Reducing My Life to Zero

“I’m reducing my life to zero,” I said to a friend. “Scrubbing as much of it away as possible so I can begin rebuilding very intentionally in the direction I want to go.”

This year has been something special.

Confronting, challenging, heartbreaking, and frustrating, to be sure.

And it’s been expanding, healing, soul-filling, and filled with more growth than ever before. Opening my eyes (and my heart), exposing me to new possibilities, and building my trust muscle at a rapid rate. It’s been a pivotal year in many ways.

Now, I feel like I’m in preparation mode for a whole new season.

There are less than three more months until I move to New Mexico.

And only one until the new year.

I’m so clear on what I want my life and business to look like in the coming year and chapter, and I know exactly who I need to be to bring it to life: my most fully expressed self and absolutely nothing less.

I’ve spent so much of my life feeling lost, stagnant, suffocated, and stuffed into spaces that are too small for me with people who don’t really see me.

The great work of my life has always been this fight to come home to myself, and I’ve never been successful, though I’ve made different levels of progress at various points. But something shifted this summer. Or, I should say, so much of who I’m not, what’s kept me tamped down, and all the old wounding and trauma that’s held me down was stripped away so rapidly. I’m humbled as this year winds down.

My assignment for these last few months in Colorado is clear…

Reduce my life to zero.

Or as close to zero as I can.

Truthfully, part of me wants to sell absolutely everything I own before leaving. But because I’m being gifted with a moving truck and help, I’m going to keep some furniture that feels okay to hang onto, like my big ol’ bed that I love.

I’m 37 years old and I’m done living the life other people want me to live.

I’m done being all the versions of myself I created to stay safe, secure, and successful. I’m done contorting and making myself palatable for people who can’t even truly consider me and my context or experience.

I feel so free and at peace with who I’m becoming because she is crazy amazing. She’s everything I’ve always been but just couldn’t embody fully. She doesn’t give a $#!& about disappointing others anymore (I have so much to say about this in particular), and she isn’t afraid to let it all go.

I say “she” because I’m still in the process of becoming.

And reducing my life to zero is a big piece of that.

Anything that isn’t 100% aligned with my most fully expressed self has to go.

I’ve done the deeper work to reconnect with who that version of myself is, which has made it far easier to purge.

And I’m talking anything and everything.

If I end up with two shirts, a pair of workout pants, and some underwear, so be it.

Because that’s the point.

Reduce to zero and rebuild everything intentionally.

It’ll take time. It’ll require really tuning into my heart and choosing only what feels aligned as I move forward—from what I wear to who I spend time with to where I live and how I spend my time. But I’m here for it, and I know I’ll be so much happier for finding the courage to strip everything down to the bones right now.

I’m doing this in my business as well, some of which I touched on here, and much of which I’ll share in the New Year. I can’t wait to share all that’s coming with you.

Where do you need to reduce to zero in your life?

And maybe it’s not at the ridiculous extreme that I’m going to! But where do you need to purge, declutter, and create space? Where do you need to strip down as close to the bones as you can to rebuild things more intentionally?