I usually stick to one post per week, but today I wanted to send you a few quick follow-up ideas to Tuesday's post, in case you're considering a New Year's Cleanse for yourself.

Let's get to it!

1. 80/20 Rule: Setting up for the Win

It's pretty much a universal law that 20% of our "stuff" gets 80% of our use and 20% of our efforts yields 80% of our rewards. So as a general rule of thumb, if you're not getting rid of a LOT of physical AND spiritual stuff during this cleanse, then you're hanging on to things you don't need.

Similarly, when you approach the cleanse itself, 20% of your time will probably yield you 80% of your results.

So just do 20% of the work, homie!

2. Be a Hunter, Not a Gatherer.

When you sort through your crap, hunt to INCLUDE, not to EXCLUDE. For example: Dump out your tee-shirt drawer. Ask self, "how many tee-shirts do I need?"

If you do your laundry once per week and you don't wear tee-shirts every day, seven teeshirts should be more than enough, right?

So hunt through and pick out your favorite seven.

This is directly opposed to the GATHERER mentality, wherein you look at every single item you have and wonder whether you may someday need that shirt during an apocalypse. (It takes forever to sort this way and yields minimal Fun Shui energy cleanliness.)

Tip: If you don't get a solid hit of "YES I NEED THIS" right away, don't include it. When it doubt, donate it out.

3. Prep Yawself before you Wreck Yawself.

Again, set the stage for success. Pick the activities you're gonna commit to and plot it out on the calendar. If it's not calendared, it's just an idea.

Plan ahead. You may need to adjust (up or down) your social or professional commitments during your cleanse, arrange babysitters during home decluttering days (if you have kids), preplan groceries for juice cleanse, etc, etc.

Or maybe one straight week isn't ideal for your schedule. NBD. Do one day. Or one hour. Or one hour per day. Or one day per week. Whatevs. Make it yours.

4. Parkinson's Law

Tasks take as much time as you allot for them. You could use a whole day to clean your closet, or you could take 20 minutes.

You can get more of these items done than you think. Be ambitious. Make it happen.

5. Make it yours.

Pick which of the items from Tuesday's post speak to you and do them. If it doesn't speak to you, don't do it.

And if you're not gonna do certain items, don't "should" on yourself.

Do, however, listen to your intuition, not to your head. Your head will convince you that you don't need to do things that your intuition knows you need to do.

Everybody is in different places in their personal evolutions. For some people, doing everything on this list in one week would induce delirium tremors. Other people are already doing all of these things regularly. Figure out where you are vs where you want to be, and pick exercises that most definitely STRETCH you and also will not SNAP you.

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'Nuff for now! Can't wait to hear if anybody is doing a cleanse!

Please let me know if you have any suggestions or questions! :)

Love and light to ya!!

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Happy New Year, Lads and Lasses! Welcome to a clean calendar of unlimited possibility!

Did you think I was going to write about New Year's Resolutions today? Well, the idea of "Resolutionizing" has never really tickled my fancy.

Why am I not ticklish in my resolutions, you ask? Well, because I like to win, of course! I'm much too sore of a loser to put myself in a situation that is inevitably bound to not work.

If I commit to major lifestyle changes simply because the last digit of the date has changed (without explicitly naming all the reasons WHY I'm making the changes, WHAT I am sacrificing, and HOW I'm going to approach the challenges that will inevitably arise), then my "Resolution" is bound to fall flat on its face before January becomes February.

HO-HO-HO--I've got much too much pride for that! The traditional concept of "New Year's Resolutions" sounds to me like a reliable way to feel badly about myself from February through December.

Thanks but no thanks, Resolutions Committee! :)

[Important side note: I DO, howevah, encourage regular life review and systematic goal setting. LMK if you want me to write about how I approach that.]

So where does this leave me on this fine New Year's Mornin'? While I don't believe a new calendar is motivation enough to keep us committed to our commitments, I DO feel that a new year is as perfect a time as any to clean our slates and make sure that our bodies, minds, spirits and spaces are optimized to receive and nourish our ideal lives.

This year, for the first time ever, I'm doing a major one-week deep-cleaning of the Mind, Body, and Soul. Join me, won't ya? :)

Here's the dilly-o:

"Fun" Shui for the Win

I know almost nothing about the art of Fung Shui except the fact that I believe in it. Clear the clutter so that good things (thoughts, energy, abundance, activity, etc) can flow more easily?

