If you are familiar with me or my work, you know this closet cleanout won’t really be about the clothes (although we will get the job done). It’s going to be about your life. We’ll talk about the changes you want to make, what’s holding you back and simple ways to move forward. If you just want to focus on the wardrobe though, we can do that too.

Another thing to note: this isn’t the beginning of a new business venture for me. I won’t be offering closet cleaning moving forward. In fact, it’s likely this is the only time I’ll do this.

After we’ve got your wardrobe pared down and your closet in shape, we’ll celebrate with a nice meal at one of your favorite restaurants. You are welcome to bring a friend along too!

You might be wondering … 

What do I have to do to enter? All of the details are here, but in a nutshell … you’ll submit a receipt from your pre-order of Soulful Simplicity and a short essay about why you want to simplify your closet or your life.

Am I eligible for the contest and the pre-order bonus gifts? Yep. Sure are.

Will you travel anywhere? I would but due to legal requirements, the contest is open in the US only.

What if I already ordered the book? Thank you! Your book receipt will work for entry.

What if I bought a ticket to the book tour? Thank you! Your ticket receipt will work for entry.

Is the contest time sensitive? Yes, very. Please enter by December 16, 2017.

When will you announce the winner? Early January. I can’t wait!

How do I enter? Click the button below or click here.

The Soulful Simplicity Book Tour

The Soulful Simplicity Book Tour is all mapped out. We’ll only have 100 seats in most cities so please get your tickets early. Each ticket includes a hardcover version of Soulful Simplicity, presentation from me, Q & A, conversation, and book signing. It’s going to be a fun evening! You can use your ticket receipt as entry to the closet cleanout contest too!

See if your city is on the list by visiting the book tour page here.

Soulful Simplicity is coming out in less than a month on December 26th.

Here are a few links that may be helpful …

Learn more about the book and pre-order gifts here.

Consider the gift of Soulful Simplicity + a virtual book club for friends and family. More details on the book page here.

Join me on the Soulful Simplicity book tour here.

Enter to win a closet cleanout and lunch with me here.

The post Operation Clean Closet (you won’t believe what I’m giving away) appeared first on Be More with Less.

What would happen if grace and gratitude came first?

What if we felt …

• grace when dealing with uncertainty
• gratitude before we were stressed or frustrated
• hopeful while dealing with loss
• loved before judged
• loving before judging

Everything I read suggests grace and gratitude as a solution to stress, frustration and overwhelm but if grace and gratitude come first, we can avoid some of the stress or at least navigate it in a healthier way. Instead of using grace and gratitude as tools to solve problems, let’s start from a place of grace and gratitude.

If you want to see if grace and gratitude can soften or eliminate some of the craziness of your life, try it.

Here are a few ways to put grace and gratitude first …

Say thank you first.
Let your first thought of the day be one of gratitude. What are you grateful for when you open your eyes? Think about it for 30 seconds before jumping out of bed. Write it down or say it out loud.

Stop measuring who you are by what you accomplish.
Grace measures more by what’s on your heart than what’s on your list. When you are stressing over your calendar or to-do list and telling yourself you are falling behind, remember who you are and what you mean to the people around you. Remember what really matters to you. Trust what’s in your heart.

Laugh more.
Laughing is grace and gratitude all wrapped into one joyful expression. Laugh more. Life is serious enough without us trying to keep it all together all day long.

Start with you.
The more loving you are with yourself, the more loving you can be with everyone around you. The more grateful you are for who you are, what’s on the inside and what you have to offer, the more grateful you can be for the stuff on the outside. The more grace you extend to yourself, the more you’ll have to extend to others.

Let go. Let go. Let go.
All of this holding on to stuff that doesn’t really matter gets in the way of grace and gratitude. From physical clutter and stuff, to things we think we should believe or should do, to what we think others think – it’s all messy. Keep letting go of anything standing in the way of more grace and gratitude in your life.

Here’s the thing … we can work to simplify our lives, take better care of ourselves, and reduce stress but some things are not in our control. There will always be surprises, uncertainty, difficult people, loss, and failure. With a reserve of grace and gratitude, we’ll get through the hard stuff and come out stronger on the other side.

And the good stuff will be even sweeter.

