09/09/2026
This one's a little longer than what I usually share, but as I was writing it, I realized it wasn't really a post about reorganizing my home or rebranding my business.
It's about the stories we tell ourselves about what we 'should' be able to do on our own.
And I have a feeling I might not be the only one. 💚
I've been sharing some of the changes happening around here lately.
The rebranding of my business.
Rethinking the space where I both live and work.
Selling things.
Moving things.
Changing rooms.
Buying furniture.
Choosing paint colors...and then choosing another paint color. 😂
And somewhere in the middle of all of it, I found myself asking a much more interesting question:
"Why is this taking me so long?"
Because here's the truth.
This project didn't start a few months ago.
I started talking about making these changes over a YEAR ago.
I knew I wanted less.
I knew I wanted the space to function differently.
I knew there were things I was ready to let go of.
I knew my business was evolving and that I wanted my physical environment to evolve with it.
I knew.
And yet I had barely moved the needle.
Over the last few months, I finally started pushing that needle a little harder.
And ironically, things started looking WORSE.
There are things pulled out.
Things waiting to be sold.
Things waiting for decisions.
Furniture moving from one place to another.
Projects started before other projects are finished.
For a while there, I think every time I created a little open space, I immediately filled it with something from another room. 😂
It has been the 'storm before the calm.'
And in the middle of that storm, I started paying attention to the language in my own head.
Why is this taking you so long?
You should be able to do this.
Just pick a room and finish it.
Stop starting so many things.
You know what needs to be done. Just DO it.
Interesting.
Because I teach this stuff.
I know that voice.
And when I stopped judging myself long enough to actually listen to what was happening, I began recognizing some very familiar characters.
My saboteurs had joined the renovation project. 😂
Of course my Avoider was there.
But the Avoider can wear a lot of masks.
Sometimes it looked more like my Stickler.
'I need to figure out exactly how this room should work before I get rid of anything.'
'I need to make the right decision.'
'I don't want to get rid of something and regret it.'
And sometimes my Hyper-Achiever took over.
Instead of completing one thing, suddenly I was working on five rooms, selling furniture, redesigning my business, researching chairs, moving equipment, planning another project and probably measuring something somewhere.
Lots of activity.
Not necessarily lots of completion.
And underneath all of those different voices was this persistent belief:
I should be able to do this myself.
And listen, it’s not like I don’t know anything about organizing. I’ve read all the Feng Shui books. I’ve read the organizing books. I know about clearing clutter, creating flow, giving things a home, keeping what serves you and letting go of what doesn’t.
I KNOW what to do.
That was the one that really got my attention.
Because I started thinking about what I ask of my own clients.
People don't hire me because there isn't enough information available.
Good grief. We are drowning in information.
You can Google the latest supplement.
Find another diet.
Download another protocol.
Listen to another podcast.
Buy another wearable.
Follow another expert.
Start another program.
You can even hire an AI coach. 😂
And still find yourself six months later dealing with the same thing.
My clients invest in working with me because sometimes knowing more isn't what moves the needle.
Sometimes we need someone who can see what we can't see from inside our own patterns.
Someone who understands the bigger picture.
Someone who asks different questions.
Someone who helps us connect dots.
Someone who helps us stay with the process when the old patterns start whispering that maybe tomorrow would be a better day to begin.
And suddenly I had to laugh at myself.
Because I believe in that enough to build my life's work around it.
And I invest in it in my OWN life.
I work with coaches and mentors.
I've invested in mentorship around my health.
I've invested in mindset work.
I've invested in energy work and practices that help me shift things I haven't been able to shift simply by thinking harder about them.
I've invested in education, practitioners, coaching and expertise when I knew someone else could help me move through something differently than I could on my own.
I don't consider that weakness.
I consider it wisdom.
So why, in this one area of my life, was I still carrying around the belief that I was supposed to figure it out myself?
Especially when a YEAR of evidence was sitting right in front of me telling me how well that strategy was working. 😂
And then another piece clicked.
This isn't really about organizing.
I'm not looking for someone to come in and find prettier containers for all my stuff.
This space holds more than stuff.
It holds more than 30 years of my work.
Different iterations of my business.
Ideas I've had.
Equipment I've purchased.
Things I thought I would use.
Things I DID use and may not need anymore.
Personal belongings.
Family belongings.
Memories.
Things with financial value.
Things with emotional value.
Things that probably have neither anymore, but for some reason I'm still holding onto them.
And because I live and work in the same place, there isn't even a clean line between "home" and "business."
It's all here.
So every object isn't necessarily just an object.
Sometimes it's a decision.
Sometimes it's a memory.
Sometimes it's an unfinished idea.
Sometimes it's money I spent.
Sometimes it's a version of myself I thought I was going to become.
And sometimes it's simply one more damn thing my brain has to decide what to do with.
