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Can you feel the wonder? It’s a season of miracles, light returning, birth, and celebration. It’s also a time of dying, of letting go, of finding the quiet within.

As I’ve been contemplating the end of the year, I feel deeply touched by how much there is to celebrate.

Finding the celebration

In this second year of Inspired Home Office, over 500 people have joined the conversation through my newsletter and an additional 1,500 hearts through Facebook and Twitter. These connections have allowed people struggling with order to find some peace from knowing that disorganization is simply a symptom of creativity. You’re not broken. There is a way through that honors all of who you are.

This year, participation in Inspired Home Office classes has blossomed. Monthly Office Spa Days had over 75 in attendance for the year – many of whom were confessed repeat addicts fans. A record number of people completed the Inspired Organizing program this year. I feel humbled and honored to walk with these courageous, passionate souls – and delighted to hear of the successes they’ve found as a result of our work.

On a personal note of celebration, the successes of Inspired Home Office this year have allowed me to eradicate almost $6000 of credit card debt. This accomplishment brings me a whole 20% closer to my goal of being debt free. Eeeyoop!

Travelers on the journey

If you’re self-employed, you know well that these accomplishments don’t happen without a team of supporters. So many people helped on my path this year, I’m just overflowing with gratitude and want to thank them publicly:

• Mastermind buds: Jenn Givler and Lisa Hunter
• Extraordinary helper friends: Marissa Bracke, Sharon Roemmel, Theresa Cornwell, Havi Brooks, Kitchen Tablers, Joanne Scharer, Kathy Hofmann (a.k.a. Mom)
• Joint venture divas: Jen Louden, Charlie Gilkey, Molly Gordon, Ariane Goodwin
• Teachers that made all the difference: Mark Silver, Lori Cegon, Marcia Bagnall, Scott Sadler, Ann Anderson
• Soulful tech queens: Allie Towers Rice, Wendy Cholbi
• Inspired Spouse: My one and only.
• You. Thank you for showing up, commenting, sharing ideas, and being 100% true to yourself. This wouldn’t be a business without you.

The next mountaintop

In January, Inspired Home Office turns 3 and exciting developments are on the horizon. The business is growing up. She tells me regularly that she wants to tie her OWN shoes and walk to the bus by herself. I’m learning to step out of the way of her growth so that miracles and healing can continue.

However, to push ahead today would deny an essential piece. The business still needs me to show up alive and engaged. As I send this, I’ll be entering the longest vacation I’ve taken in the last 10 years. 17 whole days. Some of which I’ll be on retreat.

While I’m away, I’ll be filling up any empty corners in my heart, surrounding myself with quiet, and coming back to the world renewed. I’ll be thinking of you and holding you in my prayers.

I’m wishing you peace, connection, presence and love this season. I look forward to connecting with you in January. Thank you for an amazing year.

Warm thoughts,
Jennifer

It’s totally human to just keep piling on the “yeah, sure, I’ll do thats” without checking to see whether they line up with reality. Unfortunately, this habit also makes you a pre-holiday spaz.

See, overwhelm is a product of being unconscious about your agreements with yourself (and others). If you create awareness, the overwhelm can dissipate.

Shed a little consciousness on the next week.

Feel like doing a little activity?

• Grab a piece of paper or use the comment box below
• Write down how you’d like to feel this holiday (peaceful, happy, calm, etc.)
• Write down the things you want to accomplish before Christmas Eve (business, personal, etc.)
• Look over the list
• Cross off anything that doesn’t bring you closer to how you want to feel this holiday.

This may seem harsh, but it will help you prevent the overwhelm of having so much to do in a short period of time. It will also prevent the collapsed feeling that often follows.

Tomorrow begins my 16- day vacation. Soon, yours will begin too. What will you consciously cut out so you can have the kind of holiday you truly want?

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I want to thank everyone who commented on the first part of this series. Although I’m sad to know I’m not alone (because of what that means for you), I am happy to know that so many of us are working our way through and out of debt.

