changing of seasons

here is a great organizing tip! now that we are coming to the end of winter (i know, i know...east coasters have snow but go with me on this) it is time to put those bulky sweaters away. before you do that...go thru all of your winter sweaters and ask yourself if you wore each one. the ones you haven't worn - DONATE THEM! don't hold onto those sweaters for another year. they take up a ton of room and most likely you'll buy a next winter.

i just took my own advice and before long i had an extra large garbage bag filled with all sorts of winter clothes that i did not wear. this led me to bringing out my spring sweaters which led to reorganizing my closet! the organizing of the closet some how led me to vacuuming the house which led me to reorganizing the living room furniture.

start with your sweaters and see where it takes you!

please drop me a comment afterwards to share your success!

happy decluttering.

the in between

i am feeling in a state of limbo. i have client appointments "coming up" but nothing right now. ugh. what to do? well the obvious answer is get more clients. sometimes i hate the obvious answer. and how do i get these said new clients...at the grocery store, "excuse me mam, is your house a mess?". or at yoga class, "excuse me sir, can you no longer park your car in your garage?". of course each day i hear or see someone that can use my help. but you can't just pull into some one's driveway and tell them you can organize their cluttered mess. so that leaves me in the "in between". i know business will keep coming and i must have faith in my process. i am taking proactive steps to meet potential clients. for instance, i'm taking dance classes at a local gym and when i'm out doing errands i always chat it up with different people. little by little the word is getting out. just got keep believing.
i believe i am good at what i do.
i believe my business has a positive impact on the quality of my clients' lives.
i believe this will happen.
ok, i am feeling less in limbo. thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
happy friday.

my 1, 2, 3

1. do what you love:
when i sold on-line advertising, i did everything i could to have the best proposals for potential clients. in fact my they were so good that my co-workers often wanted to use copies for their clients. anyway, maybe it was because advertising wasn't my thing that it just never felt fulfilling. i did well. met nice people. but something was always missing. that missing link was passion about what i was doing. and now i have found it...i love teaching yoga and i love organizing people's lives. so now that i am doing what i love i have decided to take a different approach from what i did previously to get new clients. it may sound naive and who knows in time it may change. for now, i am just focusing my attention on the service i provide and how helpful it can be in some one's life who may feel overwhelmed, unorganized, cluttered, etc. my goal is to go above and beyond a client's expectation. i know i am going to do a great job! you may say i sound egotistical but i know that whatever you decide to do you should strive to do the best. i guess what i'm saying is that i believe so much in what i do and the benefits to the client that i am just not worried about getting clients. i am so confident in what i do and the results for the client that it doesn't feel like a sales process where i have to ask for their business. i don't hesitate when asked about costs, time lengths, results. when you pursue what you believe in and you do it well then the rest will happen. like kevin costner said in field of dreams "if you build it, they will come".

2. don't do it alone:
the other thing differently that i am doing is that i am asking for help...friends, family, the universe. i can't do this solo. i need to share my ups and downs, my insecurities, my needs. and you know what it works! just this morning i asked the universe for two specific things...two new clients and one more yoga class to teach. sue enough, two hours later the yoga studio supplied me with my two new clients and my friend cliff got me a yoga teaching gig where i also have the potential to get new clients! wow!

3. say thank you:
remember that when you ask for something you must say thank you. be grateful and oh my goodness, i am oh so very grateful.
special thanks to...john, both moms, jessica, susan, cliff, katite, rebeccas (more than 1!), samantha, lydia, laura, chris, jim, mg, kristin, jamie, rose, regina, olivia, lindsay, liz, ellen, oprah, my angels and of course the universe.

let's do this thing

i'm sorry to say that i have had quite a bit of writer's block. so, i haven't felt inspired to write. but not to worry. i feel the wheels turning and hopefully by this time tomorrow i will have some fresh new ideas. until then...enjoy the olympics.

tight jeans

phew i'm back. it was getting close but now i'm back. you may ask yourself at this point, "what the heck is andrea talking about"? the answer...it is all in the jeans. not the genetic jeans but the blue jeans.

john and i had a terrific christmas holiday visiting with family back east. this meant that we spent a fair share of that time EATING COOKIES. oh they were good. my mother-in-law gave each one of her children's family a tin of own chocolate chip cookies. my sisters-in-law regina and cassie had platters of assorted home made treats at their homes. i ate and drank cookies for two weeks! oh and did i mention, no yoga. two weeks eating cookies and not doing yoga. then on my return to sf, i got a terrific case of pneumonia...lard belly with phlegm head. attractive right? yeah well this is where the blue jeans come in. i put them on last week and it was not a good feeling. i knew i had to stop the train wreck.

thank god for the yoga. one week later. jeans on. feel snug but not tight.

what a great reminder. if there is something we don't like body, mind, soul, career, life path, whatever...we can make the change.

i'm back. phew.

"begin doing what you want to do now. we are not living in eternity. we have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand - and melting like a snowflake."

marie beynon ray

take the spell off

over the weekend i had some ladies to my home for a sunday afternoon of chatting, drinking, eating and trying on jewelry. it was a ton of fun. anyway, one of the topics of conversation was my experiences as a professional organizer.one of things that i keep coming across in many homes is...the harry potter series! i don't know what it is about these wizard books but people can't let go of them. if i ever meet the author jk rowling i am going to ask her about the spell she put on them. have you seen these books? first of all there are 7 in the series and second of all each one is the size of a large dictionary. unless you own a signed copy, or your child will read them with in the next two years (i'm being generous)...DONATE THEM. i have a client with a 3 year old child who planned on saving them until child's old enough to read them. really? that's at least 9 years holding on to something that takes up a lot of room and has no real financial value. and as my friend jamie so eloquently stated "kids won't be reading books then. they will be reading some kind of electronic device".

what is your thing that you hold on to...either for sentiment, or for passing on to someone else? let's hear from you.

brilliance

Brilliance is one part talent,

two parts wisdom and

three parts passion.

Margaret Mitchell