"How do I get motivated to act on advice?"

Knowing what to do and actually doing it are sometimes worlds apart and getting motivated to tackle an organizing project is a challenge for many people. My best advice is to begin by changing your mindset. Your beliefs, attitudes and thoughts create your life's circumstances. When you change those negative thinking and speaking habits (and yes, they are habits) you begin to change your life.

You must begin thinking and speaking differently. You might think, "I'm a packrat" or "I just can't let go of anything" or maybe even, "I'll never get organized."

It is absolutely crucial that you understand the link between those negative thoughts and beliefs and the state your life is in. You will never change your situation unless you begin changing that language.

I encourage you to change your self-talk and your speaking so that when you catch yourself thinking or saying those negative phrases, you can immediately STOP and change the thoughts or words to something positive. I know it's hard, but it's so important to your success.

Try saying, "I love my organized life" or "I love clearing clutter out of my life" or even "It's easy for me to part with things." Even if it's not true at the moment, the point of the exercise is to change your beliefs and the only way to change your beliefs is to change your thoughts and language. The more you change your self-talk and language, the more motivated you'll be to change your behaviors, habits and physical environment.

Next, try getting motivated by enlisting a buddy to help you with your project. I often consult with clients who pay me for my expertise and an Action Plan. I always suggest that they ask a friend, their spouse to help them implement the plan. An organizing project can be a lot more fun with a friend, plus it goes faster and you tend to stay on task and focused.

My third recommendation for getting motivated is to focus on your desired result rather than the idea of all the work in front of you. When you want to achieve anything, be it a fitness goal, a landscaping project or getting organized, focusing on your goal goes a long way to getting and keeping you in action.

So there you have my top three recommendations for getting motivated to act… Change your self-talk and language, enlist help and support, and focus on your goal. If you have ideas to share about how YOU get motivated to act, email me and let me know! I'd love to hear them. And watch for next month's question in the "You Asked" section of Simplicity News… The question I answer could be one of yours!