Friday Feels: Friendship & Boundaries

Welcome to May, dedicated declutterer!!

This week we talked about boundaries. The quiet kind that doesn’t need a big announcement or an explanation. Just a small shift in where your energy goes.

If you set even one boundary this week such as a delayed reply, a kind no, or an “unfollow”, I hope you felt a little lighter.

And if you didn’t, that’s okay too. This stuff takes time and practice but most importantly it takes a willingness to put yourself first, even when it feels unfamiliar.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned through essentialism is that peace often starts with discomfort.

Peace requires change and change requires intention. Running on auto-pilot just won’t do the trick.

So if it felt a little uncomfortable this week, that probably means you’re on the right track.

You’re not here to be everything to everyone. You’re here to protect what matters most to you.

Speaking of feeling uncomfortable, I wanted to share my personal monthly challenge for this month. If you don’t know already, I like to do monthly experiments in order to challenge myself. It could be imposing a slight habit, or temporarily removing something from my life to see how it feels. I usually learn a lot from it, and it has been a tremendous learning experience for me.

Last month, for example, I didn’t have a single soda. In fact, I ended up going two months, but that’s another story.

For May, I’ve decided to give myself 10 minutes to do absolutely nothing…well, as my friend Louis pointed out, it’s impossible to actually do nothing, so here’s how I’ve decided to define it, for this exercise:

Sit in a quiet room and set a timer for 10 minutes. No screens. No music. No problem-solving. No movement. Some would probably call it meditation, and maybe it is…but I’m just going with “nothing” for now. :)

I’ve only done it once and it’s harder than it sounds, but I’ve already learned a lot. If you’re interested in the “why” or in joining me, hit me up. I’d love to chat about it. I’ll share more about how the experience throughout the month on LinkedIn or in later newsletters.

But I digress…

Next week we’re talking about emotional clutter. It’s going to be an important newsletter and we might even have a special guest author join us!

Have any thoughts or questions about emotional clutter? Just reply here. I’ll be finishing it up this weekend, and I’d love to include what’s on your mind.

Have a great weekend!