An update and tepid celebration

Last month, I owed $30,702. This month, my debt total is $30,162.

And I can feel a big, old depressing sigh escape from me as I type that. Yes, you might cajole me into celebrating the over $600 I made in payments, but… wow. I do want to celebrate that I paid more than minimum balances on all my payments. That felt really good.

I tell you, though, I’m gonna party next month when I get down into the 20’s. Maybe I’ll even give a prize away here or something fun.

So, start practicing your happy wiggle dance. We gonna party like it’s 1999.

Where I’m going with all this

If you own the Wish Kit, you know that the best place to start is at the end. The beginning is too hard and depressing and frustrating. But the end? Ahhh. That’s where all the inspiration and sunshine and roses are.

So, if I were to dream a little, here’s where I envision myself at the end of this process:

• honoring the commitment I made to my parents
• freedom from debt
• depositing all $700 monthly (that’s been going to the credit card companies) into savings or retirement
• (dare I say it) surprising Inspired Spouse with a trip to Hawaii

This seems awesome. However, it’s funny how hard it is to write this description of my future life. I’ve been so identified with having debt, that it’s challenging to imagine my life without it. Just the same, as I wrote this, I could feel my shoulders loosen and my breathing become easy. I felt lighter.

I’m going to keep sitting with that vision and see what else bubbles up. I’ll check in again next month with an update and another insight into the process of becoming debt-free.

Imagine…

What would your life be like without debt?

I welcome your comments on your own financial or debt situation. I also request kindly, firmly, that you not give advice to me or others unless it’s specifically requested. This makes exploring safe and learning possible for every reader.

So. Dreams. Hopes. Visions. What thoughts come up for you as you read this post?

Although you’ll rarely catch me at the mall, I’m a fan of those big kiosks that harbor a colorful, glowing diagram of the entire place.

No matter how lost, there’s a friendly star that tells me where I am.

Knowing where you are helps orient you. It helps you find direction to move forward confidently. It helps you appreciate where you’ve come from.

A map for an inspiring home office

Just for you, I made a map that shows how to create a workspace that nourishes you. It has seven basic steps. (You’ll just have to imagine the glowing colors.)

1. Feeling deeply stuck and unsatisfied.
2. Creating an idea of the workspace you really want.
3. Taking stock of how things are today.
4. Clearing out the things that no longer serve you or your business.
5. Finding intuitive places for the things you want to keep and use.
6. Enjoying a fairly functional, soul-nourishing workspace.
7. Creating fun, intuitive systems for projects and business tasks.

Where are you?

If you’re working on several of these steps at once, that’s totally normal. You may also find that you repeat some steps again and again. No judgment about it, that’s just how it works. It’s a process.

What step(s) are you on today – and how do you feel about it?

(Reminder: Comments before August 24, 2009 enter you to win some fun stuff from Inspired Home Office. Please feel free to participate!)

Have you been asked yet?

If you haven’t already, someone’s going to ask you, “What’s your New Year’s resolution this year?”

A lot of folks roll their eyes because they know that mid-February, we’ve forgotten when we’d even resolved to do.

Why the skepticism? Because changing is hard work. Ask anyone who’s tried and you’ll get ample commiseration.

Finding resolve

The problem with a resolution is that it’s just short of a wish. It can be a positive, healthy idea (losing 10 pounds, stopping nagging, volunteering, etc.) – but often lacks inherent motivation.

Instead of creating a resolution you’ll forget later – or rejecting the whole resolution idea entirely – why not set yourself up for success?

Getting traction

A resolution, first and foremost, must be something you’d love. If it’s punishment or a “should”, it just won’t stick. And then you’ll feel like a failure when you stop. I’ll bet you know that scenario already.

A resolution has to be something so compelling and delightful that you get excited just thinking about it.

Okay, but how does THAT work?

