Blog submitted by Regina Lark, PhD

Over the past few weeks I’ve reached a conclusion that in order to grow – personally and professionally – I will need to make significant changes to how I do certain things.

Change is hard, and sometimes feels impossible. As hard it seems, I’m coming to realize this: if I always do what I’ve always done, I will always get what I’ve always had. And in some areas of my life, what I’ve always had is no longer acceptable.

As I think about what I want to change, what needs to change, and what I probably should change, I’m also recognizing this: thinking about it is one thing; starting it… quite another.

Spiraling through what is now becoming a long “to do” list, I reflect upon my cluttered and disorganized clients. They too want to make big changes: nearly to a person they long for a life without the chaos that clutter tends to bring. They are caught in a particular way of thinking, stubbornly so, and the result becomes what we know as the definition of insanity: doing the same thing, expecting different results. And so we get stuck.

Not moving forward on our desire for change, is, I think, the result of being fearful of what change looks like on the other side. The clutter is a known entity. What life without clutter may look like… our clients don’t have a clue! Logically then, in order to activate real change in our lives, we have to be fearless.

Consequently, I’ve begun to look at my desire for change through the lens of fearlessness, and I’ll let you in on some of the questions I’m fearlessly asking myself:

• When will I admit that I have had enough of not having what I want?
• What will I have to shed in order to reach my goals?
• Why am I so invested in holding on to an idea that currently doesn’t serve my goals?
• With whom can I work to help me successfully reach my goals?
• Who will I be on the other side of de-cluttering body, mind, spirit?

A big part of moving forward is being completely honest. Being completely honest will require trust. Trust is my reward for being fearless.

Dr. Regina Lark is the owner of A Clear Path: Professional Organizing for Home, Work, Life. As a Certified Professional Organizer she specializes in working with people with chronic disorganization, ADHD, and hoarding. She is also a relocation specialist, helping families move or downsize from one home to the next. She has earned her CPO®, CPO-CD®, and is a graduate of the Organizer Coach Foundation Training Program.  Regina is a speaker and trainer on issues ranging from hoarding to time management. She is the author of two books: Psychic Debris, Crowded Closets: The Relationship between the Stuff in your Head and What’s Under your Bed 3d. ed.(Purple Books, 2017) and, Before the Big O: Professional Organizers Talk about Life Before Organizing (Purple Books, 2014). She is a Board member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals, and a member of the National Speakers’ Association. Regina ran for the office of Lt. Governor in California in 1998, and a year later completed her Ph.D. in history from the University of Southern California. For fun, she plays golf, writes goofy songs about clutter, and sings in a choir.