Core Values Organizing

As a Certified Professional Organizer, I connect with my clients, unleashing creative solutions to help develop competence and confidence in the way they organize so they can find contentment in their homes.

Each of the five C-words in this sentence—Connection, Creativity, Competence, Confidence, and Contentment—impacts my organizing work and together they represent my core values.

We hold many shared values—for example truth and integrity—but your core values are the unique combination of motivating beliefs that drive you to do what you do. Core values are the WHY behind your WHAT.

Let’s explore how my 5 C core values impact my organizing work with clients. Read on...

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Be sure to watch my episode of the This Organized Life podcast or listen to it wherever you get your podcasts. Host Laurie Palau and I explore the impact of knowing your core values.

CONNECTION
I connect with my clients and really get to know them: their habits, tastes, and personalities. As we work together to organize their spaces, I help them figure out what objects they value and how they want to honor those items. We learn how they use their space and how they value their time.

As people, we connect with each other over physical objects. We give gifts, we pass down heirlooms, and we make things together. But sometimes our relationship to those objects can become distorted and we imbue them with more significance than they’re due.

Connecting with clients to identify what they value most helps them to restore a right relationship with their stuff.

Putting objects in their proper place—both physically and emotionally—allows my clients to put more time and energy into connecting with loved ones.

CREATIVITY
As long as I can remember, I’ve had a drive to make things. My former profession was as a milliner (hat maker) and I loved the tactile immediacy of forming and decorating hats. I also enjoyed the challenge of working within the limitations of materials such as felt and straw. As an organizer, those creative skills now allow me to sculpt spaces!

My clients and I brainstorm to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to their organizing dilemmas. You may not be an artist, but you are creative and resourceful in one way or another. The organizing process gives my clients permission to unleash their natural creativity and do things their way!

COMPETENCE & CONFIDENCE
Competence begets confidence. I saw this when my daughter learned how to tie her shoe—she beamed with pride at her newfound ability! Organizing is a skill that anyone can learn.

Developing competence gives you that “I’ve got this” feeling that’s important to feeling good about yourself. As I teach clients the skills to organize their home and keep it that way(and reign it back in when it slides out of control!), I see their confidence bloom.

CONTENTMENT
Organizing is not about perfection. After all, a home is a place where people live and people are far from perfect! We don’t need to strive for the Instagram-worthy living room or the blog-worthy kitchen. Instead, I seek to give clients a feeling of contentment with what they have.

You’re dissatisfied with the kitchen? We can organize it so the flow makes morning rush hour easier. Do the kids beg for new toys? If we streamline the playroom, they can find what they have and actually play with it. Do you think your home décor is out of date? Don’t run to HomeGoods! We can organize and uncover forgotten treasures, giving them a place of honor so your home reflects your unique style.

Organizing can help you see your home through new eyes and realize that you are happy with what you see.

Now you see how my 5 C’s—Connection, Creativity, Competence, Confidence, and Contentment—help focus my organizing work and give my clients the best outcome to suit their unique needs. As my colleague, Professional Organizer Caroline Rogers said in a recent interview, “What I’m for is for people to live in a home that feels like them.”

Do you know what your core values are? Print out the list below (courtesy of Kim Worrell of KBW Coaching) and check off words that jump out at you. Then look at the words you've checked off and see if you can circle the 3 to 5 words that best represent your values.