de·clut·ter (diːˈklʌtə)
verb.
maybe you should declutter too
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Every year now I choose a word – sometimes, two – to guide me, both in my personal and professional life. Then I compare it to the word that summarizes my year. For instance, my 2021’s guiding word was growth but, at the year end, another showed up: mistake.
Last year was about consistency, yet I ended the year with priority in my mind. This year I choose declutter.
And maybe – just maybe – you should choose it too.
One of the main difficulties we face these days is information overload. I told you about it before, when I wrote about being overwhelmed too. With hundreds of stimuli hitting us each minute, it is no wonder we struggle to focus, our vision gets blurred, and we can’t tell priorities from accessories.
There’s excess all over. There is clutter all around us – physical and mental – preventing us from moving forward, from taking action, from getting to where we want to get.
You can do anything once you stop trying to do everything
This was the quote that made me realize I was taking up too much, “biting off more than I could chew”, focusing on a lot at the same time. I used to define so many priorities that nothing was a priority.
Whether it’s fluency or another goal, you need to prioritize. You have to distinguish essentials from accessories. But after doing that, you’d better remove the excess. Otherwise, you’ll mistake them again.
This year I choose to declutter. What about you? Which word do you choose for 2023?