You know that feeling of frustration when you are looking for something, and it’s not where you think you put it? I was having that experience several times a week which motivated me to set a personal goal to get my home more organized (and keep it that way!)
In my quest for order, I started with the closet in my bedroom. Might as well dive into the deep end first, right? I made the usual recommended piles: Donate, Keep, and Trash. I felt like a boss. For a brief moment, I considered whether I missed my calling as a professional organizer. But then, the piles started falling over, so I split them into smaller piles. Then a curious thing happened, I began seeing the need for another unique pile: Ponder Further. Then another popped up: Relocate Elsewhere. And yet another pile formed: Consign. And then subpiles started forming: Keep, But Pack Away for Another Season. Why wasn’t this process as straightforward as I originally thought? Where were the sparks of joy?
I paused to look around and surveyed the piles everywhere. What a mess I had made! This mess seemed far worse than my overstuffed closet. In that moment:
- I felt doubt: What have I gotten myself into?
- I felt fear: What if I can’t get this done, and I have to live this way?
- I felt shame: What if my neighbor comes over and sees this disaster?
But I decided to keep plowing forward with the vision of my clean, organized closet dangling before me like an HGTV reveal after a long commercial break. Truly, the end result was worth all the mess, and I got to thinking:
How often do we give up when we get to the messy middle part of change in our lives?
You decide to do something, and then it gets messy. You hit a challenge or face a crisis or embarrass yourself– and you quit. You quit before seeing your goal through to the end. You tuck tail and run scared. Fear of failure can be paralyzing.
If you stay the course, you can do something amazing. Know this when you find yourself in the messy middle:
- Change is always messy. The middle will often be the messiest part. There will be piles everywhere.
- The path to your end goal may require tweaks along the way, and that’s okay. You make the piles you want.
- The finish line is so worth it. Clean closet or advanced degree or certification or whatever.
When you make it to your goal, you will be amazed at your accomplishment and energized to keep going. Your next goal awaits!