Outer Order Creates Inner Calm

“I can’t live in this mess anymore!”

One of my clients gets a little dramatic when she’s talking about the clutter in her home. In fact, navigating piles of clutter and junk is common for many Life Editors. We get caught up in all the busy-ness of our lives that we tend to neglect our environments.

But when we stop procrastinating or turning blind eyes to the mess, then we can start to make positive changes. I’ve seen it a million times–as soon as you clean up your home, amazing things happen.

I truly believe that cleaning up your environment can have a profound effect on your mindset. Could you use a boost of motivation?

Watch this video to learn how outer order creates inner calm.

The video transcript is below for your convenience.

Next Steps

• Sign up for the free Editor’s Toolkit.
• Watch the video for my book review on The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
• Get your copies of Gretchen Rubin’s books The Happiness Project, Happier at Home, and Better Than Before.
• Subscribe on YouTube.

Video Transcript

Hey there! I’m Sage Grayson, a former book editor turned life coach. I help ambitious career women edit their habits, routines, and mindsets to balance their happiness at work and home.

I’m a Life Editor…and so are you!

Sometimes we can get so caught up with doing our inner self-development work that we ignore the mess that building up outside of ourselves.

Today, we’re talking about how outer order creates inner calm. Let’s go!

Step 2 of the Life Editing Process is Delete Bad Influences. When I was a book editor, that meant grabbing my red pen to cut out all the junk in a manuscript.

In terms of life editing, you’ll want to delete the things that drain your energy, frustrate you, or make you feel bad about yourself.

It’s easy to pick out the inner turmoil we might be feeling from bad influences such as negative thinking and fear. But did you know that your physical environment plays a big role in how stressed you feel?

I first heard the idea that outer order creates inner calm from happiness guru Gretchen Rubin. You might be familiar with her wildly popular books The Happiness Project, Happier at Home, and Better Than Before.

Gretchen explains that a disorganized home with mounds of clutter can bring you down and deflate your mood. I know I recognize this feeling. When my office is messy, I find it extremely difficult to get my work done.

But a well-organized home with everything in its place is uplifting!

Your motivation will skyrocket when you’re surrounded by order. That deep level of inner calm is almost impossible to find when you’re living in a mess.

So where should you start your cleanup? Here are 3 areas where you can create outer order in your life.

1. Your Environment

Where do you spend most of your time? The environments you live in and work in play a big role in your happiness.

Delete the bad influences you see such as food wrappers in your car, piles of unsorted papers in your office, or dirty clothes in your bedroom.

For more tips on cleaning up the clutter in your environment, please check out my book review of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I’ll share the link below this video.

2. Your Clothes

Many of my clients have the biggest messes in their closets. If it’s hidden behind a door, they think it’s not really there.

Be brave and tackle the disorder in your clothes closet!

Take out everything (yes, everything!) and examine each item individually. Only put back clothes that fit, are your style, and make you feel fabulous. Then throw out or donate the clothes that are bad influences on your inner calm.

3. Your Relationships

This is one area most people forget about. Obviously, your home has an impact on your mental and emotional health, but so do your relationships.

The people you surround yourself with can dramatically affect whether you’re having a good day or want to crawl under the covers and never come out again.

Delete the relationships where the other person is not adding value to your life. But if the person is someone you can’t simply avoid such as your boss, then put boundaries around the time you spend with him or her. Don’t open yourself up to their negativity.

Creating an outer order in your life will give you the inner calm you need to reach all your big, beautiful goals.

That’s it! This week, figure out where you could use some outer order and clean it up. Then tell me how you feel. Did you get a boost of motivation? Did you tackle a long-neglected project?

If you like this video and want more life editing tips, then come on over to SageGrayson.com and sign up for my free Editor’s Toolkit. You’ll get weekly updates from me, plus sage advice that I only share in email.

Thanks for watching. I’ll see you soon.

This post focuses on Step 2 of the Life Editing Process, Delete Bad Influences. For more about life editing and what it can do for you, click here.