Inspiring Physical Decluttering Stories To Inspire You

Get inspired by these real stories from people just like you, who were drowning in clutter, and learn what they did to turn things around. Personal stories are always the best way to relate, get inspired, and connect with the possibility that lies in front of you. If they did it… so can you!
This is a session of my course "Creating Your Peaceful & Clutter-Free Home". I invite you to join and get my support in the course classroom.

Transcript

Hola,

Welcome back to day three.

Thank you for being here.

In the last session,

You became aware of your current situation.

Today,

I want you to get inspired by some real stories from people just like you,

Who were struggling with clutter and learned what they did to turn things around.

Personal stories are always the best way to relate,

Get inspired,

And connect with the possibility that lays in front of you.

If they did it,

So can you.

Get comfortable,

Relax,

And enjoy listening to these stories.

The first story I want to share with you is Kim's story.

We asked Kim if she will be willing to share her story,

And this is what she wrote.

I have always been the kind of person who would rather do things myself than ever ask for help.

As a kid,

I was taught that independence would be the most important skill I could ever have,

And I have hung onto that for a very long time.

Housekeeping,

On the other hand,

Wasn't taught as strongly.

I know how to do it all,

And I certainly did it when I was a kid,

Mostly because if I didn't,

No one else would,

And I was embarrassed when people came over.

But once I moved out,

I didn't have the motivation to create any kind of good cleaning or organizing habits.

Things would get chaotic.

I would get frustrated and do a half-hearted clean,

Where I just moved stuff around and then wasn't able to find things,

And then let it get messy again.

At least I could find stuff in my mess.

I have grown tired of this,

Though.

It's been awful for my mental health,

And I realized my depression could be improved dramatically if I was living in a tidier home.

So I moved,

And I decided in my new apartment that I adored,

I would be organized.

I bought shelving and storage units and closet organizers and containers and anything else I could imagine I would need.

And it was horrible.

It doesn't matter how many boxes or cabinets and drawers one has.

If you don't designate a spot for each thing,

You dissolve into a new kind of chaos.

When I first met Emilio and Samantha,

Samantha is my wife,

They were at my apartment.

This was absolutely horrifying for me,

Having major anxiety,

And so I was quite amazed the day they came.

My home wasn't anywhere near my normal minimum level of tidy that I wanted it to be for company,

But I knew that it was important for them to see exactly what they had to work with.

They were very kind and gentle with me,

Mostly asking about what I wanted to accomplish with their help.

We decided starting with the living room would probably be best,

As it's the space where I spend the most time and needed to be the most functional in my apartment.

When they came back to help me with the actual cleaning,

Decluttering and organizing,

It was terribly anxious.

Even after meeting them and knowing exactly what the plan was,

I still felt embarrassed and afraid of being seen as a bad person because of my mess.

The process itself was definitely difficult,

But Sam and Emilio were very patient with me and allowed me to move at my own pace.

I finally got my home to a place where I wanted it to be.

I was so excited that when I heard that Samantha and Emilio would be doing a workshop close by,

I knew I had to go and show them what they had helped me accomplish.

Kim's story is an example of a successful fight against clutter.

After struggling with clutter for many years,

Kim decided to change.

She had the right mindset.

It wasn't easy to follow through,

But she pushed herself through feelings of depression,

Frustration,

Embarrassment and anxiety to finally create the life that she always wanted.

It wasn't easy,

But it was totally worth it.

And now she enjoys a functional life doing what she loves.

Kim has moved into a new house and is sharing the space with a very tidy roommate.

She says it can be very challenging,

But she loves the new space and has kept the philosophy that every object needs a home.

She has been able to follow her hobbies and get a new job that she loves.

The next story I want to share with you is Judy's story.

This is what Judy shared after her experience decluttering and organizing her entire apartment.

I don't think I can really say enough great stuff about these two,

Samantha and Emilio,

And this system they have to help organize or purge,

Because they have really helped me change and inspire me to do and think about things differently,

But still one that works for me.

I have always dreamed about that someone or someplace that could help me achieve what I really want in my living space.

Well,

They did this and so much more than organizing.

You have to understand that I was so ready and overdue in finding the right people to give me direction,

Information,

Resources,

Tools,

And guidance to go through this process of making the most of my space.

So I knew I was ready for their help to do whatever was necessary to get to that better place.

One of having actual space to move around,

To really feel excited about when I walk through my apartment door and know I really want to be here and really enjoy my home.

My gosh,

We went through everything,

And I mean everything,

Every little box,

Space,

Pieces of furniture.

We went through to make sure I really,

Really wanted to keep it or donate it,

Purge it,

Reuse it,

Repurpose it,

Or get rid of it.

I am not kidding.

I now know exactly what I have and where it is.

I am pleased with every decision I made,

Not them,

But me.

I decided what will give me peace and feel comfortable with or without in my new apartment.

We went through each room in just a matter of a few sessions in my one-bedroom apartment.

And now this is my cozy sanctuary.

When I open my door,

I feel so happy and content,

Knowing that I'm coming home to a sense of calm and simplicity,

To a place I finally feel like this is my home.

Their patience and expertise and understanding how difficult a process this might be for me,

I felt totally comfortable to do what I needed to do with their guidance,

Compassion,

And their emphasizing with me as I considered each item we looked at.

