Time for a Life Inventory—What Stays and What Goes?

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1:37This is The Ed Myron Show. All right. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the show. So today, we're going to do some spring cleaning. And I think today is going to be one of these podcasts you remember for a long time. I know I will. So I'm going to tell you what just happened. We're blessed the fact that we live between two different locations. And so we spend about half the year at one place and half the year at the other. And, uh, and so I had to go into my closet last week and I was going to do some packing to move some of my clothes to the home we were going to move to. And it turned into a complete closet cleaning.

2:13And so I went into my entire closet and did what you'd call like a spring cleaning. But I mean, I like went to town on this stuff and it was absolutely an unbelievable experience. I don't know if you've ever done this, but I had not cleaned out my closet in years. And you learn a lot about yourself when you do that. And you learn a lot about your habits and your life. And there was this giant, just reflection I had on my own life and, and the difference that it made in doing this and how much I needed a spring cleaning in my life. And I think maybe you do as well. You know, it was really interesting.

2:45I was in the closet and And I'm like, I start to want to hold on to things that I haven't worn in a decade. I want to hold on to stuff that doesn't even fit me anymore. And I'm thinking, how many things in my life am I holding on to that don't fit anymore, that I don't even want anymore? And I was just accumulating. So if I had, I'm going to talk about this in a video, I'm going to send you in, but I had like shoes that are 10 years old, hats that are dirty that I never wear anymore. I mean, in fact, 80 % of the stuff in that closet, I didn't wear anymore. It no longer fit me, no longer serve me, no longer look good, never didn't feel good.

3:15anymore. And I, yet I hold onto things. And just because I have them just because they've always been there. Well, how many things in your life is that way? How many things in your life are that way that you're holding onto just because they've always been there, or maybe they're going to come around again. And you don't even know why you're holding onto them again. It's somehow it's a sense of connection or a sense of something. But I start to think about what thoughts am I having that don't serve me anymore? What goals, what relationship, what, what friends, what, what beliefs do I have that no longer fit, no longer feel good, no longer look good, no longer are good.

3:50The time has long passed, but I was struggling to be willing to throw these things out. Here's the cool thing, by the way, you're going to hear in a minute. After I cleared it out, it created space for the new. It was one of the great experiences I've had in years. And I learned a lot about how I hold onto things I don't need anymore, that I don't even like anymore. And we do this in our lives. We do it a lot. We hold onto people, jobs, careers, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, emotions that don't feel good anymore, don't fit anymore. But we never take a look at it because they're just there every single day.

4:28And they clutter up our lives. They clutter our creativity. They clutter our clarity. They clutter our soul, our spirit. It's a mess. and yet when you clean it out, it opens up something so remarkable, so special. And you'll also find out the older you get, you hold on to more of it. You hold on to more stuff, more beliefs, more thoughts, more victim mentality, more limiting beliefs. You just hold on to them and they become really familiar like an old sweater that doesn't even fit anymore and it doesn't look good anymore. Only you think it does. And so today, here's what we're doing. We're throwing open the metaphorical closet doors of our lives.

5:11We're going to pull out what no longer fits, making space for a life that truly feels like home. It's time for a little spring cleaning of the soul. So grab a metaphorical garbage bag with me today and let's get a little ruthless, a little refreshing and a little real. We're going to be cleaning out the closet. You start thinking right now, what no longer fits? It's no longer necessary in our lives. an audit of doing that. I was so excited about this after it happened the next day, which was yesterday. I was in the backyard and I'm like, this is so fresh on my mind and my soul. I did this in a podcast a few weeks ago I shared with you.

5:49I'm like, I'm going to record how this feels and what I'm thinking right now. Cause I don't think it'll be as good tomorrow when I actually shoot the show. So I'm going to throw, if you're on YouTube, you'll see my outfit change here to me in my backyard yesterday, talking to all of you. If you're on audio, you'll just hear it. But I want you to hear about six minutes of my thoughts that I recorded yesterday on this spring cleaning of our lives in the closet that I went through. I think there'll be a lot of lessons in this and it was fresh, so I wanted to record it on the spot and not wait for today.

6:16So let me throw it to that video and audio right now. Enjoy. I did kind of a spring cleaning in my closet yesterday. Actually, not kind of, a full spring cleaning. And I went through everything in my closet. And it's amazing what we'll hold on to in our life that doesn't fit us anymore. and I had all kinds of hats in there that were dirty, and I found this thing sitting around that I'd never even worn. I bought it, and I never wore it. But the point is, there's a bunch of old shirts and clothes in there that I'm never going to wear again, but I've been holding on to them. Some of them literally don't even fit me anymore.

