The biggest help to overcome mental obstacles that slow down or hinder the process of decluttering is changing your mindset.
The notion of guilt; for the money spent, the time wasted, the feeling of disrespect when discarding a memento, the fear of losing out, the compare to what others have, or the thought of not being a valued person when not constantly striving for more. All this, though, does not move a single item out of your life.
But isn’t it our decision how we want to feel, how we choose to react to what life throws at us? Can we not decide for ourselves if we want to be in a state of concession or in a state of celebration?
Yes, we can.
The Stoic philosophers frame this as the ‘Dichotomy of Control’; focus on the things you can control and learn to accept what is not. A simple example is when you want to meet a friend for dinner. You can prepare to be on time, fuel up the car, look up the directions, plan when to leave; but you might still be late because a tire goes flat, or the road is blocked from an accident. There is no sense in being upset about it, as you cannot change it. Reflect if there is anything you can learn from the situation, and move on.
There are similar events on your decluttering journey. You cannot change the fact that you already bought all these clothes. You can spend a lot of mental energy complaining to yourself. Or you can just sort through, keep what you use or what adds value, and donate or discard the rest. And you can adapt behaviors that make you think twice before bringing new things in. Conceding the waste of money is just fueling negativity. Rather, celebrate the moment when the bags of clutter start filling up, ready to let go.
Focus on the process that is in your hands right now, not the imaginary ideal future that you have little influence over. You will be surprised how much you will be able to achieve when put your power in what you can control.