Coming up …

Next week I’m announcing a really fun contest to celebrate the upcoming release of my new book, Soulful Simplicity. Get excited!

31 Days of Gifts You so Deserve (An Advent Calendar for your inbox) begins on December 1st. Learn more here.

The post When Grace and Gratitude Come First appeared first on Be More with Less.

What is 31 Days of Gifts?

31 Days of Gifts You So Deserve is like an advent calendar in your inbox designed to deliver meaningful, magical gifts throughout the month of December to help you embrace the holidays with joy and intention. They will also prepare you to leap into the new year with an open heart.

Every day throughout December, you’ll receive a gift in your inbox. At the end of each email, you’ll find links to the gifts that came before. If you miss one, or want to revisit one of your favorite gifts, this list makes it easy to go back.

A beautiful tradition

For many in the Be More with Less community (myself included), 31 Days of Gifts You So Deserve has become a holiday tradition. If you haven’t participated before, you might be interested in hearing what participants have to say about the program.

Thank you so much for these wonderful 31 Days of Gifts!  I’m finding myself looking first for your emails every morning. They are helping me to focus, and feel a little less frantic, and to enjoy the holidays. Thank you for a bright start to each day, and a few quiet moments. – Joyce

I so appreciated the 31 days of gifts in my inbox during the hectic beautiful and magical month of December. I listened to your stories, danced and sang to your playlists, tried a recipe or two and spent time just thinking about what you wrote each day. – Loretta

31 Days really did make my holiday season so much better! I especially loved the recipe for the gingerbread cookies with white chocolate frosting – I’m starting to drool just thinking about them. Taking time out each day to do the 31 Days helped me to slow down and enjoy more. – Kat

Thank you so much for doing this project! I enjoy your emails so much and I look forward to viewing my inbox every morning. I am a little sad December only has 31 days in it!  – Cassie

December can be a stressful month for me (and so many people) and I strive to keep my mind on my faith and family in the midst of so many other obligations. Your daily e-mails helped me to focus my attention on the things that are truly important. – Matt

I just wanted you to know that this was one of my HIGHLIGHTS of December!  – Julie

A friend signed me up for these gifts and I enjoyed opening each one. Thank you for your thought-provoking words. They will stay with me throughout the year. – Randi

This program is a reminder that the best gifts don’t come from the mall or in perfectly wrapped packages. If we want to experience the very best gifts, we have to give ourselves time to pay attention to them even in the craziness of the holidays.

Each year, more and more people send 31 Days of Gifts to friends, family, and co-workers. We’ve had book clubs, corporate offices, community groups, and families spanning the globe participate together. That is just one of the many reasons this program is so dear to my heart.

Gifts of holidays past have included …

• snowflakes
• delight
• gingersnaps
• ease
• happy feet
• photo challenge
• dance party

As you may have guessed these gifts are not physical objects because we all know the best things aren’t things. Click here for a gift from last year to see what I mean. This year will include favorites from the last few years (but none from last year), new gifts and gifts from friends with a few personal messages from me to you.

You deserve the gift of discovering what’s most meaningful to you over the holidays. You deserve a few quiet moments to yourself. You deserve to give yourself permission to make room for the best things … instead of trying to make room for all the things.

Pay what you want …

For the last five years, this program has been offered for $3.10 (ten cents a day), but it is worth so much more. As more people participate, I invest more time and money to make these gifts available and meaningful. If you’ve participated before, you understand the value of the program, but I also know that for some, $3.10 is barely in the holiday budget.

Each year I consider raising the price, but instead, I’d like to leave it up to you. Please pay what you want so everyone can continue to enjoy the gifts they so deserve with a small investment.

Please read these important instructions before joining …

If you are purchasing for yourself:

After you click to join, you will be directed to the purchase page where you will see the minimum price of $3.10. Leave it there or enter a new dollar amount to pay what you want. After you complete your purchase, check your inbox for an email inviting you to confirm your subscription. Please confirm your subscription to receive your gifts.

If you are purchasing for friends, family, and co-workers, please follow these 3 steps:

1. click here or the red “join now” button below.
2. edit the price to pay what you want (minimum $3.10 per name). You won’t be able to adjust the quantity, only the price. For example, if you are purchasing for 3 people, don’t change the quantity, but edit the price to a minimum of $9.30.
3. Complete the purchase and send your receipt to courtney@bemorewithless.com with the names and email addresses of your gift recipients. I will add them to the 31 Days list. You’ll receive a welcome letter to send to your recipients too.