You have places in your life that you want to fix, right? But when you try to “fix” them, (ugh!) nothing happens. You resist. You lose momentum. You forget.

Don’t “fix.” Instead, resolve to do something you’d really love. Because when you allow yourself to do the things you love, suddenly the things you “should” do start getting done all by themselves. It’s magic.

It beats the alternative

You, me, we all do ourselves harm by wrenching our spirits into submission. By declaring that you’ll complete everything you start, for example, you hurt the part of you that needs flexibility. By resolving to clear out every last scrap of paper, you harm the part of you that needs rest.

Life isn’t linear – it’s a long series of course-corrections. So creating a loving, exciting resolution allows you to dance with the process instead of breaking your spirit. Resolving to do something compelling has a different energy and intention to it.

Hiding the pill in the bologna

It might be tempting to play a little game with yourself that attempts to make a “should” more enticing. Your brain asks something like – how can I make clearing out my file cabinet something I love?

You see where I’m going with this?

I call this “hiding the pill in the bologna” (the sneaky way to give dogs their medicine). Your spirit’s going know if you’re trying to manipulate it and the plan will flop. Unless it’s some reeealy good bologna. If you’re thinking along this line, it’s a great thing to notice.

Hiding the pill in the bologna isn’t a vision, it’s just sneaky. And your heart knows it.

Why resolve at all?

There’s something magical about January 1st. We’re just coming out of the darkest days of the year. Despite the predictions for 2009, little green buds of hope are poking out bravely.

January is a clean slate with the bonus gift of wisdom from years past.

Resolutions honor the closure of one year and the opening of a new one. They’re about focusing your intentions and energy toward specific life-affirming goals. And, even though change can be a little scary, you probably like variety in your life. So, why not?

Things to try:

1. Notice if you have a “should” resolution already.

Ask if there’s something The Committee has been harping on you forever. Mental clutter like this is as important to observe as physical clutter.

Maybe you have carried “shoulds” about your workspace, your finances, your body, etc. Just make space to notice if you’ve been forcing results in your life without success.

2. Honor the “shoulds” and let them go.

Take a moment and thank yourself for trying so hard to improve these aspects of your life. Give yourself some much-needed acknowledgment and appreciation for the effort you’ve put in.

Give yourself permission to set these goals aside so that you can discover what would truly be good for you.

3. Find out what you really want.

Ask yourself: What would bring me more peace and contentment in my life and work? What do I need?

Let answers bubble up from within you and jot them down. The ideas you receive are the raw material for creating a compelling, loving, and fun intention for 2009.

By incorporating something you love as your resolution, the “shoulds” will take care of themselves. Try it and see!

Have you ever made a significant change in your workspace? Are you thinking about one?

Whether you’re dreaming about getting a new computer, setting up a website, or rearranging the location of your desk – there is change on your horizon.

Change is good – it means you’re learning and growing your business.

A little nerdy factoid for you: the Latin root of the word “change” is “to barter.” In other words, when you make a change in your workspace, there’s bound to be some negotiating – and it’s mostly an “inside job.”

Who’s bartering for your attention?

When you begin an effort to change something, there is a side of you that liked the old, familiar way of doing things. It has needs that, if addressed, will make the transition easier. And the side of you that’s excited about the future possibilities will also have needs. That’s just how it goes.

If you were to tell one of those two sides “suck it up” – it can make adjusting to the change a lot harder. Imagine how a conversation like that might go with a loved one (I’m guessing not very well). So, be gentle with yourself and your needs when you’re going through a change.

You might have noticed that once you decide to make a change in your workspace that there’s a feeling of momentum and energy behind it. You might feel excited and want to stop everything and set it up as soon as you think of it.

The trick is to use this momentum to your advantage.

Feeling stuck instead of psyched?

If you want to change something about your office or business processes – and you don’t feel momentum, make a mental note of this. If you feel draggy or apathetic, that’s really okay. It’s even normal. The steps below will help you discover what’s missing and the apathy will dissolve.