They never pressured me about anything and would remind me that I didn't need to do something if I felt I just couldn't at that moment.

I never felt rushed or pushed into a decision that wasn't right for me at that time.

However,

As I said before,

I was ready for this huge challenge in my life.

I was also tired of moving into a new place and waiting for help to make my place my own,

Not waiting months or years to have it set up to live in.

I was tired of the status quo of each time moving and settling with all the junk I kept taking from one place to the next.

And the stuff that I knew didn't fit my lifestyle anymore.

So I kept losing more and more space in each place I moved into.

So it was really time to stop all this,

Time to prioritize and find a way to get the help I needed and deserve to feel better about my life and what I had or didn't have in my life now.

So it was not really surprising how easy most of it was to let go of stuff or to accept a new process to make my space work for me.

So in the end,

I really did feel satisfied and comfortable with every decision I did make.

The excitement in their voices was infectious right from the first phone call to the first session and to every session after,

Always a huge smile on their faces and ready to go.

They loved seeing my energetic little fur face,

Merlin,

My two-year-old puppy dog,

Because they love animals.

I can now move forward incorporating all I have learned to maintain my home.

I now feel excited to come back home and leave him with contentment.

I know I can easily continue to think simple and with ease at decisions around whether I have a place for this or that,

Or do I really need it or want it in my space.

I hope her story also inspires you to start taking action and creating the home and the life that you really want.

The last story I want to share with you is Bernard's Kitchen.

Bernard was feeling frustrated with his kitchen.

He was tired of choosing going out to eat because his kitchen floor wasn't good.

He wants to eat more homemade meals,

Entertain more often and stop wasting food that expired in his cabinets and fridge.

One of the things he was the most frustrated with is how annoying the experience of making breakfast in the morning was.

When I asked him what was happening,

He described his morning routine in a very funny way.

This is more or less what he shared.

I am a night guy,

You know?

I work late at night and I am not a morning person at all,

But I enjoy my coffee and eating something right away when I get up.

So right now,

I get up half awake,

I go down to my kitchen,

And it takes me forever to get my breakfast ready.

When I asked him to share his breakfast routine with me,

He acted a very funny scene of him every morning.

He said,

So I come down to the kitchen,

Half awake,

I look for the coffee that is in this cabinet here,

And then I go to the coffee maker that is on the other side of the kitchen.

Then I need my coffee mugs that are over there.

And then I come back here,

I get some coffee.

I then walk over there to get some sugar.

And then while I sip at my coffee,

I try to wake up and then I want a toast.

So I look for some bread.

I need to clear some space on my counter to get the toaster going.

I need to walk over there to get a plate to put my toast on.

It just takes forever to make a simple toast and coffee every morning.

Can you imagine how frustrating this is?

Honestly,

It was very funny the way he described it and how he acted his experience.

And I know that many of you are related to this situation.

So when I asked him what his reason was for getting organized,

This is what he shared.

I find myself eating out too much.

I also throw away a lot of expired food because I can't access it easily.

I want to get more involved into cooking,

But I don't feel comfortable in my kitchen.

And I want to have an easier morning routine.

So the specific goals for Bernard's project were having a clear countertop,

Create a breakfast station,

Improve his kitchen flow,

Optimize the use of every cabinet in his kitchen,

And have easy access to the things that he uses more often.

As you can imagine,

Bernard was very happy once all these frustrations were gone and his day-to-day life became easier and more enjoyable.

Some other quick real stories with clear intentions are home office project.

The motivation to declare was,

I can't live in this disorganization anymore and I need a fresh start.

I cannot do it alone.

The desired outcomes were having a clear desk where I can work on,

Create a paper system,

Get rid of all the crap,

Feel calm and in control,

And be ready for taxes.

A bedroom project.

The motivation to declare this bedroom was,

I would like to create my space where I can feel calm,

I don't want to see papers anymore,

And I want to find things when I need to.

I want to finish my ongoing projects.

The desired outcomes for this bedroom were being able to use the bed,

Have a nice reading chair,

Make the space feel like it is my space,

Create a paper system that works for me,

And having a nice quiet room to watch TV on my own.

And the last one is a garage project.

The motivation to declare this garage was,

We don't like a cold,

Snowy car in the mornings.

I also don't know what to do with my wet hockey equipment.

It's always on the floor.

I would like to bike more,

But it's not easy to get my bikes out of the garage.

So the desired outcomes were,

Park the car in the garage,

Easy access to the bikes,

A system to hang my hockey equipment,

Create a garbage station,

Access to the gardening tools,

And have nothing on the floor.

I would like to finish today's session with two questions for you to reflect about.

Question number one,

What is your motivation for decluttering?

Question number two,

What are your desired outcomes?

Be specific and share your answers in the course classroom.

I promise you will love reading them in the future.

Thank you so much for finishing this session.

I hope you got inspired by these real stories.

I am very excited because I can't wait to see your own transformation and how you will feel.

It's happening.

You are on your way.

Yeah.

I am looking forward to being with you in the next session,

Where you will learn how to overcome resistance and get into your flow.

Until then,

I hope you have an amazing rest of your day.

Adios.