THAT is different.
And that's when I realized that maybe what I needed wasn't more determination.
Maybe I needed support.
So I did what I would tell someone else to do.
I looked for someone whose expertise matched the problem.
And I found something I didn't even know existed:
🌟The Therapeutic Organizer.
I have an initial consultation with her on Thursday.
I don't know yet if she's the right person.
I don't know exactly what working together will look like.
But even making the appointment felt like something shifted.
Because I'm no longer asking:
"What's wrong with me that I haven't gotten this done?"
I'm asking:
"What kind of support would make this easier?"
And THAT is a very different question.
Especially because this isn't just a decluttering project.
This particular chapter is part of something much bigger that I've been moving toward over the last year.
I've made the decision to stay in Wisconsin for at least a few more years.
And that decision changed something for me.
If I'm staying, I don't want to live as though I'm waiting to leave.
I want to create the home I want to live in NOW.
I want to create the space I want to work in NOW.
I want my physical environment to reflect the way my work has evolved and the woman I've become.
And I want to make room for what comes next.
This journey didn't begin last year.
It began more than 30 years ago.
What's happening now isn't me suddenly reinventing myself.
It's another evolution.
Another layer.
Another opportunity to notice where an old pattern no longer serves me and choose something different.
And apparently, my saboteurs aren't finished offering their opinions yet.
This Saturday, I've been invited to spend the day on a motorcycle ride through the Spring Green area, one of my favorite places in Wisconsin to ride.
I said yes.
And then this morning, while I was walking, the committee meeting in my head began.
"You cannot take an entire day off right now."
"Look at everything you still have to do."
"You've barely moved the needle."
"You should stay home and work."
And underneath those voices, another one:
"What must other people think?"
I've been talking for more than a year about this vision for my business and what I want to create.
And here I am, a year later, with rooms in transition, things everywhere, projects unfinished and, from the outside looking in, maybe not a whole lot to show for all that dreaming.
Then there is the money piece.
Because I'm not going to pretend that isn't part of this.
I'm investing in the business.
I'm investing in this space.
I'm letting go of things.
I'm creating something new.
And right now, cash flow is incredibly tight.
There are moments when that pressure can feel crushing.
So naturally my saboteurs have plenty of material to work with.
"You can't afford to take Saturday off."
"You haven't earned that yet."
"Get everything done first."
Except...
"everything will never be done."
And this may be the most interesting part of the whole experiment.
I've done enough of this work to recognize that those thoughts can feel incredibly true without actually being the truth.
They're saboteur stories.
And I don't have to fight them.
I don't even have to make them disappear.
I can notice them.
I can listen to what is happening in my body.
I can get curious.
And then I can invite my Sage forward.
In Positive Intelligence, we talk about the five Sage Powers:
"Empathize. Explore. Innovate. Navigate. Activate."
What changes if I bring empathy to myself instead of judgment?
What might I discover if I explore what's happening instead of immediately believing the fear?
What possibilities become visible when I stop insisting there is only one "right" way through this?
What actually matters to me in this season of my life?
And then, from THAT place, what is the next clear action?
Maybe sometimes it is staying home and working.
Maybe sometimes it is hiring the therapeutic organizer.
Maybe sometimes it is finally finishing the room I've been avoiding.
And maybe sometimes...
"it's getting on the motorcycle."
So I'm going Saturday.
Not because the work is finished.
It isn't.
Not because suddenly the financial pressure disappeared.
It hasn't.
Not because all those voices in my head have gone quiet.
They definitely haven't. 😂
I'm going because I don't want to create the next chapter of my life from fear, urgency, judgment and the belief that I have to earn the right to enjoy it.
And perhaps that's what this whole process is really reminding me.
We don't always need more discipline.
We don't always need another strategy.
We don't always need to try harder.
Sometimes we need to recognize where we're stuck and become curious about what's actually keeping us there.
Sometimes we need to invest in support.
Sometimes we need to question the story that says we should be able to do everything ourselves.
And sometimes we need to recognize that moving the needle isn't only measured by how much we accomplished today.
I ask my clients to make that kind of investment in themselves.
I make it in other areas of my own life.
And apparently, this time, Radical Wisdom looks a little less like another certification or protocol...
a little more like hiring someone to help me deal with 30 years of stuff...
and, at least this Saturday, a lot like getting on the back of a motorcycle and riding through Spring Green. 💚
Because maybe the question isn't:
"Why haven't I gotten there yet?"
Maybe it's:
"Who do I want to be, and how do I want to live, while I'm getting there?"
That feels like a question worth listening to.
And if you made it all the way through this, I'd genuinely love to know...
Did you recognize yourself anywhere in my story?
Where are you still telling yourself, "I should be able to do this myself" or "I should be further along by now"?
And was there something in here that made you look at that a little differently?
I'd love to hear it. 💚