Nothing about my story or your story is set in stone. I can review the chapters of my life and emphasize the events that mattered. Although they may still play a significant role in my story, the themes of grief and self-control have grown from challenges to victories. A shy girl’s challenges were not failures, but a story of how she survived in the only manner she knew how. That woman’s turmoil and anguish served as the fuel that shaped her into a better, stronger person. With the advantage of hindsight, I can now see how characters that looked crucial were just supporting actors, comic relief, and sitcom bad guys.

I may remove anything that makes little sense, doesn’t forward my life, or doesn’t advance my character. My life is a narrative. This is my tale. And I’ve never felt awful about deleting things in favor of clarity, coherence, and consistency. Why did I spend so much time clinging to the little things that take away from what matters most in my story?  Perhaps it’s time to edit a little harsher going forward.

Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly. It’s your masterpiece, after all. ~ Nathan W. Morris

Why You Should Edit Your Life Ruthlessly

It takes dedication and practice to achieve the life you desire. You’re not expected to get everything right the first time. Every relationship, undertaking, and success follows a logical path. It doesn’t matter if you take a misstep, what matters is whether you will try again.

Making a change of your own free will requires bravery on your part. To declare, “This is not the life I wanted… so I’m going to start again,” takes courage. People who are critical of this probably wish they could do it themselves.

Making a compromise is a simple solution many pose as a choice. And many frequently mistake what they genuinely want for serenity and comfort, as the idea of “settling”.

Those who edit their lives believe it entitles them to the lives they desire. Even if they have to put in a lot of effort, they think they’re deserving of having loving relationships, fulfilling lives, and the ability to realize all of their aspirations. They move forward because they already feel deserving of it.

Admitting that you were mistaken for the first time requires wisdom. Simply put, many people don’t change their lives because they don’t want to suffer by hearing the ego chatter about failing.

Everything is about evolution and expansion. Whatever your daily practice is, you’ll get better at it. The small moments in your life will add up to make up your entire existence. Edit your life so it goes in the direction you want.

Throughout the life cycle, we consciously and unconsciously edit the events of our life, trying to give them meaning. ~ Joan Z. Borysenko

Evaluating Your Life

A thorough edit assists you in seeing every aspect of your life as it is right now, which is a crucial step toward creating the life of your dreams. Examine every aspect of your life, including the digital, domestic, financial, wellness, mental, and social aspects. You’re giving yourself the chance to spend a lot of time sorting through the “clutter” and making room for what you want to materialize by doing this.

In essence, you’re learning to change your behaviors to support the life you want for yourself. Of course, you can’t modify something that you’re unaware of. That’s where a life edit comes in.

Consider a life edit as a reassessment. It’s a chance for you to reflect and gauge where your life is at the moment. The greatest method for organizing your room is to remove everything methodically and then only put what you truly want back. With a life edit, you’re doing precisely that, but it goes beyond your material possessions. You may see what to let go of and what you ultimately wish to bring in by taking your time and watching your life. Your dreams and realities are getting much closer together. Let’s go over the six areas you’ll concentrate on, as well as some advice on how to make the most of your life edit.

Your life is your story. Write well. Edit often. ~ Susan Statham

Areas To Assess When You Edit Your Life

Having a successful and productive life requires editing. Here are areas of your life to assess as you are doing your life edit.

Edit Your Obligations

In your life, you frequently accept plenty of ongoing obligations and eventually become slaves to them since you once said “yes.” You may lead a softball team years after your children have left home. Although you feel some obligation, you don’t truly appreciate doing your task. Find a graceful way to refuse. Trim back all the commitments you’ve made as graciously as you can until you have more time for the things that are important to you.

Change Your Consumption

How many newspapers and magazines do you receive at the home? Do you go over each one cover to cover? Compare it to the time you have to complete the tasks you claim are important to you. Could you imagine not renewing some of those periodicals? What about TV programs? Can you keep your allotted time to a daily maximum of only a few hours? Are you spending too much time scrolling social media and not living the life you desire?

Edit Your Interests

Many of my friends are victims of this. They use as many means as they can to exhibit their creativity. Are you a musician, scrapbooker, artist, filmmaker, fiction writer, baker, or robot builder? Is it possible that your life is an example of the proverb “the enemy of great is good”? Meaning: Would you have more time to concentrate and develop the few hobbies you keep if you gave up some of those pursuits, even for a four-month trial period?

Life only has a narrative when we frame it and edit it and call it certain things. ~ Peter Landesman

Edit Your Spending

In a coffee establishment, a large cup of coffee might cost $3.00. However, that’s not a lot to spend on your morning’s first fantastic cup of coffee, is it? But at $3 x 5 days = $15.00 per week, or $750 per year. For those three dollars a day, you get something more valuable to you for a longer time. Are there any areas where a little extra money saved will help you realize your goals?

