Getting Started: Small Victories

So, January begins... a month of small victories.

Each day, the timer is set (15-20 minutes) and a spot in one room is targeted for decluttering. The goal is not to clean the entire room. Instead, a small, specific spot (most often a horizontal surface) is decluttered and cleaned. One small victory, but a victory all the same. By the end of January, 30 small victories.

As suggested by Joshua Becker (www.becomingminimalist.com), way back at the beginning of his journey in May, 2008, by taking those first, very small steps (decluttering one shelf, cleaning out a single drawer) new habits are established, burn-out is avoided and you keep a positive attitude.

From www.wishbowl.org

Learn To Celebrate The Small Victories!

“Do you reward yourself for your accomplishments?

It is important that we take the time to celebrate even our small victories.

It's time to take a step back and realize that instead of focusing on all that we're not getting done, we should be focusing on all that we are getting done. I call this the Celebrate the Small Victories approach. The intent is to give a little love to yourself for all of the hard work you put into each day. This will make for a much happier existence, boost your self-esteem by placing focus on the positive and likely make you even more productive and energetic as time goes on. You can't lose!

By marking these successes, we make them stick out in our minds. It forces us to acknowledge our progress and increases the likelihood we'll repeat the positive behaviour in the future.”