3 Ways to Revitalize Your Life Without a Major Overhaul: Effective Strategies for Lasting Results and Mental Clarity

If you’re looking for a true fresh start in your life, you may be envisioning a whole new space, a whole new career, or a whole new location to escape to so you can start from scratch.

But sometimes all we really need is to feel like we’re back in control of our chaotic lives - and instead of entering a whole new chapter, simply need to hit refresh on wherever we are in life.

Here are some effective ways to feel like you’re back at the helm and have a clean slate, without a huge overhaul:

1. Clear out unnecessary clutter

Clearing out clutter may bring on some anxiety for those who aren’t sure what to part with (and especially my very sentimental friends.) But it has an almost immediate effect on your brain, bringing you more into the present moment and freeing up space not just in your house, but in your mind. 

Clutter, whether it’s a junk drawer gone mad, a box of photos you’re going to “one day catalog,” or simply the mail pile (this is the one I’m most guilty of,) comes with/brings upon timeline dissociation. You’re simultaneously thinking about old things from the past, and a project that exists in the future, which is a lot for the brain to keep spinning on in the background. 

One of the reasons we amass clutter and resist tackling it is because it’s easier to ignore it altogether and preserve the energy of bringing that project to the foreground and actually make decisions about what to keep and what to let go of. But, once you do, your brain is able to stop spinning on the pending project and move on - kind of like closing that tab that’s been open in your browser for over a month because you’re going to “get around to reading that article soon.”

Once you clear all of that out, there’s a sense of calm that comes from letting go of the associated overwhelm.

2. Decide what you want to be different in the refresh

Identify what’s making you feel like you need to regain control over your life. Is it bad habits spiraling out of control? Good habits not taking hold (or a combination of the two)? Focus your answer on things you can control - not things your kids or husband do that you think contribute to feeling helpless.

Get clear on what exactly is making you feel foggy, uncertain, on edge, or anxious (or, insert any other feeling that’s prompting you to want a reset.) What are the circumstances? What are the facts?

Then ask yourself some key questions. What do you want your day to day to look like? What can stay the same, and what needs a new mechanism or infrastructure for the changes you want to make?

Knowing exactly what you need a refresh on, what you can control, and asking yourself how you can make it happen will put you back in the driver’s seat of your daily life.

3. Rearrange your space

This tip is SO POWERFUL. It might not sound like rearranging your furniture or getting a new rug can change much, but it actually has a profound effect on how your brain perceives the context of your life.

What this means is that, when you enter the same space day after day, your behaviors are encoded in how that room looks, feels, and is situated.

But orienting a room differently to create a new flow can totally disrupt that and allow you to encode new behaviors in the same space.

If every time you hop on the couch you reflexively turn the TV on when you’re trying to fit more reading into your schedule, move some things around or create a specific reading nook on the other side of the room.

Whatever changes you’re looking to make in your refresh, sprucing up your space just enough so that it feels different can give your brain enough of a new context to take them on.

Last but not least…

If hitting refresh is what you’re after, it couldn’t hurt to do some daily meditation or journaling - at least until you get into your new groove and feel back at the helm of your day-to-day. It’s proven that organizing your thoughts, one way or another, promotes clarity and decreases feelings of overwhelm dramatically. So if you’re serious about lasting results, this tip is your best friend.

If you would like help resetting your life - or writing a whole new chapter - that’s what I specialize in, combining mindset coaching with environment curation so you can feel immediate impact and get sustainable results. Contact me here if you want to learn more about working with me!