NEW YEAR: WHY YOU SHOULD MAKE TIME FOR SELF-REFLECTION

Photography by Kate McG Photography

WE MADE IT! New year, same you, but with an extra notch of experience! Whether we like to admit it or not, we gain some form of experience in life through each year that passes. Personally, I completed another year in business - and I'm still here! Get Sorted still exists and is supporting so many individuals and families. And, for that I am beyond grateful. Don't worry, I don't want to bombard you with yet another "NEW YEAR-NEW ME" trendy topic, so instead of telling you why the "new you" is "better". Instead, I want to focus on the importance of self-reflection. It's important to self-reflect even if you don't like doing it. Reasons you may not like self-reflecting is because it causes you to slow down, acknowledging that you don't understand something, experiencing inefficiency or messiness, or having to take personal responsibility...yikes! For many, this is like pulling teeth. But, truly, this is short term pain for long term gain. Think of self-reflection as an investment...in yourself. The more you know about yourself the better partner, leader, friend, co-worker, and community member you can be!

OKAY, I know we are a week into January but, you know those few days in between Christmas and New Years where everyone is just reeling in from the whirlwind of a holiday season that just blew by them and no one knows what day it is, what’s really going on, or where they’re headed in life? Yeah. Those days that seem to get lost in a time warp are often the first few days where people start to reflect about the past year, or in this case, the past decade. So many of us in the final days of 2019, spent our time writing in our journals about the top 10 things that happened to us this decade, making vision boards, re-posting our best 9 on Instagram, and obsessing about how we will absolutely, definitely, CHANGE, in the new year and how the following decade will positively DEFINE our lives. And a lot of us shared our best intentions with the world via Instagram, Facebook, and whatever social media platform would listen to us pour our hearts out. 
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This willingness to change can be well intentioned, yet so scattered and misplaced. Our list of resolutions can go on and on! Our goal setting has just turned into one resolution a month, one thing to do a day - but there are 12 months and 365 days! For some of us, in spite of our best efforts to do better for ourselves, we have just inadvertently caused ourselves to feel overwhelmed at the thought of aaalll of those new habits that we have to improve on and all of the goals that we have to reach. As well, it takes more than just writing down the vague goal - we need to be SPECIFIC and create a plan. Start with one or two goals and expand from there. Our need for perfection and so-called success has actually caused us to feel the opposite - failure, as we struggle through the clutter that is our resolution list all while realizing that we cannot possibly achieve it all at once. 

So in 2020, we should reframe this narrative of self care from a never-ending series of instagrammable highlight reels of our life, to being true, honest, and steadfast with ourselves about the things we need to focus on in order to live the life we are striving to live. This is about the real work. The dirty work. The sit-down-with-yourself-and-get-shit-done, work. & it isn’t easy. It isn’t easy to dive deep and sit with that one thing that seems to be stopping you from feeling your full potential. Because it’s often buried under so many other things that disguised as the actual thing. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the things we don’t acknowledge but need to. It’s the things that keep us up at night and are at the back of our heads during the day.
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True self-work, is facing our deepest fears, regrets and desires - the same way that organizing our spaces and our homes allows us to see through these things. We need to sift and sort through the mental and emotional clutter in order to exist as our authentic selves. And this processing part of the equation towards a better life can be messy, and confusing and can downright feel off. But that’s the point of processing, because once we’ve acknowledged and processed the heavy stuff, it’s time to start letting stuff go. 

The beginning of this decade feels intense. 2020 on a personal and global level is defining in the ways that we move through the rest of the decade and the rest of our lives. I will I choose to live my life and how will I choose to impact other people's lives. In recognizing our own shortcomings (whether it be our triggers, weaknesses, or disadvantages), in seeing the problem with clear eyes, we can begin anew. It takes knowing what will propel us and what will slow us down. 2020 can be a fresh start to a year full of committing to ourselves in healthy ways that benefit us and everyone around us. We can create reasonable resolutions, realistically achievable goals, and slowly but surely create real and lasting change in our lives.  ​​

Kelsey Marion, Professional Organizer & Owner of Get Sorted

By bridging the gap between the mental, emotional and physical clutter in your life, Kelsey supports you to get clear on what you truly want by providing the proper tools and sustained guidance to ensure you reach your organization goals. Kelsey believes that getting sorted is more than labeling containers and jars - it's where organization meets wellness.
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Connect with Kelsey! @getsortedwithkelsey 
If you live in the Toronto, ON area fill out the Get Sorted In-take Form to book your free consultation call!