I love a clean house, but I dislike cleaning house. It is a problem, I know, but this week I watched a couple of episodes of "Hoarders," and now I am supremely motivated to clean up my home and my mind.
If you have never watched an episode of this show, let me tell you why I find it fascinating. The extreme hoarders that they feature collect things to suppress and avoid their negative emotions. Most of them have experienced significant tragedy in their life, and their way of coping is to surround themselves with things. Most live with overwhelming hoards of possessions, garbage, insects, and even rat infestations. They work with therapists to help them deal with their emotions so they can, in turn, deal with their hoard.
This show interests me because I see the relationship between cleaning my home and working on my mind. I am not a hoarder, but I do sometimes avoid tedious tasks like washing windows. My brain deserves the same treatment as my home when it comes to spring cleaning. With the pandemic finally coming to an end, I am ready for a clean-up of my house (especially the windows), my goals, and my brain.
Sometimes working on your mind feels impossible. There are so many things going on up there. It is often easier to ignore the thoughts and focus on anything fun. Eating, drinking, and Instagram feel so much better than taking on the overwhelming task of working on yourself. But as we have seen with our hoarding friends, ignoring your mind work leads to brain clutter.
How do I coach myself to work on my brain?
Rekindle my goals. Spring is a great time to double down on those New Years' resolutions that I made in January. It is time to check in with myself and critically look at how I spend my time and energy. (I will not continue expending energy watching Hoarders - for a start.) If I refocus on my goals or resolutions, I will clean up my thinking about my accomplishments and take better steps towards creating my best work.
Work on my stories. We all have these stories that we keep in our minds about ourselves. They are most often negative things that we picked up somewhere in our younger days that haunt us in the present. I have a few of these. One of my main "self stories" is that I am unfocused and easily distracted. If I indulge in this story and believe it to be accurate, it keeps me from focusing and creating for myself. Meditate on your life, find a story that feels true for you, then work to let it go. Believing negative things about yourself does not pay. The sooner you work on cleaning up these brain stories, the sooner you can get moving in your life.
Our homes and our brains need cleaning and care. My dirty windows are a direct reflection of my cluttered brain. So, let's use springtime as a marker for self-reflection and self-improvement.
If you need help with your brain cleaning, I am here for you. Likewise, if you want to help me clean my house — or wash my windows — I am open to that also.
Dr. Julie Cappel
Work with me! https://www.juliecappel.com/coaching
Join me on the Podcast!!!
The Veterinary Life Coach Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
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