6:52And I was thinking about life, and how often do we hold on to things that don't fit us anymore? All the time. we hold on to belief systems that don't fit us anymore even dreams old dreams of ours they don't fit anymore you put them on they don't even feel right anymore they look dated it looks old some of it really even looked silly some of it was i can't even believe i ever wore that i haven't thought about wearing that and that's so many elements of our life we hold on to things that no longer serve us that no longer fit and we should get rid of them and so it was really hard for me. I'm like, well, I might wear those shoes again.

7:31I'm like, I haven't worn those shoes in three years. I had some shirts in there I was arguing with myself about holding on to that I haven't worn in 10 years. Seriously, 10 years. And then you know what, ironically, there was a couple other things in there that I hadn't worn in a long time that looked damn good, that I had to try back on again, that fit really well right now. The times come back around. You know, you keep something long enough, they say. That's not true of my t-shirts. It's not true of some of my suits. It wasn't true of a bunch of my hats and ties, but a few things really fits well now.

8:04In fact, fits better now, looks better now. So in our life, I was asking myself this all night, and I was talking to some friends about it as well, and my son. What are we holding on to in our life that no longer fits us? That we're literally, we know for sure, doesn't fit anymore. Is it a dream? Is it a belief system? Is it a person? Is it a job? Is it even the entrepreneurial journey you're on right now? It doesn't fit anymore. The job doesn't fit anymore. The relationship doesn't fit anymore. The belief system doesn't fit anymore. Maybe it's an emotion. Like for me, I was so intense and driven and climbing as a young man.

8:43It served me and fit me very well then. that same level of intensity and drive it doesn't fit quite the same anymore right now you know what fits really well contribution peace equanimity presence that fits and some of those other things in our the proverbial closet of our lives and our minds take up room and clutter our thinking and when I made room yesterday after I cleaned out the closet, I looked around the closet, I'm like, there's a lot of room for new things in here now that I would have never thought about putting in there had I not cleaned it out. And so one of the great benefits of cleaning things out of our lives that never serve us is it makes room for the new.

9:33And sometimes you just got to clean some stuff out. Maybe it's people that you work with that no longer should be working with you anymore. Maybe it's clients you're holding on to that they don't serve it anymore. They don't serve your mission anymore. And I couldn't believe how much it made room for the new. Not only did it not fit, but it made room for the new. I would challenge you to really evaluate right now today, what are some of the people, thoughts, emotions, beliefs you have? Maybe it's even some clothes. Some things you do every day that don't fit anymore. Like I'll give you one other example.

10:07I went into the gym this morning. Everyone knows I've got a bad back, really bad back. And I'm like, all these heavy weights that are in here, they don't fit anymore. I'm never going to lift them again. I'm not going to bench 400 pounds ever again. I don't need all the weight that's in here. In fact, if I cleared out some of these weights, I could put in a stretching machine. If you cleared out some of these people in your life, it would make room for the new. You cleaned out some of these beliefs that limit us. It makes room for the new. In fact, I'm so passionate about it. I think I got to do a podcast on this.

10:34And I'm pretty sure I need to build a talk around it. I might even write a chapter in a book about it. Here's the other thing that struck me. There was some things in there, there were rather, that looked really good again. That I hadn't looked at in a long time because of the clutter. Maybe there's something you used to think you wanted to do that you just never got around to doing. Or somewhere you wanted to go. Something you wanted to accomplish. And just life happened and you never got around to it again. And maybe it fits perfectly right now. Maybe right now is the time to go back and put that back on again.

11:11See how it feels. See how that dream feels. See how that thought feels. See how that old friend you haven't seen in years. See how it feels. Maybe you got to clean a few out to make room for the old even. Sometimes it's not even just making room for the new. Perhaps it's making room for the old. Anyway, I found a couple suits in there. They look really good. I'm going to wear them on again. And so, you know, I just want you to really think about that this week. What do you need to clean out to make room for the new? Maybe there's one or two things that make room for the old. It's something you were always going to do that you just forgot or you never did or it just never happened the way you thought.

11:48Maybe there's a space for it now if you clean some things out. What are you holding on to right now that no longer fits? Think about that this week. God bless you. Max out. All right, so there you go. Hopefully you enjoyed that. and I really wanted to record it for you in the time that I had it right on my heart and on my mind and in my spirit. So what I'm challenging you to do today is a little bit of an audit. Take a look at your beliefs, number one. What things do you believe, maybe even unconsciously that are subtle, that you don't need to believe this anymore? You don't need to think this anymore.