3 steps that disarm resistance

1. Think about where you want to end up.

Think about a change you want to make in your workspace that will have a positive impact on your business and how you feel in your workspace.

Write or think about what impact the change will have on your work experience. How will you benefit from making it? How will your office feel once you do? How will you feel?

2. What are the challenges you face when it comes to making this change?

You might have time constraints or financial ones. You might be resistant to learning something new. You may feel like you don’t have enough information or support to take the next step.

3. Decide what your next step will be.

Remember those needs I mentioned? Now’s a great time to give them some thought. To make the transition smoother for you, what do you need? Once you know this, you can create a plan.

If you’re the kind of person that likes to write out all the steps, go for it. But if you can’t see very far ahead, that’s okay too. Figure out what your very next step will be, and take it.

You notice the display at Office Big Box has furniture that look so organized and tidy.

You drool over the latest office feature in Martha’s magazine that looks so adorably perky.

The green-eyed monster has moved into your office and has taken over whatever semblance of  confidence you may have had.

How’d that happen?

It’s natural to look around you for solutions – especially if you’re stuck or dissatisfied with something in your life. And while searching for ideas and inspiration is great, it’s downright depressing to look at how others do it and compare theirs to yours.

“That’s so expensive, I don’t have that kind of money to spend.”
“That looks impossibly neat, I could never keep my office as clean as she does.”
“My office isn’t that big, I don’t have anywhere to put anything!”
“I’ve got so much paper and stuff, I could never get my office to look like that.”

Do these comments sound depressingly familiar?

Or, worst of all, there’s:

Thank God no one sees my office.

Comparison, unveiled.

When you compare, you see differences. And they keep you stuck. Comparison can make you feel badly about how your office looks, your self worth, and even doubt whether you’re an effective business owner. Comparison can become a downward spiral of self-doubt and self-loathing.

If you feel some of those terrible feelings about yourself or your office, you’re not alone.

The answers aren’t out there. They’re in here.

If you’re struggling to put order and beauty in your workspace, I want to let you in on a secret: the key is inside you.

You can look at a million websites for ideas and read dozens of books about organizing, but all that information will not change how your office looks or feels. I’ll bet you already know that.

If you’re looking outside of yourself for answers, you’re missing out on a valuable resource: your own wisdom.

Self-defining vs. comparison

All those people you were comparing yourself to? They all had something in common:

• Your best buddy knew what she wanted.
• The Office Big Box furniture designers knew what they wanted.
• That Martha Stewart – she knew what she wanted (doesn’t she always?).

It’s not like they all had some magic formula that you can’t access. Each of them had a vision – and then they created it in real life.

Find your vision

To banish the green-eyed monster and gain back your workspace mojo, here are 3 practical steps to take:

1. Ask yourself what you want.

What is it you need to work peacefully in your office? No matter how far from it you may feel, write it down or draw a picture of it – and describe it in as much detail as possible.

The purpose of doing this is to forge a clear idea of what your perfect office is like. When you see ideas in magazines, they become tools rather than deterrents to your progress.

2. Figure out what your parameters are.

What’s your budget, space needs, storage needs, etc. This puts your vision into real-life perspective.

3. Start taking small steps toward your vision.

Once you’re clear, the best thing to do is take action. Sitting on your hands will just make you frustrated. What’s one small thing you can accomplish toward your vision? What’s a tiny thing you can do today?

The important thing is to focus on small steps, because they add up. And they’re so much more compassionate.

Even though I’m pretty savvy with computers, I needed to get this idea on paper. BIG paper. I wanted to scribble and draw and use my whole body in the creative idea-generating process. I was so jazzed.

Then I looked around my office and crud! - there was nothing to write on!

Lemons into lemonade

So, I got out an old roll of wrapping paper and taped it to the wall, white-side out.  Tentative at first, I scratched out the basic idea and then excitedly filled in the gaps with broad, colorful strokes. It was great! It was huge!