Questions

Q: When do I receive my first gift?
December 1st the day after you sign up if it’s later than December 1st. If you join in December, you’ll find all prior gifts listed in your first email.

Q: How will my gift recipients know I sent them this as a gift?
Once you confirm your subscription, you’ll receive a welcome letter to share with them. It’s really important to let them know to expect emails from courtney@bemorewithless.com or they may think it’s junk mail.

Q: Is there a deadline to join?
I recommend joining as soon as possible so you can start receiving gifts on December 1st, but you can register anytime in December and still have access to all 31 gifts.

Q: How do I access gifts I missed?
I’ll list all the gifts in each email with links so can go back to gifts you missed or ones you want to revisit.

Q: Do I need special login information or a password?
No. Everything will be delivered via email.

Q. I didn’t receive my first gift yet. Where is it?
Please check your promotions folder or spam folder. If you still don’t have it, please contact me and I will help.

Q: This isn’t a question, but I need help!
Great, I’m happy to help! email me: courtney@bemorewithless.com

Gentle reminders and joyful recommendations will guide you through December with wonder and simplicity. Use these gifts to engage in the best parts of your holiday experience.

If you can’t see or click the “join now” button above, please click here to join.

The post 31 Days of Gifts: for a more peaceful, loving, intentional holiday season appeared first on Be More with Less.

Now things are different. I do the holidays differently (like I do my life differently) … with more love and intention. I don’t want to “survive” the holiday season or “get through” it. I want to embrace it. I’ve written about my gentle warrior’s take on busyness, work, and navigating trying times and thought I’d see what the holiday’s look like through the heart of a gentle warrior.

A Gentle Warrior’s Guide to Embracing the Holidays

This guide is a list of my non-negotiables, especially when I struggle with the call of more. I hope it encourages you to create your own list and to embrace the holidays with your own heart of a gentle warrior.

1. I will double-down on healthy habits.
Instead of abandoning the things I know are good for me in the name of enjoying the holiday season, I’ll double-down and dig in deeper. I’ll sleep 7-8 hours a night, practice my morning routine daily, add an extra meditation session each day, and spend more time nourishing my body, heart and soul.

Be a gentle warrior.
Build in extra time to take care of you, even if that means leaving the party early. This Zen saying sums it up, “You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day. Unless you’re too busy, then you should sit for an hour.” If you aren’t sure how to take care of yourself, try one of these recommendations.

2. I will not say yes when my heart says no.
Most of the time, when presented with an opportunity or invitation, I know the answer. My heart knows long before I take time to consider what I’ll say. When I think about saying yes when my heart says no, I can feel it in my body. I might clench my teeth, squeeze my hands, or feel stress where there should only be light. For many years, I ignored those outside signs of inside struggle, but now I pay attention.

Be a gentle warrior.
Protect your heart and say no with a kind smile. Instead of saying yes when your heart says no, be honest. Your no doesn’t need a lengthy explanation or apology. Saying no more honestly will give you a chance to say yes and allow you to show all the way up for people you love and work you care about.

3. I will choose presence over presents.
I’m not opposed to exchanging gifts, but I am opposed to the attempt of buying or proving love with gifts. I’m opposed to compromising our budgets, schedules, and well-being in search of the perfect presents. I know there is nothing I can buy to show someone how much I love them. Love doesn’t work like that.

Be a gentle warrior.
Give and receive gifts with love and gratitude but remember that love isn’t inside the box. You can’t prove how much you love someone by giving them a present.

4. When it comes to people pleasing, I’ll start with me.
I love to make people happy but after years of putting myself at the bottom of the list, I’ve realized that if I don’t start with me, treating others with the love and kindness they deserve isn’t sustainable. I’m better to the people around me when I take care of myself.

Be a gentle warrior.
Instead of thinking you are disappointing others, remind them to notice what’s important in their own lives by honoring what’s important in yours.

5. I won’t try to cram it all in.
I’m not going to bake all the cookies, buy all the things, go to all the events or even see all the people I want to see over the holidays. When I try to do everything, I don’t enjoy anything and when everything is important, nothing is.

