99 | Being Available
99 | Being Available
As we approach the end of the year, it's the perfect time to pause and evaluate whether our actions align with our core values and priorities.
In this episode we’ll explore why revisiting the past year through categories like family, health, and relationships, we gain insights into our true priorities and how this can aid in our decision of what we wish to be available for in the coming year. It's about trimming away what's no longer relevant and making space for what truly matters. Whether it's spending more time with family, focusing on personal health, or pursuing a passion project, the choice is ours.
Tune in now for insights as I prepare for a significant transition and to discover the power of availability!
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Intro: Welcome to A Pleasant Solution, Embracing An Organized Life. I'm your host, certified life coach, professional organizer, and home life expert, Amelia Pleasant Kennedy and I help folks permanently eliminate clutter in their homes and lives. On this podcast will go beyond the basics of home organization to talk about why a clutter-free mindset is essential to an aligned and sustainable lifestyle. If you're someone with a to-do list, if you're managing a household and if you're caring for others, this podcast is for you. Let's dive in.
Amelia: Welcome to Episode 99, “Being Available.” Hey y’all! Before I dive into today’s message, I have a simple offer for everyone who’s in my world. If you’ve wanted to work with me before, now is the time. If you were planning to work with me in 2025, this is your chance. For at least the first half of 2025 I’ll be intentionally stepping away from my business. My return-to-work date is open-ended and may stretch beyond what I’ve initially planned. The decision to take a sabbatical feels aligned, powerful, and full of warmth.
I’ll be accepting a very limited number of clients to work with in sets of 8-week sessions which is why I didn’t want you to miss out on this incredible opportunity. Whether you’re ready to be in control of your time and tasks or tackle a couple of spaces in your home, we can make a plan and get you unstuck. If you’re ready to stop spinning in overwhelm and clear the mental clutter, we can make a plan and unblock your path. If you’re ready to shift the conversation in your home around chores and care, we can make a plan and get the conversation bubbling. I hope you decide to join me. Send me a DM or an email with your interest, and I’ll be in touch.
Alright y’all. This is episode 99 which means next week, on Christmas Day and the first night of Hanukkah, A Pleasant Solution podcast will reach 100 episodes. It’s unbelievable. And it’s time for me to take a pause. The decision to intentionally step away from business for at least 6 months corresponds with reaching the pinnacle of 100 Episodes. It’s a beautiful coincidence that my 100th episode lands on the last Wednesday of the year. I’ll also be pausing my weekly newsletters. Y’all, I’m proud of what I’ve created and plan to breathe in the success of my clients and my work for a little while.
Which leads me to today’s topic, “Being Available.” First, I want to say that those who know me best know I’m notoriously unavailable. I’ve practiced setting boundaries, practiced tolerating the disappointment from others, and practiced valuing my time, energy, and attention as my most important resource. These skills, in my opinion, are some of the most impactful skills women can develop as we’re often raised to be everything to everyone. Boundaries apply to all areas of an organized life: your living space, your relationships, your calendar, your health… It’s a topic I adore helping clients navigate as it ultimately results in clearer priorities, powerful decision making, and a deepened sense of self-trust.
So, on today’s episode I’m going to share why I’m taking a sabbatical, and more importantly how your availability is an indicator of your current values and priorities. Being available isn’t the opposite of being unavailable. Instead, I see them as cozy neighbors. I thought this would be the perfect mindset topic for the end of the year, the solstice, and for the new beginnings ahead.
Let’s start by reflecting on this past calendar year. You may be someone who’s eager to move forwards, yet the lesson on availability is best built on data from the past. For this discussion, I’m defining “availability” as where you’re putting your time, energy, and attention. It involves both your paid and unpaid daily activities.
Typically, at the top of the year, in January, you set intentions and have a rosy outlook about how you’d ideally like life to unfold in the year ahead. Perhaps you made a commitment to yourself or selected a theme to guide your days. Take a moment to think back. Grasp that early 2024 vision. What seemed important to you at the beginning of the year?
Now, zoom out a bit and consider the spring season. What kinds of activities did you get up to? When I’m reflecting, I find it helpful to use categories like family, business, health and wellbeing practices, spending and saving, and relationships to guide my remembering. Scanning back through your mind by category may spark your memory of 2024 in a different way than the month by month approach. How about the summer season and the transition out of school for kids? Where did your time, attention, and energy land? Were you able to rest, travel, or have some time for yourself? Continue to move through the fall season in your mind up to the present moment.
