For a while now, I had been looking to freshen up my website. I wanted to have more inspirational colors on the template. It was time! I had always loved the content on my website, but the richer, darker colors on it didn’t quite fit with my personality or the message I was conveying. It was definitely time to ‘lighten things up’! When it was completed, I absolutely fell in love with the lighter look. It feels very aligned with the messages I convey.
As I freshened up my website, I started thinking of the different areas of life we need to lighten up on from time to time. So I ask you the following questions:
- Do you feel overwhelmed?
- Is your stress level higher than it should be?
- Do you have emotional or physical clutter around you?
- Are you not having as much fun in life as you would like?
You are too blessed to be weighed down with all types of emotional and physical stuff. Let’s look at 10 areas I believe we can all lighten up!
10 ‘Smart’ Things to Lighten Up in Your Life
- The Amount of Activities – Are you weighed down by commitments on your calendar that are draining you, not fulfilling you? Take your list of activities and start eliminating things that don’t fit into your life plan. Create more time for yourself.
- How Seriously You Take Life – How much fun do you actually have in your days? Do you take things too seriously? Take a deep breath and realize that life is meant to be enjoyed! Incorporate fun into each and every day.
- Your Relationship or Marriage – When is the last time you did something special for your loved one in life? Bought a special gift for them, held hands or just looked into their eyes and told them you love them? Life goes by fast and spending quality time with your loved ones is so important.
- Physical Clutter – Do you have too much stuff surrounding you? What are you holding onto things for? Physical clutter definitely weighs you down. Make the commitment to start cleaning up and tossing out things you don’t use or need!
- Debt You Have Accumulated – When is the right time to put a real strategy plan in place to lighten up that debt of yours? The time is right now. As you know, it doesn’t just go away. Take responsibility for it, get some help if needed to put a real financial strategy plan in place. Knock down that debt and get financially free!
- Toxic / Negative People – You don’t have time for negativity in your life. It is time to start limiting and ideally eliminate the negativity around you. Diligently work on keeping just positive, inspiring people around you.
- Emotional Distress Inside of You – Are there things within yourself that you haven’t quite worked through? Is there emotional stuff that is weighing you down, things that you haven’t been able to work through? Reach out for support! Make the investment in you. You are too blessed to be weighed down by things in life. You deserve to live a happy life.
- Physical Surroundings – Sometimes it helps to freshen-up your environment some! Little things such as painting walls a brighter color or adding some colorful splashes of décor is all you need to create a more inspiring, physical space.
- Your To-Do List – Do you need to lighten up your to-do list, because it just keeps getting longer? Make the commitment to tackle your list, but not just finish things halfway. Fully complete a task and cross it off your list!
- Unfinished Business – Are there things that you need to do in life that’s been weighing you down? A conversation you need to have with someone? A relationship you need to repair or perhaps move on from? There is no perfect time to deal with difficult situations. The more you wait, the more it weighs you down. Commit to finishing your business. It will be like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders.
Once you commit to lightening up things in your life, your days are going to dramatically, positively transform! Don’t delay. Start working on this list today. Your life will be so much better for doing it.
What are some areas of your life that you have lightened up on or are committing to do starting today? I would love to hear from you! AND… I would love to hear how you like the ‘lightened up’ website! Much more to come for you. Shine on!
Cynthia Bazin is absolutely passionate about YOUR success and happiness. If you are ready and committed to change your life and take charge of your life, contact Cynthia today to start a conversation! [email protected] / www.smartchic.me
Also! Cynthia is now City Director for a national magazine ‘Today’s Innovative Woman’! Check out her city page today! todaysinnovativewoman.com/sacramento
Great new look, Cynthia! Most days I’ve mastered laughing at life’s ups and downs, but clutter… that’s a constant battle this time of year. “De-clutter” has become my mantra lately. 🙂
Thank you so much for your feedback Regan! I am so glad you like the new lighter look of the website! Also, keep at it regarding cleaning up the clutter. A little at a time. You will feel so much better once your area is cleared out. Have an awesome week!
Fantastic new look Cynthia! It’s fresh and very easy on the eyes. Great tips, we can all stand to “lighten up” literally and figuratively. De-clutter is a must for me, I cannot work or live with clutter. Great post!
Thank you so much Terri for your input! I so much appreciate you! And I agree, I also cannot be effective with clutter. De-cluttering is key! Have a fantastic day and week!
