Let Go of the Things That Do Not Serve You

5 questions to ask yourself to determine if something is worthy of your mindspace.

Do you ever think about something in your life and you question why you give it the opportunity to take up space in your already crowded mental real estate?

Maybe you think about letting it go, but do not fully commit, because making that change seems so permanent and final.

Change is scary, even if it is change that will ultimately serve you better.

I am currently training to be a registered yoga teacher and in our lessons and yoga classes, there is always an intention. One recurring intention is to let go of the things that do not serve you.

This can apply to my time on my mat and whatever might not serve my body that day. But even further, yoga as a practice is taking the intention, emotions, realizations, and experiences we feel on our mats and applying it to our life off the mats.

With that being said, I had been thinking more and more about this recurring theme of letting things go that do not serve me. Then, I tried living that truth off my mat.

It was a difficult to wrap my brain around at first. What does letting go of the things that do not serve you even mean?

What designates if something serves you or does not?

If something serves you, does it have to solely bring you good or positive energy into your life? Or does it simply have to provide some sort of purpose.

The way I see it, if it will not eventually bring some sort of positive influence to your life, then it does not serve you.

Once I was able to identify what served me and what did not, I started actively partitioning my mental real estate to begin letting those things go. While the processing of letting go was hard, I can definitively say, it has helped me be more mindful and certainly more self-aware.

I know it can be difficult to let go, because letting go is so permanent.

Letting go is change.

Change is uncomfortable.

But growth does not happen without change. That being said, I narrowed down how I decide to let things go into a self-analysis that consists of 5 questions that I ask myself.

Hopefully, these can help you too!

1. Does this thought/idea/feeling bring positivity to my life?

This question is simple. Whatever you are debating to let go, if it does not positively affect your life, cut it out. Why harbor anything negative in your mental space.

Doing so will only make you feel bad and cause doubt. Be confident in who you are and what you deserve. Let go of the notion that choosing positivity and happiness is selfish, because you deserve to maximize your opportunity of happiness all around you.

2. Is this thought/idea/feeling something that I can control?

If you cannot control it, then why even give it the mental real estate to begin with? There are so many things in this beautiful life that are beyond our authority. There is absolutely no use in letting these uncontrollable things crowd your mind.

At times, there are feelings that we cannot control but still remain imperative to give the light of day. In this case, it is important to note that while you might not be able to control what happens, you certainly can control your attitude towards it to something that may serve you better.

3. If I transformed this thought/idea/feeling from something that does not serve me to something that does, would it bring me joy or satisfaction?

This one is a bit trickier, occasionally we have thoughts that do not serve us at first glance. At times, there are some diamonds in the rough.

The trick here is, if transformed by devoting our precious energy to it, would the result provide a net positive impact on your life? Depending on the answer to that would be whether or not I would suggest letting go.

Would the effort required be worthwhile in the long run?

4. Do the benefits of this thought/idea/feeling outweigh the negatives?

Similarly to the last question, occasionally, a thought’s purpose and ability to serve you are not so black and white. It is possible that the pros and cons of the thought, idea, or feeling will need to be considered and compared.

Going along with the theme during this entire article, the primary point I want to make is that there needs to be net positive impact upon analysis of those pros and cons, in my opinion.

Of all the negatives that exist, do the benefits outweigh these negatives? Can it be transformed to serve you better?

5. Does this thought/idea/feeling ignite growth through change within me?

If positivity is not enough to decipher whether to keep a thought, idea, or feeling, ask yourself, does it ignite a passion for growth and change?

You might be content where you currently are, but, by planting those seeds of change and growth by regularly conducting an active analysis of your mental space will only allow you to find further clarity and self-awareness. Further promoting your living of a mindful life.

Final Thoughts

By asking yourself these few questions and by analyzing the things that your mind might be holding onto unnecessarily, I can promise you will find more mental clarity, freedom for diverse thinking, and the capability to do more with your time.

We human beings harbor so much information and make so many decisions, so it is only fair to give your mind a break and let go of the things that do not serve you.

Let go of the things that do not make you happy, of the things that do not ignite change, motivation, or passion within you.

It is time to be selfish with your mindspace.

It is yours and yours alone.