Taste Life Blog

January! January! January! Every year I used to make resolutions and frankly by my birthday, February 18th, I couldn’t even remember what they were. Studies say that 90% of resolutions are out the window one month later. So this year I have a new idea for myself! Actually Gary gave me the idea without even realizing it. Gary has been on a big KICK lately to organize this house and get rid of stuff we no longer need. He has organized the basement (again) and can you believe he even wants me to get rid of my red luggage that was my high school graduation present from my parents way back in 1973! Oh those suitcases are full of memories like the time an entire jar of Iced Tea mix emptied out on my clothes on my trip to the Bahamas.

Two weeks ago, I was cooking Sunday dinner and Gary moved his “organizing spirit” to the upstairs and started to clean out his junk drawer in the kitchen. As I watched him clean out his junk drawer I thought how perfect…to clean up my “junk drawers” this year before I put any new grand goal into my life!

Most of us have at least one junk drawer in our life, full of things we don’t need or have not used in a long time. But we don’t take the time to throw away useless stuff like the old batteries, or old receipts in Gary’s drawer.

Our minds often contain a space for junk too — old attitudes, relationships, or our beliefs. In the coaching world this “junk” is termed “tolerations.” Tolerations are things we put up with. They are emotional things, like how we accept other people’s behavior (how they treat us), or unfinished business, or lingering problems. They are also physical things that bug us like dirty blinds, piles of mail, or learning how to use your new digital camera. (That would be me.) Click here if you would like to see the top ten things people put up with as normal or acceptable.

Instead of the usual New Year’s Resolutions this year why not clean out the “junk” in your life with my “Triple A Approach.” Awareness > Analysis > Action.

Awareness Step: Make a list of all of your tolerations — the things that bug you.

Analysis Step: Decide how much energy these people, places and things take from you.

Action Step: DO something about them, DELEGATE someone else to take care of them orDUMP them out of your mind forever and ever.

Don’t let tolerations take energy away from your life anymore. Inactions take more energy than actions. More friends, stuff, volunteer activities, clothes are not necessarily better. Sometimes less is more.

What “junk drawers” are just waiting for you to empty so you have time and energy to eat Sunday dinner and do what you really want to this year?