Identify your top 3-4 highlights and top 3-4 throwaway moments. Get curious. Why did you classify them as such? Ultimately, the goal of this reflection is to increase your awareness around where your time, energy, and attention went in 2024. The positive moments may stand out a bit more than the negative, or you may have to search for them. Get curious. Perhaps there were a few moments you couldn’t control like an illness or life transition. Perhaps you felt pulled in multiple directions, overly busy, or bored at certain moments. Perhaps you identified a project that was seemingly important at the time, yet you didn’t follow through in the manner you’d planned. Minutes and hours may have been given unnecessarily to social media, to folks you don’t particularly enjoy, or to tasks that feel like obligations (but were really a choice). Allow whatever comes up for you.
Next, I want you to ask yourself a simple, yet revealing question: In 2024, did you distribute your time, energy, and attention in line with your values and priorities? Hmmm. Alright. Life is not all or nothing, so I encourage you to apply that question in layers, if needed. How about in the category of health and well-being? Did you distribute your attention in a supportive fashion? Was this area of your life even identified as a priority? Then consider spending and saving, family, work, and so on. Take note of anything you discover and hold those reflections gently. Remember, your values exist at your core or center self. Your priorities are different. By nature they must be limited, so notice if you find yourself being critical in multiple areas.
Now, you may be wondering what reflecting backwards has to do with being available. Honestly, it’s everything. This recent data from 2024 tells you exactly where your time, energy, and attention went. It tells you where you chose to be available. (Conversely, it tells you where you were unavailable too, but that topic goes back to Episode 81. It’s a great companion episode to this one, if you haven’t heard it.) It tells you what you chose to prioritize and how often your values played a role in your decisions.
For me, this exercise has been enlightening. I spent some time downloading and writing out what I’d been up to. Every time I remembered something, I jotted it down. The running tab showed me all that I was doing in my business and all that I wasn’t doing in my personal life. I was a bit surprised at what I discovered, and I hope you are a bit surprised at what you discover too. Lastly, you’ll want to deeply consider where you’d like to be available in the near future.
Our priorities and values evolve. It’s how we grow. Each day we receive inputs in all areas of our lives. Some of these inputs are relevant and others are not. Either way, they help shape your values and priorities. And in turn, you slowly discover that what was once deserving of your attention may no longer be relevant. Taking a few moments to review your priorities and check in with your values at the end of a season or end of the year helps you identify exactly what needs to be trimmed away. It’s a conscious act of pausing. It’s a conscious act of choosing - where you’d like to be more available and where you’d like to be more unavailable.
That’s what I’m doing. I’m choosing to shift where my time, attention, and energy goes in 2025. I love producing a podcast. I love working with clients and helping folks permanently eliminate clutter in their home and life. My upcoming sabbatical has little to do with my passion for business and everything to do with what I’m currently craving. I’m currently craving spending time with my children. My eldest is about to turn 18 and is in the thick of college applications. I can literally feel the clock ticking with her. My son is 15 and is shining in his MLS Academy. I want to be fully present for the lows and the highs, to cook him nutritious foods, support his homeschooling and watch him play. My youngest is 13. She’s bright, funny, and evolving from a middle schooler into a high schooler. My husband is around more and more. Our days of being in a long-distance marriage seem to be wrapping up. I’ve moved my mom into memory care nearby and can see her each week. I see a sense of normalcy – however temporary – ahead, and I want to drink it all in. On the personal front, I want to get physically stronger and explore the barriers we all have to self-preservation and rest practices. I want to read even more, be curious even more, and definitely have more fun.
In essence, I want to be available for a different set of things in 2025. At this time next year, I’ll most likely want another different set of things, and I’m sure I’ll be back here talking about them. I think the key is to both reflect and analyze the choices you’ve been making and decide whether to continue making them. You’re more organized than you think. Your time, energy, and attention are your most valuable assets which is why I’m eternally grateful for every minute you’ve listened to this podcast. I’d love to know what you’ll be available for in 2025, or conversely unavailable for. The choice is yours, and it's mine. Talk to you for the 100th episode next week. Hooray!
Outro: Don’t go! Leaving a review is quick and easy, and it keeps this podcast at the top of the charts. On your listening platform, click the 5-star rating. Head to Apple podcasts and add your feedback or share what you’d like to hear on future episodes. I'll then share your review on a future episode, and we’ll celebrate together! Talk to y'all soon and remember, you’re more organized than you think.
