Springtime is here! Set yourself up for success with a mental spring cleaning

Each year around springtime, many of us start compiling a list of the things we need to do in order to reset our homes back to balance. You know – the way it was before we started bringing more stuff into our lives, both on a physical and mental level. New clothes, the latest technology – smartphones & TVs, household items and other things we determine as useless once we’ve grown tired of them. The process of accumulation happens pretty quickly throughout the course of a year and by December we’re loaded with things we need to get rid — both physically and mentally.

The official start of spring is punctuated when people start talking about spring cleaning – clearing out the things we no longer need to make room for the new stuff. This includes getting rid of old clothes, clearing leaves from the yard and planting flower beds, cleaning out the veggie garden, and trashing the worn down tools and old items from the garage. It reminds me of the start of the new year when people start clearing out old and useless habits to make way for creating better ones.

Springtime is also the perfect opportunity to start clearing out those old self defeating thoughts and habits that held us back from reaching our goals in the previous year. Yes, we also need to be mindful of resetting ourselves mentally. It’s time to take inventory of those thoughts and negative ideas we tell ourselves and replace them with useful ones that will help us grow mentally, spiritually and physically. It’s time to set your “self” up for success. To get started, think about the thoughts that run on autopilot. Are they good thoughts? Are these thoughts contributing to your success or are they weighing you down? Whichever it is, make note of the things that are serving you and come up with new, productive, and positive thoughts you can replace the idle and negative thoughts with. Starting the springtime with a fresh new perspective will not only renew your mind but it will lead you on a path to a more fulfilling journey that’s not burden down with last year’s junk. Be willing to start fresh. Be willing to go the distance – even if that means creating a daily practice of meditating or journaling. Set yourself up for success by focusing on the new idea of your self. This, in turn, will help you create a mental attitude of positivity and peacefulness.

After you remove the mental clutter, you can experience freedom of thought that may have been previously weighed down by tons of wasteful images, thoughts & ideas. Clean up your mental attitude and do so in the spirit of renewal. Just as each spring we renew the balance in our homes and within our surroundings we should also put effort into renewing our minds. In doing so we position ourselves for success. We open the door for a new perspective and energy that aligns with the start of a new beginning. So, when you officially start spring-cleaning this year, be sure to do a mental sweep, too.