Most people love the feeling after a good clear-out. Have you ever considered applying Marie Kondo’s advice to other areas of your life?
When Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying was published it became a massive success. Everyone was pulling all their clothes out of their wardrobes, all their books off the book shelves, paperwork off desks and getting rid of anything that didn’t bring joy in their lives. I’m a clutter-free person myself and totally get the attraction of this.
Marie Kondo’s principles can be applied to nearly all other areas in your life and I think the impact can be even more life-changing. Avoid what doesn’t spark joy and embrace the stuff that does.
Get a piece of paper and make 2 columns, one to make a list of anything that doesn’t make you feel good and zaps your energy. The other to list stuff that makes you feel good and energises you. It could be anything, like activities, people, sounds, smells, etc.
You may not be able to think of everything straight away. Keep the list on you and add when you think of something. Remember what you enjoyed doing when you were a child as this can be a clue to what may make you feel good.
Start to avoid things in the first column as much as you can. It's not always easy, especially where people are involved. There will be some activities that you just have to do for now, but maybe there can be a longer-term plan to replace them. Start focusing on getting more of the things that make you happy. Be open-minded, you're never to old to learn something new and nothing is weird or childish if it makes you feel good (and is legal of course).
What brings you joy?