12:17You don't need to hold on to that anymore. Maybe it's a limiting belief. Maybe it's something you believe about yourself or you believe about other people. You believe you need somebody or you've always been there, so you're always going to be. Audit that belief. Audit some of your relationships. What relationships, let's just be honest, you're holding on to them because they've always been there, but you know darn well they don't serve you. They're toxic. They're victims most of the time. They're traumatic. They drain your energy. They don't give you energy. Maybe it's your intimate and personal relationship.

12:45Maybe it's a friend. Maybe it's something in your family. Maybe it's one that you need to reconnect with. Maybe it's one that's kind of you've let go away for a while. And the more you think about it, that old sweater looks pretty good right now. You know, I found some suits in there, like I said, that they really look good and I haven't worn them in a long time. They fit. And maybe there's a relationship that you've allowed to kind of just drift away that really fits at this time in your life right now. And you need to repair it and fix it and bring them closer again. And when this podcast is over, you're going to give them a call or a text and say, I miss you.

13:19How about auditing your emotions? What are some of these emotions that are cluttering up the closet of our lives, that if we would clear them out, it would make room for the new. Maybe it's your career you need to look at, your activities, your hobbies, your activities daily. You know, for example, I've cold plunged every morning forever. I don't need to do that every day now. I do it three days a week. There's actually some benefit to stopping what they're telling me physically. In the gym, there's just things I've been doing in the gym forever because I've always done them. But as I'm spring cleaning, kind of looking at those weights, I mentioned those heavy weights.

13:54I'm still going to lift heavy weights on some lifts, but some I'm not. And there are things I've really never done in the gym very much like stretch that I need to add to my routine. I've made room for that by not doing a hundred sets of bench press all the time. How about this? Audit some of your traumas and what you're holding on to about that wounds that you have. Here's a big one. Audit your regrets. What regret are you holding on to that if you cleared it out of your life, it would make room for a whole new you. This is so healthy. It's so good. First off, my closet looks a lot better. I'm kind of ordering some new clothes now.

14:28I'm excited about the new. I found some old things I like, and I feel good about myself that I've shed these things. It's almost like a weight. It's almost like there's just so much old there. You know, we're constantly regenerating our skin all the time. Our bones, our skeletal system, our digestive tract, our lungs. These remake themselves on a regular basis. It's a nature. Eight years from now, you want to have the same lungs you have right now, literally, right? Yet on a cellular basis, we're turning over millions and millions of cells all the time. Yet we hold on to things in the closet of our lives all the time.

15:03By the way, I not only think this is a good metaphor, I think you should go clean out your actual closet. I think that process alone would teach you something about you.

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15:55When it comes to what your family eats and drinks, you know your choices matter. You're the expert because you know what fits your life. And getting it right starts with good information. That's why America's beverage companies are sharing more information about our ingredients at GoodToKnowFacts.org. No spin, no judgments, just the facts straight from the experts for more than 140 beverage ingredients. Visit GoodToKnowFacts.org. You know what's surprising too, like I said, is what looks good again. After I cleaned out the closet, one thing I realized is I made a lot of room for new things, and it just gave me space to think.

16:35It was just amazing. I want to recommend this to you. Sometimes the reason we can't see forward is because our life is so cluttered with the stuff that no longer serves us. So take inventory honestly. Just like cleaning a real closet, you have to pull everything out first. Pull it all out first and then look at it like a new space. Sometimes you have to pull everything out of your life and just look at it. You go, well, I'm busy. So what? You're going to die someday. Being busy is not an excuse to live an intentional life, a new life, a better life, a brighter life, a more energized, exciting, rich, peaceful, deep life.

17:12You're going to allow busyness to do that? Stop it. Stop it. Listen to what I'm saying today as your friend. I do this show mainly to talk out loud myself, but at the same time is to save you what I've gone through and to serve you. in life this means taking a good honest look at all your commitments you've made habits relationships thought patterns what's actually in there what's actually in your commitments what have you been committed to for a long time you don't need to be doing that anymore you just do it because it's autopilot you've been sitting on that board or going to that place forever you just go because you go.

