Love Learn Lead August 22, 2019

Every now and then, I hear a woman my age or older lament that they didn’t have Pinterest when they got married. That it would have been so much easier to plan their wedding if they had been able to pin countless ideas of what to do for centerpieces. But whenever I hear this, I disagree.

Yes, there are certainly benefits to having a million decorative ideas at our fingertips. Especially, for those of us who are design challenged. But what I am finding with Pinterest and so much of our online world, is that on some level, it is causing us to doubt ourselves. By having so many choices, we can easily get paralyzed with the fear that we will make the wrong one.

Knowing too much can be a bad thing.

Whether we’re planning a wedding, a trip, or our future, knowing too much can be a bad thing. Add this to our normal life stressors and events, and it’s easy to feel like our minds are on overload. Having too many thoughts in our heads at once, can make it difficult to know which ones to pay attention to. That is why this week, for the first time, I am offering my Five Steps to Declutter Your Mind—five ways to help us settle our minds, find clarity, and move forward more confidently.

If you would like this helpful resource, sign up here. And, if you would like some further thoughts on this, keep reading for today’s Love, Learn Lead.

Love

A few years ago, Tony bought us sleep masks for our trip to Italy. We had an overnight flight, and wanted to sleep on the plane so we weren’t exhausted for our first day in Venice. I had never worn a sleep mask before, but I thought I’d give it a try.

I loved it!

As someone who needs complete darkness to fall asleep, these masks were incredible. So much so, that now I use them in my everyday life. On busy weeks where I may not get enough sleep and need a nap, or when the sun comes up on a weekend morning I can sleep in—I put on the mask and it helps me sleep so much better.

An important piece of Decluttering Our Mind, is giving it the rest it needs to think clearly.

What tools or conditions do you need to better your sleep habits?

Learn

One of the biggest lessons I had to learn to practice healthy self care, and to bring myself to a place where I could Declutter My Mind, was to ask for help. Sometimes, our schedules are too full to take the steps necessary to give our minds—and our whole selves—a rest. We’re caught up in a lie that we have to do everything ourselves, and it’s killing us.

Do you want to know what surprised me most about asking for help? People were more than willing!

But do you want to know what surprised me most about asking for help? People were more than willing! In some cases, they were excited. At work, by taking some things off my plate and empowering those around me to do them—I was giving them the opportunity to grow. At home, by sharing with my friends I was feeling isolated, they were able to say that they too felt isolated. Soon, we were meeting weekly for dinner. Sometimes, our needs aren’t being met not because our people aren’t there for us, but because we aren’t speaking up.

Where and how do you need to ask for help?

Lead

“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes… and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.”

—Eleanor Roosevelt