This was the first step I took in getting my business, Inspired Home Office, off the ground. That wrapping paper stayed up for the first 6 months of my business’ life, serving as a guide. A visual reminder. A map.

When I stopped needing it, I took it down, rolled it back up and used it for holiday presents (talk about recycling!).

If you can see it, you can do it.

Have you ever had the urge to plan a big project, but got stuck?

Anytime you’re planning something big and involved, you need three things:

• A clear, invigorating idea of where you want to go
• Specific steps to get you there
• A way of reminding yourself what’s next and tracking what you’ve completed

Personalizing what you need

With these 3 things as your guide, you can plan and execute a project any way you like. How would you like to track your big projects?

Here are 3 tracking variations I’ve seen – and the basic elements that each one entails. Which one sounds most like you?

Neat and tidy

• Big picture plans turned into into specific, measurable goals
• Breaking goals down into steps
• Put all of the steps in your system with timelines
• Follow up at the end and evaluate

Big and messy

• Huge wall charts on butcher paper with markers
• Dry erase boards, cork boards, and lots of stickies
• Ideas represented by colors, symbols, and shapes
• Oversize calendars with important dates circled

A combination of both

• A map or mindmap that’s broken down into smaller steps
• Aspects of the neat and the messy, tidy and big mixed together
• Systems that blend your creative mind and your planning mind

Reflect and listen

Do any of these 3 descriptions sound like you – or how you’d like to be? Have you attempted some of these, but feel disappointed with either the lack of clarity or results?

If your projects feel haphazard at best or remain incomplete for long periods of time, ask yourself:

What do I need that would help me love staying on track?

Listen deeply and you’ll be surprised by the ideas that come to you.

Have you been asked yet?

If they haven’t already, you know someone’s going to ask you, “What’s your New Year’s resolution this year?”

A lot of folks roll their eyes because they know that, come mid-February, we’ve forgotten what we’d even resolved to do.

Why the skepticism? Because changing is hard work.

Does deciding make change happen?

Unfortunately, sometimes merely deciding isn’t enough.

A client of mine recently resolved to give up smoking (I’m so proud). But because nicotine is an addictive drug, she’s had to do a lot more than just decide. Can you imagine?! It’s a daily, sometimes minute-by-minute commitment to choose one thing over another.

She’s reaching out for support, has a clear goal, and a specific plan. Yup, it helps a lot when you have a plan.

A Resolution Revolution

The problem with a resolution is that it’s just short of a wish. It can be a positive, healthy idea (losing 10 pounds, stopping nagging, writing more letters, etc.) – but often lacks a coherent game plan.

I’ve been proudly following my Patriots winning season this year (say what you will about recorded calls and a historic “fumble”). They have a huge goal: another Super Bowl.

And they plan – one step at a time – to get to their destination.

You can get there.

Instead of creating a resolution your forget later – or rejecting the whole resolution idea entirely – why not set yourself up for success?

There’s a camp of folks that say that a goal should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-specific. When a goal has all 5 of these attributes, it’s easier to understand where you have to go – and recognize when you’ve arrived.

But you still need one more thing…

The missing link

The plan of action.

Let’s say you resolve to increase your income for 2008. Your SMART goal could be something like: “After expenses, I want to make $2,500 monthly (or more) for 10 out of 12 months in 2008.” Sounds great! Yay, you!

Your plan of action will then list out the details of how this will happen. Will you cut down on some expenses? Will you complete the product you’ve been working on? Will you offer a class or promote your services in a new way?

Writing down the steps that will get you from where you are today to your destination is the best way to actualize your resolution.

Things to try

1. Write your plan down and post it somewhere visible

I love dry erase or wipe-off markets for this. Last year I bought wrapping paper on clearance and used the blank side to create a wall chart for my goals. You could use a bulletin board or clipboard if space is more limited. Making your plan interactive and visually appealing helps keep it fresh.