Be a gentle warrior.
Be lovingly selective. Choose less. Give your time, energy, dollars and love to what matters most to you.

6. I will live in priority … on a day-to-day basis.
You know how I feel about the word busy, so it pains me to say that I’m in a busy season. My new book comes out December 26th so I am doing interviews, writing guest posts, recording the audiobook, planning a book tour and putting together the details on a crazy contest (you won’t believe what I’m giving away). I’m also working on A Simple Year (early registration closes in less than a week) and 31 Days of Gifts You so Deserve is coming up. I almost nixed 31 Days this year, but it is so dear to my heart and part of the way I move through the month of December next to you with more peace, love and joy.

Working on those big projects means letting go of other things and deciding what that looks like on a day-by-day basis. It also means working with others, asking for help, and not beating myself up when it feels like I fall short. Because I won’t compromise sleep for work, if it doesn’t get done, it doesn’t get done.

Be a gentle warrior.
If you are in a busy season, spend time each morning or evening and take a good look at your day. What’s important? What’s not? Be flexible knowing things may change and gentle with yourself as you navigate through the extra things. Give yourself permission to let go over and over again.

7. I will make room for magic.
Just because I have empty space on my calendar doesn’t mean I am going to fill it with appointments and obligations. I don’t say no because I’m so busy. I say no because I don’t want to be so busy. Especially in this busier season of work and holidays, white space is more important than ever. I want room to curl up with a cup of tea and a good book, or time to create a magical holiday playlist and listen to it while I walk through the city and watch the snow fall. I want room to cancel everything for the day and go ski after an overnight snowstorm and room to do nothing at all.

Be a gentle warrior.
It’s in the quiet moments, and in the white space that you are open to magic. Create that for yourself. Make room for magic and comfort and joy.

8. I will not apologize for my crooked star.
The star on our Christmas tree is usually crooked. I love our little star, but it will not sit straight on a tree. I used to try to straighten it, but after a few days of the dog barreling into the tree, the cats using it as their own personal playground, or the door shutting too hard, the star would be crooked again. Instead of aiming for perfection, I embrace our crooked star. I don’t try to fix it or make it look like all the other stars and I won’t apologize for it when people mention it’s a little off-center.

It’s like me, like all of us … imperfect, unique, messy and perhaps a little off-center. It reminds me to let go and let things be what they will be, and let people be who they are.

Be a gentle warrior.
Embrace your inner or outer crooked stars. When we are willing to share ourselves as we are instead of who we think people expect us to be, and before we’ve got everything straightened out, we give others a chance to see us for who we really are, to fall in love with us, and perhaps to share their own crooked stars.

The most meaningful holiday seasons aren’t the ones with the most presents, the best meals, the craziest parties and the least amount of sleep. We find meaning in the holidays and all of our days when we create space to listen to our hearts, time to believe in magic, and the love, health and presence to show all the way up for our lives.

The post A Gentle Warrior’s Guide to Embracing the Holidays appeared first on Be More with Less.

If you’d like to show up for your life too, this is what I recommend. These are things I’ve done that have made the biggest difference and allowed me to be fully present for what matters to me. These aren’t listed in order of importance. This isn’t a competition or a race and these are all practices I continue to revisit and refine. Experiment, be curious, be gentle with yourself and remember you aren’t doing this to have a simple life, you are doing it to have a life – a life you want to show up for and experience with your whole heart.

1. Make a little space.
When everything is important, nothing is. Start to show up for your life by making room for it. Make a little space by clearing some distractions from your living space, your working space, and from your calendar. This doesn’t mean you have to get rid of everything right way. Even 5% less will make a difference. When you pre-order my new book Soulful Simplicity, you’ll receive a special PDF I created called, Soulful Space: 10 Ways to Create more Space in Your Heart and Your Home. It’s important to create space on the inside and the outside.

2. Eat better food.
It’s hard to show up for your life when you are tired, lack clarity or don’t feel well. This almost always comes back to food. What you eat has a direct impact on how you feel and how you experience your life. I don’t want to recommend a specific diet, but instead recommend that you learn what foods make you feel the best (and the worst). Try a nutritional reset like the Whole 30, eliminating common trigger foods like sugar, dairy, grains, alcohol and others. Notice how you feel when you add them back to your diet. You might also try keeping a food diary including how you feel each day. Look back after 30 days and see if you notice any patterns. When you are mostly eating food that is best for your body, you will sleep better, have more consistent energy throughout the day and feel more alive.