Love your new lighter look! When I feel overwhelmed in an area of my life I start to de-clutter. It feels so good to get rid of the old allow room for new things to come my way. Great article!
Thanks so much Stephanie for your comments! I am just like you, it feels great to de-clutter! Everything seems to get that much brighter!
First, I love your new look Cynthia! It is elegant, classy, motivational and beautiful….just like you! Your blog post is once again brilliant. We often clutter our lives with so many unnecessary things. Life is too short to spend it worrying about what others think, procrastinating our dreams and living an unhealthy and unhappy life. All your points can truly bring a tremendous amount of happiness in ones life by simply eliminating what is weighing them down. Thank you for putting it so perfectly well! xo
Thank you Linda for your beautiful comments! I am so glad you really love the new website look. I also appreciate your comments on my blog. It’s good for us to look at the list on the blog from time to time, to lighten things up!! Have an amazing day!
What a refreshing post. Thank you for sharing and always making my day brighter!!
Thank you so much Kimber for the shout out! You are fantastic and I appreciate your support! Have an awesome day!
Cynthia,
I really enjoyed this post. 1 “Key” item in this stressed filled World of ours that people need to take to heart is, that as U mentioned…Take a deep breath and realize that life is meant to be enjoyed! Incorporate fun into each and every day….Vital, for our well being and Peace of Mind, right? You MUST commit to lightening up things in your life, and get rid of what is weighing U down! XO
Thank you so much Carl for your comments. I really appreciate them! Life is meant to be enjoyed! And you are so right when you say “You MUST commit to lightening up things in your life, and get rid of what is weighing U down!”
Love the new look! It is lighter, brighter, and much better suited to you and your message!
Sometimes we let life run away with us like a freight train down a mountain…we have to take a step back, a deep breath, and take control back for ourselves….today is my step back/deep breath day! So far, so good, feeling better already!
Thanks so much Jacqui for the feedback! I am in love with the new website look! Much more aligned with my message. I appreciate you letting me know your thoughts also on the blog. I like what you said ‘we have to take a step back, a deep breath and take control back for ourselves’. How true that is!
I love the new look, very refreshing and your picture is perfect, very approaching.
Great tips and I can definitely can use some of them.
Sometimes we are busy being busy and forget to go back to the basics. Write down your to do list, your dreams, your goals, make time for people that means a lot to you.
Love your blog for so many reasons 🙂
Have a great day !!
Thank you so much Sandra for your comments. I am really excited about the new website and so glad you love it! That is awesome that the blog was helpful to you! It is about getting back to the basics! Keep me updated on everything with you!
Thank you for sharing this article. I really love it like all your last articles. Keep doing the good Job!
Congrats!
A lovely post, thanks Cynthia! I’m working through some changes at the moment and this article was a terrific prompt to sit back and think about the noise swirling around my head at the moment.
I love to try and sit back, take a breath, dump everything on a list and try to make sense of it. It’s so much easier to get our minds around something tangible – nothing is ever as scary or messy when we commit it to paper and put structure and boundaries around it. On the other hand, random thoughts can take on a life of their own.
Your action list is terrific. Whilst I don’t use them all, I do try some. I find that it doesn’t matter whether I successfully stick to them, as I can always take stock and start over. What I do appreciate though, is the Act of Doing Something.
Taking stock is, of itself, so empowering. We can always get up when we stumble, but the act of taking those first steps and trying to clean up the clutter are what really matters.
Well done to you!
Love your new look!!! Love your content!!! Absolutely right on! Enlightening!! I thnk that you are talking to me!!!!