2. Set up a reminder system to help you stay accountable

If your enthusiasm tends to wane after time, use Outlook or other organizing software to schedule time to work on the steps as well as give you reminders to help you stay on track. You might also consider including a trusted business friend to be an “accountability buddy” – they may want the same from you!

3. Keep track of your progress

Make appointments in your calendar to check in regularly about where you are along your path. If it’s a resolution for the year, for example, checking in monthly might be good. You might like to do this more frequently when you start and less so once you’re moving.

A final thought:

The Wise and Wonderful “They” say that it takes 3-4 weeks to form a new, healthy habit. So give yourself time to dream, write up your plan, and then get moving!

I really thought I was broken.

I would forget an appointment, for example. When I discovered the error, all h-e-double-toothpicks would break loose inside my brain. I’d spew all kinds of insults and admonishments at myself.

After that internal tongue lashing, I’d resolve, once and for all, to change. To myself and others. To always show up reliably, no matter what. To be neat, once and for all.

If you want to make the gods laugh, tell them your plans.

You can guess what would happen next. Despite my best efforts, things would fall apart again, and the whole cycle would repeat. What a struggle.

Some of my clients, bless them, are facing years of chronic disorganization and they honestly believe that they are broken. They’ve tried to get organized and feel they’ve failed. Many times they’ve resolved, once and for all, to “get it together” but have not been able to implement organizing ideas consistently or with much success.

Until they start working with me, some of my clients don’t believe it’s even possible to be effective in business because their space is so out of control. How sad!

Rewriting the story

Chances are good that you want to contribute something positive to the world through your work. You believe that your gifts are valuable – and that healing and harmony come about when they are shared.

This is true.

And if you feel overwhelmed in your workspace or in your role as a business owner, consider this: these strong feelings and frustrations are not validation of your failure. They’re a call to pay closer attention. They’re your inner guidance system telling you that change is imminent.

Use discomfort to your advantage

The good news about negative feelings like embarrassment and frustration is that, eventually, they cause you to act.

That’s where the urge to “do it right once and for all” comes from. But it’s important to pause so that you can point that energy in the most effective direction.

I firmly believe that nothing is “once and for all,” there are only steps in the right direction.

For example…

My clothes live in my office closet, and it’s been a tenuous peace.

You can bet I’ve had my share of those “once and for all” conversations about the condition of the closet and the laundry hamper next to it.

Logistically, there’s no where else for the clothes to live. After many resolutions to never be messy again, I’ve deliberately begun to make small steps toward my vision of an office that supports my business completely.

My energy and attention are focused on where I want to go, not on what I’m doing “wrong.”

Action in the “right” direction

When I’d had enough of the losing battle with my clothes, I took action. I found the hamper lid – so now I’m not distracted by my laundry. I purchased hangers for my pants that are fun to use – so I’m more motivated to hang them up.

Does it work all the time? No.

But, the fundamental question is this: is it closer to my vision? Yes. Can I concentrate on my business better as a result of these adjustments? Yes. Is it more effective than chastising myself? Yes.

Will it take awareness on my part to work more effectively? Absolutely.

What’s important is that you make progress, one step at a time – in service to yourself, your business, and ultimately your clients.

Things to try

1. Take the long view

Imagine a day in your future where your office and its systems completely supported your business. What would it look like?

Create a picture in your mind that is compelling and invigorating. Go to the next step when you’ve completed this one.

2. Look at the short view (right now)

If you’ve been tolerating an intolerable space for a while, take a deep breath and look courageously around you. See at the reality of the place you work.

If your struggles have more to do with procrastination or incomplete work, stop for a moment to take stock of what is actually going on. What is really happening?

3. Draw a line between them

Hold the vision of where you want to go in your mind and beside it, the reality of where you are.

When you do this, the path to get there becomes clear. Write down what steps you want to take – and make them small, incremental steps so that you can notice and get rewarded by the changes as you go.