3. Put your phone down.
Our digital devices add value to our lives but they also steal us from our lives if we let them. When you put your phone down, you can notice your surroundings, listen to your heart, and make eye contact. You can pay attention to what is right in front of you. Without the distraction of our digital devices we are less scattered and more focused. There are plenty of things we can do to manage digital usage like turning off notifications or switching on airplane mode but the only way to show all the way up for the life right in front of us is to put the phone down.

4. Dress with less.
Deciding what to wear requires mental energy better spent on other things. Clean out your closet for good, create a uniform, or try minimalist fashion challenge Project 333. By choosing what to wear from a small capsule wardrobe, you’ll get to wear your favorite things everyday and eliminate decision fatigue. Save your brain power for more meaningful decisions, creative ideas and problem solving throughout the day.

5. Morning routine.
Sometimes my morning routine is hours of writing, walking, yoga, and meditation. When I travel or have an early morning meeting, my morning routine is a shorter version of writing and meditation or just walking. Consistency is more important than intensity when creating a morning routine that fuels your day and helps you show up for your life. Here are 10 teeny tiny things you can do to start your morning routine.

6. Do less.
When you are overwhelmed, tired or stressed … the solution is less. Get rid of something on your calendar, something on your to-do list, something on your mind, and something on your heart. Let go of the idea that you have to get it all done or who you are is somehow measured by what you cross off your to-do list. You are so much more than that.

Simplicity is the way back to love because it gives us the time, space and presence we desire to show all the way up for our beautiful, messy, magnificent lives.

The post How to Show Up for Your Life appeared first on Be More with Less.

We don’t need to go full on bah humbug, but creating boundaries with holiday budgets will allow us to engage in the best parts of the season. Those best parts look different for everyone, but moving through the end of the year with more intention will allow us to be healthier, happier and more loving to ourselves and everyone around us.

Avoid holiday burnout by creating holiday budgets:

Money
Even if you’ve already begun (or finished) holiday gift shopping, it’s not too late to budget your dollars for holiday spending. This starts by having a better understanding of how much money comes in and goes out each month. Sometimes we ignore the facts and hope that everything goes ok, but seeing the real numbers will be a relief. Even if it’s not what you expected or had hoped for, you can act with the facts instead of being fearful about your money situation.

If you are in debt or looking for a better way to manage your money, consider Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover. Don’t wait until January to address money issues just because the holidays are coming. Taking action now will prevent buyer’s remorse, financial emergencies and a spending hangover in the new year.

Once you have a good picture of your current financial situation, create your holiday budget. List all the extras you spend money on this time of year. Include gifts, entertainment, travel, donations, decor, extra shopping or beauty appointments, and anything else that comes to mind. Estimate how much each thing will cost. Include what you’ve already spent.

Add it all up, look at the total number and ask these two questions:

1. Can I afford it?
2. Is this how I want to spend my money?

If the answer to either of those questions is no, go back to your list of holiday spending and list the items in order of what’s most important to you. Then begin eliminating from the bottom up until you can answer yes to both questions.

Time
If your calendar gets a little crammed between now and the end of the year, decide what really matters to you. Create your time budget like you create your money budget. First, write down an honest assessment of how you spend your time now. If you want a deep dive into how you really spend your time, track it in 15 or 30 minute increments with Author Laura Vanderkam’s time tracking sheets available here. Next, list all the extra ways you spend your time over the holidays. Include shopping (online too), time at the post office, throwing parties, attending parties, family events, work events, volunteer work, travel and anything else you spend extra time on during the holidays.

Look at your list of extra time spent and ask these two questions:

1. Can I afford it?
2. Is this how I want to spend my time?

If the answer to either of those questions is no, go back to your list of the extra ways you spend your time and list the items in order of what’s most important to you. Then begin eliminating from the bottom up until you can answer yes to both questions.

Attention
This one is harder to measure but how you spend it will determine how you experience the holiday season. How will you give your attention? You can’t be with everyone, everywhere enjoying everything. So where will you be? Do you want to do as much as possible thinly spreading your attention around or will you consider doing less and showing all the way up for what you love?