17:52Drop it. Throw it away. Give it away. You know, one of the cool things was like, gave away a lot of this stuff. Some of it was ungiveawayable, but most of it was. It's just a different stage. Are you not understanding that there's different seasons and stages of life and it's good to change? So that's number one. Number two, identify what no longer fits. In a real closet, we outgrow clothes. In life, we outgrow relationships, jobs, beliefs, and we even outgrow our dreams. Ask, does this still fit who I am now? Number three, recognize what's worn out. Some things are comfortable being worn thin, you know, but things like old coping mechanism, outdated goals, resentments.

18:40They may have served a purpose once, but now they need to be retired. I just had these friends that got divorced a long time ago, and they've just been at each other's throats and resentful of each other for a long time. Both of them have their story justifiably at why that's the case. And I mean, it's been like 20 years. And then I ran into one of them not too long ago, and they're like, you know, we've reconnected. We're great friends. We had dinner. My boyfriend and his girlfriend and his wife are actually very friendly as well. And they made it was time to not hold the grudge anymore. It made sense to do it once, but like for how long?

19:16And it made room for this new relationship. And it was just, by the way, both of them said it was kind of like a little bit of a piano off my back, like a weight off my back. Number four, it allows you to do this. Make room for the new. You can't welcome new opportunities, healthier relationships, or better habits if you're stuffed with old baggage. Clearing out makes space physically, mentally, and emotionally. Do it. Number five, be willing to donate or toss it. Donate or toss it. By the way, in the closet thing, it's donate it or toss it. In real life, what does donate mean? You know what you've learned from doing it?

19:52Donate that thought to somebody. Hey, you know what I learned? You know what I found out? And share it with somebody. Give it to them as a gift. Here's the gift I got. Let me give it to you from doing it. And maybe it's just tossing things out. Some things you can repurpose, but others just need to go. Not everything or everyone is meant to come with you into your next season. Let me say that to you again Not everything or everyone is meant to come with you into your next season. I'm 54 years old My birthday was this weekend At the time i'm recording it actually was yesterday And I looked back at my life You kind of tend to do that as you get a little bit older and i've thought about all the amazing friends i've had over my life Some of them very close friends and some of them just were not as close anymore Does that mean that wasn't a real friendship?

20:36Or it wasn't sincere or genuine? No No. It just means I'm not riding with them to the end. But man, what a beautiful season of my life it was to be their friend then. And by the way, if they needed me or I needed them, I could call them. But you know what I mean. You have to hang on to these things if it's just no longer the season. It doesn't mean you're not friends. It doesn't mean it wasn't special or isn't special. But think about people you know that have passed away when they get to the end of their lives. It's a very small group. That doesn't mean all their friends and experiences and memories throughout their life weren't beautiful, but it may not be this time.

21:16We tend to hold on to these things as if we'd feel guilty if we didn't have it. There are some people that will be with you to the end, but not most. They have new seasons, you have seasons. Things change. Be willing to donate or toss. Number six, organize what you end up keeping. Once you know what's truly important, restructure your life around it. New routines, better boundaries, clearer priorities. These things matter. Once you figure out what's important, you got to organize it. You got to get serious about it. You got to make new memories. You got to get new focus, new goals, new standards, new patterns, new habits.

21:58This is exciting stuff, by the way. We should clean out our closet every couple of years, maybe once a year. And we should do this in our lives on a regular basis as well, which leads me to number seven, set a maintenance schedule. Spring cleaning is great, but regular check-ins prevent clutter from building back up. I don't want to just do this every 10 years or only when I move. Do you know what I'm saying? Every time a friend of mine, John Gordon is just moving recently, he's building a new home. And he's like, I just can't believe what we hang on to and our lives. And it's the same exact things.

22:34Like, I can't believe what we hang on to. It's just so silly. I said, you're right, bro. It's sentimental. And it's okay to be sentimental while holding on to pictures of your family, but it's not sentimental to hold on to a victimhood or hold on to limited thinking or hold on to the past or replay the past. Remember when, remember when, remember when. That's what you want to do with your life or is it, let's do something great now. Let's make the new memories now. So spring cleaning is great. Got to do it regular. Also, maybe it's a monthly life closet audit. Maybe once a month you just go through your life closet.

23:07Are you still aligned with your purpose and your values? Or you need to make a shift. You deserve a life where everything in your closet fits, flatters, or feels like you. Fits, flatters, or feels like you. If the people around you don't flatter you and make you better, I don't mean compliment you. I mean, that relationship makes you better. You know, like a good shirt that fits right flatters you. A great pair of shoes flatters you. It makes you look better. Do your relationships do that? Does your significant other do that? Do your friends do that? Right? Your career, does it fit anymore? Your beliefs, do they fit anymore?