Hope's Clutter Clearing - Day one

I am doing this challenge for so many reasons.  It appeals to me on a purely tactical level because I am a HUGE pack rat.  I become sentimentally attached to things, and I have a hard time throwing things away because I think they might be useful in the future, or perhaps I will lose all my money and really wish I had all those hotel shampoo samples, or I rationalize that if I throw them away they will just clutter up a landfill somewhere.  And yes, I do see the similarities between all those reasons and the people I see on those extreme hoarder shows.  So on a purely practical level, I hope that I will start a good wave of clutter clearing out of the condo I have been living in for the past 14 years.

I have also recently left a long-term corporate job to focus full time on my life coaching career.  I have spent a long time in corporate america, working my way up the ladder and making a nice income, so this is a big change for me, and definitely a scary one.  I really like how the challenge will support getting rid of things that no longer serve me and on an intellectual and spiritual level this includes things like:

• The idea that if I am not a VP of something, I am not as valuable or admirable
• That the only way to make the income that I want to support the lifestyle I want is to work for someone else
• That I am not good enough or smart enough to run my own business
• That I don't deserve to be fully satisfied by my career and my life

While I know, as a coach, that accountability is key to the success of any change, I feel so strongly that I am the one that must hold myself accountable here.  I will blog and will welcome any encouragement or input from everyone doing this challenge, but I want to use this challenge as a way to strengthen my own accountability to myself.  I am so good at deciding that I really want to do something, and the minute it becomes either difficult or boring, I stuff it down and go, 'well I didn't really want to do that anyway'.  Perhaps if I waver, you all can remind me how much I DO want to do this.  That will help me tremendously. :)

At the end of this challenge, I want to feel lighter, more organized and more sure of my ability to continue, because 15 days will only be the start of my own personal challenge.  I want to have some good blog posts that I can refer back to when the going gets tough, and I want to feel a real sense of accomplishment and personal pride.

There you go! That's me!  Off to find something for the trash bin.

XO - Hope