Edit Your Gifting

People devote a lot of effort to the events that occur throughout the holidays. You feel forced to send cards, buy gifts for everyone, and to follow cultural rituals in the most conventional manner. But what would happen if you did otherwise? What if you sent holiday cards early to the family members you typically exchange gifts with and wrote, “We love you, and we cherish seeing you during the holidays. You always give generously. There is nothing we don’t already have. Would you like to invite us out to supper one night instead of a gift? That would bring us more joy than anything presented in a bow.”  Be gracious, as people’s emotions are deeply entwined with receiving gifts, but see if you can edit some of this.

Adjust Your Goals

Sure, there are overachievers in the world around you, but are you prepared to pursue the many goals you’ve set for yourself? Review your life’s direction. Is it where you want to go? Do you want to be an executive at your company? Why? What made you decide to launch your own business? Verify if your objectives are still in line with your actions and consider whether they are consistent with the life you are leading.

Clutter is not just the stuff on your floor–it’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living. ~ Peter Walsh

Steps To Take As You Edit Your Life

Step 1: Reflect

The best approach to make sure you receive what you need is to be quiet and spend some time with your journal, even though a life edit might not seem exciting. Journaling isn’t your thing? Consider it like this: by putting your ideas into words, you give them the permanence that internalizing your convictions lacks. People like me who swear by their journaling practice will attest that it’s one of the best methods to gain some much-needed clarity. It’s kind of like making a blueprint for yourself.

Create six distinct parts in your diary where you can reflect on your digital, home, financial, wellness, mental health, and social lives. Answer the following queries after that:

• What in this area of my life do I desire more of?
• What is overpowering my mind or time?
• Do I sense any obstacles preventing me from accomplishing my objectives?
• What should I emphasize more?
• What can I let go of?
• What would it look like to experience more peace?

Simplicity boils down to two steps: identify the essential, and eliminate the rest. ~ Leo Babauta

Step 2: Recognize that this will be an arduous process.

I want you to know that this portion of your life edit may take some time. Although there isn’t a defined schedule, take your time and avoid hurrying. Be kind to yourself and practice patience. You frequently underestimate how difficult it can be to let go of things or say goodbye to relationships that no longer benefit you. And facing the facts about your financial life can be a bitter pill to take.

These realities initially prevented me from taking action on what I’d written in my journal. I wanted to save more money, but when I looked at my spending patterns, I felt a great deal of shame. And even though I no longer wanted to feel forced to put effort into a relationship, I refrained from speaking out for myself out of fear of disagreement. The wisest course of action is to proceed. Although it will be uncomfortable and demanding, staying stuck presents the greatest challenge.

Minimalism isn’t about removing things you love. It’s about removing the things that distract you from the things you love. ~ Joshua Becker

Step 3: Take Action

Decide which aspect of your life you want to focus on first, after you’ve had enough time to contemplate and journal. Get going with what seems to be the easiest and gather steam from there. Spend some time going over everything that has anything to do with this area of your life, using the responses you wrote in your journal as a guide.

For example, if you’re getting started with your digital life, pay attention to your devices and online presence. Clear your inbox, reassess your contacts, and erase outdated texts on your phone and PC. Make sure you are not signed up for any subscriptions you no longer use, and unsubscribe from emails that make you anxious. Would you like to use social media less frequently? Do you need to delete a few profiles that waste your energy? Think about the actions you can take to accomplish your objectives.

Underneath the excess and the extra, the busyness and the chaos, your life is waiting. ~ Courtney Carver

Moving Forward Editing Your Life

To recognize when you’re feeling overwhelmed and lean into a life edit to give you more clarity is the goal of a life edit. It’s crucial to keep in mind that the process is ongoing. You’re not expected to strive for and sustain the elusive ideal of balance constantly. Every day, you welcome new acquaintances, aspirations, and possessions into your life. You can be certain that you have what you need to build the life you want by thinking of a life edit as a recurring practice.

Keep in mind that no life edit is the same. Since this is a very intimate and emotional procedure, you could experience stress in certain places while being peaceful in others. That’s ok! As you enter this new season of life, you’ll feel more in line with and secure about where you’re devoting your attention, focus, and energy.

The goal of a life edit is to improve your life. It involves putting the unnecessary down. It involves paying more attention to your inner voice than to the raucous, egoic voice. You have an edited life because that is the one you want to live.

Obviously, the goal is not to remove items you find valuable. You should look at the life you’re now living, assess it, and decide how much of it is excess that should be cut out to make way for the things that matter.

What is editable in your life?

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. ~ Hans Hofmann

Do you need help learning to take bold action? Are you looking for support to empower yourself to live a balanced life? Do you want a strategy to help you create an extraordinary life? Consider using my coaching services by contacting me at TerriKozlowski.com. Together, we can create an action plan for you to edit your life.

To hear about how I learned to edit my life, you can do so by reading my book, Raven Transcending Fear, available on Amazon, or by visiting RavenTranscendingFear.com.

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Article Name

Take Responsibility To Edit Your Life And Practical Ways To Do It

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When you edit your life, you're looking to balance life. A life edit is key to removing drama and adding those things you love to your life.

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Terri Kozlowski

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Kozmic Soul Solutions LLC

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