Yup. I'm buying that.

As I understand it, the REAL art of Fung Shui is fairly specific, so I've adapted a practice that I call "Fun" Shui.

Here's how "Fun" Shui'ing works: 1) get rid of crap that doesn't serve you, 2) Feel better.

Fun Shui is most easily understood in its application towards overflowing closets and junk drawers, but as you implement it, you'll notice it's also perfect for virtual, psychological and spiritual crap as well.

Below are some suggestions for Fun Shui'ing different areas of your life.

PSA: Before you get to feeling badly about yourself via social comparisons (HEY--that's MY m.o.!!), please know that many of these suggestions are not even making it into my own Supah Cleanse.

And whenever I write "you," I pretty much mean, "I."

A) Fun Shui'ing your SPACE:

Declutter closets, drawers, cabinets, desk, office, in-box, medicine bin, car, diaper bag, purse, coat pockets, gym bag, attic, garage, storage space, fridge, freezer and/or other receptacles of clutter.

Paint walls a lighter, more uplifting color.

Hang photos or quotes that make you smile or inspire you.

Get your email in-box to zero.

Move last year's photos off your computer (keep all digital files in at least 2 locations!)

Get rid of magazines, newsletters, etc, that you've intended to read but haven't. New ones will come.

Shred old documents in filing cabinets.

Fly through the pile of to-do's that is forever waiting for you. If it's unimportant and not urgent, trash it.

B) Fun Shui'ing your MIND:

Exercise. (Consistency is more important than intensity.)

Set an appointment with a life coach / mentor / therapist / insert preferred term here.

Begin a daily meditation practice (or increase the amount of time you meditate per day.)

Take a nap.

Take a bath.

Take a breath.

And another.

Do a brain dump: 1) write everything that is in your head onto a piece of paper. Let it flow. Really dump it out. 2) Cross out the things that are not serving you. (Commit to not letting these thoughts complete themselves in your brain any more.) 3) For everything else, decide the one small next step you can take to address that issue or goal, and CALENDAR IT. 4) Sigh relief. This is an awesome exercise.

Exercise.

Practice gratitude. (Write down 5 things you're grateful for every day. Or every week. Frequency doesn't matter as much as writing 'em does.)

Remove or hide from your news feed anyone on social media who posts negative updates or otherwise elicits negative feelings in you.

Get out in nature.

Mark "No Plans Land" on your calendar. Reserve time to just BE. That means no plans, no phone, no computer. Quality time for just you and your heart and (maybe) your loved ones.

Schedule a phone conversation with someone you love.

Do nice things for people.

Did I mention exercise?

C) Fun Shui'ing your BODY:

Has exercise landed on this list yet?

Drink warm water with lemon.

Consider a juice cleanse. (I'm gonna do Kris Carr's ONE DAY Crazy Sexy Juice Cleanse.)

Juice cleanse too intense? Then just clear the crap outta your pantry.

Eliminate alcohol, dairy, refined foods, caffeine, and/or sugar from you diet. Not willing to make a permanent commitment? Just do it for a week.

Yoga.

Massage.

Exfoliation.

Hair cut?

Enema? Seriously

D) Fun Shui'ing your SOUL:

See all of the above, especially meditation, exercise, gratitude, nature, nutrition, generosity, sleep, and connection.

Consider a social media and television detox. Fret not: it doesn't have to be permanent.

Choose favorite mantras and use them.

Meditate on what nurtures YOUR spirit. Gardening? Cooking? Physical intimacy? Prayer? Yoga? Juggling? Whatever it is, CALENDAR IT. Regularly.

Laugh.

Egads! I have tons more thoughts, but this post got offensively long. I'll be back tomorrow (via auto-post, since I'll be CLEANSING) with a bonus post containing more suggestions for planning your cleanse.

In the meantime, WHO'S WITH ME?? :) Let's TRASH the idea of take-em-or-leave-em New Years Resolutions and embrace lifestyle COMMITMENTS instead. Our happiness, our integrity, our relationships and our ideal lives depend on it.

After our New Year's Fun Shui Cleanse, we will be ready (mind, body and spirit) to shed our old snake skins and become the vibrant butterflies we were meant to become…in 2013, and beyond.

Happiest of New Years, Friends!!

Love and light, Bethany

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Have any cleansing ideas to add?

Have any questions regarding goal setting, planning, etc?

How are you approaching the new year?

I love to hear from you! :)

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