So many people embark on projects to make changes in their lives, only to get detoured or bogged down in the numerous other things that are in their lives. These can be physical blocks, such as a cluttered living room or kitchen but they can also be emotional issues, mental clarity or personal relationships. Here is a 10-point guide to simplifying your life of the obstacles that stand between you and fulfillment of your vision.

1. Empty Your Brain If you’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, it can be liberating to empty your brain of your internal “to-do” list and emotional baggage. Hire a coach to verbalize all the things you have to do, haven’t done, and the feelings that go along with all of that.

You can also lighten your mental load by writing down or journaling the stuff that is taking up mindspace. At this point, you don’t have to take any action on it. The objective is to clear it from your head. It frees up your brain so you can then start planning and taking action with more clarity and less negativity.

2. Get Rid of the Human Vampires Eliminate relationships that are sucking the energy out of you. Even if they are family members that you cannot avoid altogether, take steps to limit your time with them and set boundaries around what activities you allow them to engage you in.

Be honest in your evaluation. Who is helping you and who is dragging you down? Who is eating up your time and giving nothing back? Who makes you feel good, supported and energized? Anyone who adds value to your life stays in and everybody else goes away.

3. Lighten Your Heart Getting closure on the past and relationships can unburden you of emotional baggage that is weighing down your heart and spirit. Forgive and forget. Let it go. Call that person up or write them a letter you never send, but get over it. Work with a mental health professional if necessary but you can’t move on if you’re stuck in yesterday. Why continue to rob yourself of tomorrow by living in the past?

4. Clean House A big part of simplifying is to declutter your physical landscape. Start with one small area like the kitchen counter or junk drawer and finish it in one shot. Focus your energy on this one space; don’t think about the messy garage or bedroom closet.

You can even invest extras into your small project such as putting in a drawer liner or organizing tray. This may encourage you to protect it from future clutter. It’s important to come up with a system as you organize and also to take steps to prevent clutter from even coming into your home. You can contact catalog companies and ask to be removed from their mailing lists, enroll in online billing and take other proactive steps to keep the clutter inflow to a minimum.

5. Get a Healthy Body While you are getting rid of the junk around your house, examine your eating and health habits and start eliminating the junk there, too. Along with limiting caffeine, sugar and alcohol, look at eliminating junk food, tobacco and any other thing that ages, erodes, clogs up or adds weight to your body and puts your health at risk.

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