For your attention budget, make 2 lists. The first list will be all the things you’d like to experience over the holidays including people you want to spend time with, places you want to visit, and things you want to see or do. These are the things you want to give your full attention to. The second list is the things you don’t want to do. These are the things you often do, people you see, and things you say yes to even though your heart says no. You don’t typically appreciate or enjoy things on this list. You may spend extra time on your phone or zoning out when doing these things, or resent the fact that you have to pay attention to these things at all. You might also feel indifferent about the stuff on the second list but turn on auto-pilot and go through the motions so not to rock any boats.

Next, narrow down the 2 lists. What are the most important things to fully engage in on the first list? What are the most important things to decline on the second list? Now you know where your heart is. Give it to what matters to you now.

Bonus step: Go back to your lists. Is taking care of yourself on any of your lists? If not, add it in at the top of each list and see what else has to drop off to make room for you. If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of anyone else.

We shouldn’t have to completely deplete our resources to enjoy the holiday season. In fact, they become more meaningful when we don’t.

______________

Coming up … 

I’ll be in Boise for the Tiny Wardrobe Tour on November 16th. Tickets available here.

Simple Year 2018 is available for early registration. Save $50 off the regular registration rate by joining by November 14th. Learn more and join here.

I recorded a video interview with Leo Babauta of Zen Habits for his new Habit Mastery Course. Learn more about that here.

Join me today (Tuesday) at 6pm Eastern for a Facebook Live chat about simplifying travel over the holidays.

The post Holiday Budgets: for your money, time and attention appeared first on Be More with Less.

Letting go of shoes that gave me blisters and made me walk funny was paralyzing because I had paid so much for them. I felt the shame of spending money I didn’t have to buy shoes I didn’t wear. I felt that shame each time I tried to wear the shoes, and every month when the credit card bills rolled in.

When I finally went through my sentimental items including years of memory boxes, report cards from elementary school, concert ticket stubs, love letters, my daughter’s first bathing suit and countless photographs I felt guilty for not honoring those memories. Why were they stuck in boxes in the garage?

It’s usually not until we begin to clear clutter that we realize how connected to it we are. We don’t understand how much power our stuff has over us until we let it go.

I felt silliness, shame, or guilt around my clutter before I let it go, but the stuff itself distracted me from connecting the dots. I didn’t understand that I felt bad on the inside because of the stuff on the outside. If I felt too bad, I’d just buy more stuff to feel better. And then I’d hold on again … with my time, attention, money and emotions. When I finally let go of the stuff, I felt the feelings attached one last time and then let them go too. Now I have more space on the outside and the inside.

When people ask me where to start simplifying, I usually say, “Start anywhere, you can’t start in the wrong place” but if I had to pick a place to start, I’d recommend starting with the stuff. Declutter your home. Create space for how you want to live. Francine Jay, Author of The Joy of Less says, “Your home is living space not storage space.”

In A Simple Year, the year-long course beginning January 2nd we start with clutter too. It’s how we make space to look at the other topics because we aren’t just making space on the outside, but the inside too. Simplicity author, Brooke McAlary teaches us how to clear clutter in the first module. She offers room-by-room checklists and downloadable labels too for the boxes you’ll be filling as you clear clutter from your home and your heart.

Many members continue to work on their clutter throughout the year, but they create a solid foundation in that first month to look at each topic with more clarity. From there we move on to simplifying busyness, digital clutter, cooking, travel, mindfulness, money, self-care, relationships, eating, gifts, and gratitude. With 12 months of guided simplicity, you can decide how best to invest your time.

Someone recently asked for feedback on this Facebook Post from current Simple Year members to see if they thought the course was worth the investment. I blocked their names here, but this is what they had to say:

The post Be Clutter Free: Clear out the clutter inside and out appeared first on Be More with Less.

And sometimes we think about our wardrobe when we get emails with special offers, or noticing trend alerts while flipping through a magazine or scrolling through social media. It’s different for each of us, but other triggers to think about our clothes include changing seasons, moods, and upcoming events.

Whatever our different triggers and thoughts are, I’m sure we can all agree that we spend too much time thinking about what we wear.

