As a way to celebrate 200 episodes and 5 years together, I asked listeners for their questions on any topic. In this episode, I’m answering questions on the most important question to ask when decluttering, abundance vs scarcity mindsets, motherhood stages and seasons, and more from AMA (Ask Me Anything) questions

Here are the questions that I answered in this episode, and related links to posts and episodes that you might like:

DECLUTTERING

1. What is the most important thing to consider when trying to declutter as an Enneagram type 7?

• Enneagram 101 (what is it and what are the nine types)


• Enneagram + Motherhood Series


• 143. How to let go of IDENTITY CLUTTER


• 90. Declutter ‘what if I need it one day?’ items from your home with THIS shift


• 111. Decluttering decisions and guilt [Q+A]


• 110. Our relationship with stuff, and other decluttering questions

MINDSETS

2. How to develop a positive mindset when dealing with a chronic illness or health worries of family members?

3. Did you always have an abundance mindset? If not, when did it change and how do you nurture it?

• (LISTEN) 40. Does the ‘not-enough’ mindset show up in your momlife? (Scarcity/Abundance)


• (READ) The ‘not-enough’ mindset (how to spot a scarcity mindset and shift it to an abundance mindset)


• 177. Understanding what is motivating you (chasing vs avoiding)

SIMPLE ON PURPOSE

4. What has changed since starting the podcast? What is the purpose of the podcast now?

5. What is your main source of inspiration for your work?

MOTHERHOOD

6. What’s something you’re loving about your family’s ages, stages and dynamics right now?

• 190. Planning the day: my weekly routines and rhythms for work, home and family

7. How can I best parent my middle child?

• 163. Have fun with your kids, on purpose + reasons we don’t have fun


• When Did I Stop Enjoying My Kids? (and my journey back to enjoying them)

8. How do I know if our family is meant for another baby?

FUN AMA

9. What is your favourite book?

• Books mentioned: The Glass Castle, Outlander, The Nightingale

10. What are you manifesting right now?

11. What’s on your bucket list?

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Full transcript (unedited)

0:11

Welcome to the simple purpose Podcast. Today is our 200th episode. And for this episode, I wanted to make it really collaborative. So I went to Instagram and Facebook and email. And I asked for questions. I wanted this to be a q&a episode, where you are kind of opening it up and asking the things that have been on your mind, things you’ve wanted to ask me things you are interested in. So we’ve got a range of topics. We’ve got decluttering, and mindsets and motherhood, all my favorite topics. And I couldn’t get to everything. So if you don’t hear your question answered here, hopefully, I’m going to address it in an email in the Facebook group or in a future episode. Let’s just jump in. The first one is on decluttering, what is the most important thing to consider when trying to declutter, I’m a type seven, and this person is referencing the Enneagram, that they are a type seven on the Enneagram. For those who have never heard of it, the Enneagram is a self discovery tool. It addresses our strengths, our stress habits, and something that makes it different is it addresses our motives as well. It’s a tool that I use with clients who are interested, I have a lot of posts and episodes on it, I’ll make sure to link those. A type seven is someone who avoids negative feelings and pursues the things that make them feel good. So it’s going to look a little bit different for each person. But that type seven does has have the stereotype of being enthusiastic moving on to the next thing. And if you’re a type seven, you might get distracted and never finish when it comes to decluttering. So in terms of decluttering, an important focus for a type seven would be having a bit of a plan, like slowing down, writing out maybe three steps and finishing finishing type nines the type I am, they’re guilty of not finishing to, you know, getting stuff into a pile is one thing, getting it out the door and another I rely on my type three achiever husband to generate the movement on that. Overall, to answer this question, though, I want to distill it down and I spent a lot of time considering what would I distill it down to would be the most important thing when trying to declutter. And here’s what I came up with, at this point in my decluttering journey, I would ask, What would my life be like without this item. So like I said, I’ve had years of decluttering, helping people helping family. And I know that we keep things because we think our future selves will need it, or we’re going to sell it for money, or we’re going to do something with it. But that thing just becomes an obstruction of space and mental energy, we never get around to fixing it or listing it online, or we did and no one came to get it. And or we listed it and no one wanted to buy it for what we think it was worth, we think it’s worth more money, or we never use it, we never cook with it, we never wear it, we never read it, we just never make a use for it. But there it is in our space, reminding us that we should use it, sell it, fix it, whatever. Every time we open up the closet, go to the basement, pass that room where the stuff just is. It’s almost shouting at us, you should use me, you should take care of me you should sell me you aren’t doing the thing you should do. And in my opinion, that clutter causes a lot of emotional and mental drama, that could all go away if we just let it go. Instead, we’re letting it take up space, we’re paying money to store it in our homes to heat it to cool. And that space we could use for living? What would my life be like without this item? What would my space be like without this item? What would my closet feel like? What would my kitchen feel like without this item? I have a couple episodes that I think relate to this on identity clutter? And what if I need it one day, I’m going to link those in the show notes. They were a couple of questions on mindsets. And the first one is a two parter. One part of that is how to develop a positive mindset perspective when dealing with a chronic illness. Also how to not spiral into constant worry about health, health of family members during difficult times. I’m going to try and address both of these in one notion. And remember, these episodes are never a substitute for therapy. They are ideas you can try. When you get to sit and talk with a professional one on one, you get so much more insight and tools that fit with your life and your circumstances. So if you are struggling, or you simply want a new way of approaching things and thinking about things, I encourage you to talk to someone one on one with answering this question. The thing that stands out to me is that it is hard to think positively about an experience that you actually feel is negative. So trying to shift into positive thinking it will feel fake your brain won’t buy it