’s best for you. Remember you are responsible for your financial being. Analyze your finances and take the necessary steps to cleanse your life.

Organize your Home

Now more than ever is the perfect time to reassess your belongings, declutter and organize your home. In the last few months I’ve noticed how much clothes and junk I have and as a creative, it makes it really hard for me to write when my house looks a mess. It stresses me out. While cleaning out my bedroom I watched the Netflix series “Tidying Up” which uses the innovative Konmari Method created by organizing expert Marie Kondo which encourages people to get rid of things that no longer have a purpose in your life and to keep only the things that bring you joy. I suggest using the Konmari Method checklist to help cleanse your life.

• Pick up each item one at a time.
• Ask yourself if it sparks joy – you should feel a little thrill as if the cells in your body are slowly rising.
• If it does, keep it. What doesn’t let it go with gratitude

If you’re not sure where to start I suggest reading “Tidying up with Marie Kondo” or joining her 8-week Tidy Challenge. I recently cleaned out my home office and finally organized my bookshelf and I’m so at peace. Books bring me joy and having them laying all over the place was stressing me out.

Declutter your Social Media

Since we are limited in our daily activities due to the pandemic we are spending a lot of time idle on social media. This past summer I performed a social media detox for two weeks and when I returned I decluttered my social media. Here are a few tips I recommend:

• Unsubscribe from Facebook groups you are no longer interested in
• Mute/ Block/Unfollow people who are not in alignment with who you are
• Prioritize people in Facebook’s News Feed preferences so that you first see the posts you care about the most.
•  Set daily limits on Instagram, turn off phone notifications related to social media, or delete social media apps altogether

As I mentioned earlier 2020 has been a challenging year it is important to monitor what drains us and what brings us joys. I encourage you to incorporate one of these ways to cleanse your life.