Spring is a great time for resetting. There’s something about an improvement in the weather and the earlier light in the mornings that encourages us to emerge from winter hibernation.

Like many people, now that’s it’s spring (at least here at the bottom of the southern hemisphere) I’m revisiting my goals and resetting my priorities. One of the motivational tools I like to use is reading the blog posts of inspiring people.

I’m a big fan of Zen Habits guru Leo Babauta. I started following Leo back in 2014 when I had suffered a number of life changing events and setbacks that really threw my confidence and motivation. I found Leo’s story, post archives and regular advice inspiring and used his frequent blog posts as a bit of a life line as I pulled myself slowly onto the path I follow today. I found it really easy to relate to Leo’s journey and experience. He had started from a similar place and through changing his life, one tiny habit at a time, has achieved a much more meaningful and healthy life.

A recent post by Leo on staying focused through the chaos of daily life is my latest inspiration. With a full time job and two kids, combined with the usual share of winter ailments, life is full of distractions and diversions that pull me away from focusing on actions that will move me further down the path I want to follow. Leo encourages us to ‘accept and relax into the disorder of our lives.’ In his post, he suggests a method that is about perseverance in the face of constant challenge. He encourages to just keep ‘herding the cats’ in the right direction even if some of them escape and have to be brought back into the herd.

I like this approach. It’s extremely easy to get discouraged when we lose early momentum due to setbacks. Accepting that setbacks are inevitable, accepting them and working with them seems to be a much more sensible approach than abandoning good progress due to a lack of control over our situation. Those of you who, like me, are more comfortable with order rather than chaos, will find this approach challenging but the rewards are probably worth learning to go with the flow a bit.

Leo encourages us to learn to love the chaos of our lives without letting go of our intentions, to see life for what it is, relax, and just breathe.

Lately, my approach has been more about just sitting down and let the cats walk all over me while hyperventilating. Now that it’s spring, it’s time to get of the couch, brush off the cats, take a deep breath and start moving forwards again.

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What are your plans for spring cleaning your priorities, or if you are a northern hemisphere reader, how will you embrace the chaos that comes with autumn and winter weather?

Published by the lean minimalist

Donna Sherriff is a New Zealand based improvement and operations management specialist. Seeing a need for simple, no fuss, improvement advice she started The Lean Minimalist blog in 2017. Donna writes articles offering advice and tips for rapid and sustainable business improvement based on over 15 years in Senior Management roles. Passionate about sharing the lessons of over 20 years on the high performance track Donna offers coaching services to professionals. She also writes about her own personal improvement journey, minimalism, and her life long struggle against the tyranny of cookies and sugar which she overcame in 2020. These days, Donna is pursuing a journey to earn her black belt in Taekwondo after a long hiatus of 16 years away from training. On the side she is an amateur but passionate musician and poet. View all posts by the lean minimalist