With everyone currently at home and in each other’s space considerably more than anyone could have ever anticipated, let’s begin to identify some techniques and strategies to help keep the happiness factor alive and flowing.

You see, it’s during moments of uncertainty when you are challenged to self-reflect, define your values, and fine-tune your direction and your personal mission. Yes, it can feel messy and uncomfortable, but when you muddle through the chaos, you create space for clarity. By getting rid of nonessential thoughts, items, judgments, and assumptions, you are creating space to receive the substance of life.

So while we are in the midst of a season of change, I encourage you to take stock and embrace what’s important to you. With the world virtually coming to a halt, we have been given an amazing gift of time. Time that we normally wouldn’t have. It’s time to focus on the positive and take charge of the things we can.

When we make small adjustments and incorporate tiny positive habits into our daily routines, we are encouraging ourselves to change our behavior. The consistent habit choices we make ultimately defines who we are. The people we spend time with, how much sleep we get, what we eat, how we spend our money, how much exercise we get, or how organized we are are all compounded results of our habits.

While traveling alone this past Christmas, I misplaced my phone.

I had it on the drive to the airport. But when you arrive at 0’dark-thirty along with everyone else traveling for the holiday, it can be a bit of a cluster at the terminal. While approaching, we made a move for my drop-off sooner than I had anticipated. It was dark, and it was raining, and there were cars everywhere. In order to keep it moving, I jumped out, grabbed my bag, said my goodbyes, my ride pulled away, and I ran into the abyss.

When our lives are cluttered, whether it be our homes, our inboxes, our piles, our finances, our minds, or our direction, it is because we have unmade decisions, or we have not identified our priorities or our motivation behind organizing it. Once we define our motivation behind wanting to be rid of the clutter, we then need to use that motivation as fuel to ignite and launch our decisions into action.

We’ve all been there. We create a space with a specific purpose in mind. And it works… for a while. And it’s great… until it isn’t. As our lives unfold, our circumstances change, and we evolve and grow.