This is a great ARTICLE ~ fabulous timing ~ I’ve been doing a ton of these things, and oh how they help! Some are easier said than done and others are really easy to just get started and chip away at them. 1) Finances is a great one to just get started. 2) Doing sweet things for those you love. 3) Begin removing toxic people, but do so lovingly and carefully so you don’t create more stress for yourself … Begin to drift away or just have those hard conversations. I’ve had to be quite demonstrative with a few people. 4) I’ve been dumping physical activities off my plate for several years now. People react to this differently. It’s really important to “show up” for people you consider friends, and friends you want to keep in you circle and life. Example, Cynthia says “she would love my opinion most recent blog” if I care to keep Cynthia as a contact, in my circle, as a friend, show up. But you have to prioritize. Social Medial can quickly become an overwhelming task. Someone asked me, “why haven’t you been on our G+ community lately?” I replied, “I find G+ overwhelming and just one too many SoMe activities, I do better with FB and Twitter. She was good with that. Many chats are at dinner time, feeding my kids come first and family dinner is sacred. I’ve been accused of being flakey for not showing up for chats or just not being committed. SoMe is not a job, it’s a value added. Throw it off my plate if it’s too much along with other things that bring you down that aren’t that important to your life. 5) taking life too serious just comes with maturity, you’ll learn what is and it’s small stuff based on the really big stuff you’ve gone through. 6) Get rid of clutter, hoarding is just a show if insecurity and it’s just stuff. Collect memories not things. 7) make your physical surroundings as happily you as you can. Hard to do when you share you space with ppl who don’t share your vision, but do what you can. Just start doing little things and keep going, it gets better one item, box, wall, wall hanging at a time. 8) Make a to-do-list, prioritize it, check it off for gratification and don’t beat up on yourself for what you didn’t get done. Some can get done tomorrow as long as you were persistent in getting things done and being reasonable. Don’t kill yourself either because stopping to smell the roses is just as important. 9) unfinished business, I worked on this today, a hard one that I’ve carried for years, I took the high road, not everyone has the emotion intelligence to even understand what harm they caused you, carrying with you just hurts you. Either clear it with the person or let it go. Forgive the person and move on or have the guts to have the hard conversation. 10) emotional junk ~ saved this for last and sorry for not being in order… Having trouble with this one right now, but I’m fully aware of it and talking to the people around me about it. I’m going through “the change” my emotions are all over the place! Do what you have to do to work on peaceful moments. Yoga, meditation, many other peaceful activities. Exercise, medication in some cases, natural or HRT etc. keep your stress low.
Sorry I’m sure this is way more than you wanted Cynthia, but you asked what I’ve been doing and I’ve been talking these 10 steps with total resolve! My quality of life is 1000% better than it was 2 years ago and my responsibilities have doubled, I just approach my own happiness differently and more methodically! 🙂 xxoo’s! You Rock my friend! (No editing so sorry about that too!) one finger on a phone! Yikes ~
I love your new light site Cynthia! Everything about this blog resonates with me…yes, life IS here to be enjoyed and when we follow these steps, life will be a lot sweeter. The main shift I made some time ago, was to know that making changes can be easy…I let go of the idea that it would be difficult. Now I relish change. Thank you for your wise words!
Fantastic on all accounts – love the new look, it’s so light and new; love the tips you share with regard to lightening up! Great things to keep in mind as we look to manage our lives more effectively. “Make the investment in you” – that is so true and it’s so important to realize that investing in yourself isn’t selfish, it’s actually just the opposite! Thanks for the wonderful, useful, practical reminders! 🙂
Love the new look Cynthia!
Great post! All ten areas are excellent areas to start to release the people, things and habits that over time can weigh us down. And they are areas to look at periodically, not just once. The funny thing is, when we finally get started on clearing those areas, we wonder why we didn’t do it sooner. So the best time to start is right now.
My experience with clearing physical clutter, both personal and with clients, is that is facilitates manifesting abundance and weight release as two added benefits. While paring life in all those areas, I think you touched on the most important of all – enjoying life. Prioritizing the people and activities that bring us the most joy and letting the rest go. With clear priorities the lightening process becomes easier!
Love the fresh new look!
Thank you so much Susan! Appreciate the shout out! 🙂
This is another super and spot on blog.
Everything that Cynthia has highlighted here is important in controlling and keeping on top of our lives.
I agree with all of these points which are of equal importance.
One of my personal favourites is No.4 we all get attached to stuff but if we’re not using it or wearing it then why keep it. De-cluttering our lives should be a matter of course. Don’t let it bog you down.
Keep to what she says and you won’t go far wrong.
Good luck in making your lives easier to control!!
I especially liked physical surrounding. Incorporating color into your physical workspace, can also brighten up your day!
I love the new look of your website, Cindy!! And thank you for another great blog post! Of the areas you mentioned, my biggest challenge is trying to cut down my To-Do List. It seems to get very long at times. One of my favorite areas you spoke of was eliminating the negativity around you. I have certainly become more diligent about keeping positive, inspiring people around me. I choose to surround myself with inspirational friends and family members who encourage me to be the best person I can be. I love to smile and I choose to live a happy life…no time for negativity! 🙂
Great post Cindy – all great points and love your new website look! Fresh and alive! ~Kaylene