Streamline wardrobe decisions with these 3 simple shifts

1. Dress with less.
Limit your decision-making with fewer choices. Store or donate items that don’t fit your body or your lifestyle and only choose from your favorites each day. If you need help with closet chaos, try finally cleaning out your closet for good.

2. Create uniforms.
Eliminate decisions by creating uniforms. For instance, wear the same outfit when you travel. Choose one or two looks for date night, community meetings or other repeat events and occasions. For example, I wear a t-shirt, leggings, sweater and scarf when I travel and I wore the same black dress to every formal event for years saving a bunch of time, money and energy.

3. Shift your focus.
Notice your thoughts around what you wear. Shift your focus when you think any of the following:

• I have nothing to wear.
• I’m bored with my wardrobe.
• I deserve something new.
• Everyone will notice I’m wearing this again.

Instead remind yourself that you have enough and that you have more important things to focus on, Remember that shopping for new clothes won’t cure boredom (curiosity does that), that you deserve way more than something new to wear AND no one cares what you wearing.

These 3 shifts will help you streamline wardrobe decisions so you can devote your time and attention to what really matters to you.

The post Streamline Wardrobe Decisions with these 3 Simple Shifts appeared first on Be More with Less.

Instead, I turned things around one slow change at a time. Some changes took a few days and others took years. With each change, I felt a little lighter and more motivated to keep going. Consistency was more important than intensity. Instead of overnight or fast and furious, my simplicity has happened inch-by-inch, thing-by-thing, dollar-by-dollar, one day at a time.

The benefits of simplicity one day at a time …

While not sexy or glamorous, there are benefits to simplicity one day at a time. Because the change has time to become a habit, it lasts. Here are a few other benefits:

Less stress
I started simplifying in response to a devastating diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. When I found out stress exacerbates MS symptoms, I realized how stress negatively impacts other physical, mental, and emotional health conditions too. From a simple headache to something more serious like an anxiety disorder, stress makes things worse. Making change to reduce stress in a way that caused more stress to me and my family didn’t make sense. A slower, more thoughtful approach took longer but felt better. Gentle change isn’t stressful.

More flexibility
When we try to change things quickly, we don’t allow for how things may unfold in life. Slower change leaves room for more flexibility, with less focus on the final outcome and more joy along the way. We can shift as we learn more about ourselves and the changes we are making when we take our time.

Less regret
Fast and furious change doesn’t give us a chance to fully appreciate why we want to change in the first place. We often slide back to our old ways when we approach change with a lack of purpose. Instead of being curious about how to approach things differently, it’s easier to beat ourselves up and regret our failed attempt to change.

With a more deliberate approach and a meaningful reason to change, we can continually remind ourselves why we are dedicated to something new and different even when things get tough.

More joy
Simplifying shouldn’t cause fear of suffering and sacrifice. I’m not interested in comparing or competing for the life I want to live. The changes we make should add joy, love, and happiness to our lives. It’s up to us to approach change in a way that encourages joy, love and happiness. We don’t have to wait until we change and fix everything to enjoy the goodness. Finding ways to appreciate the good stuff now will ensure even more positive change in the future.

Simple Year 2018 – 12 months of guided simplicity

If you are ready for slow, steady and supported change, consider A Simple Year. For the 5th year, A Simple Year returns inviting you to join in for 12 months of guided simplicity with our wise and thoughtful contributors. They’ve been through what they are teaching each month. They walk the walk. They’ve made mistakes, slipped and started over. They’ve learned what works and how to approach change and they are excited to share what they know with you. What I love most about our contributors is they care. They truly care about their work and your journey.

You can find a full description of the 2018 monthly contributors and topics at simpleyear.co, but here’s a quick glimpse of what to expect.

Each month we’ll cover a single topic so you can focus on one change at a time. The content will include written articles, audio and video recordings and live Q & A webinars. Topics include clutter, busyness, digital, cooking, travel, mindfulness, money, self-care, relationships, cooking, gifts and gratitude.

Because we know that a year may only be the beginning of the big, beautiful changes you want to make, you’ll have life-time access to the course. At the end of the year we’ll send you a PDF with all of the lessons and recordings so you can revisit topics and dig deeper when the time is right for you.

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When you pre-order the book, you’ll get:

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