Emotional clutter, like physical clutter, happens when we hang on to emotions and beliefs long after they have outlived their usefulness. This emotional clutter takes up space in our lives and keeps us from being able to reach our dreams.

In my experience, emotional clutter is the result of three things:

1. Negative emotions from past experiences.

Many people hang on to negative emotions they experienced from past events in their lives, sometimes even from childhood.

Why? Usually people hang on to these emotions because they believe there is something to be learned from those experiences and they believe the negative emotions will remind them of those lessons.

The truth: It doesn't work that way. The negative emotions we experience are just emotional baggage. The lesson is totally separate from the emotion.

2. Beliefs formed as a result of past experiences.

These beliefs often limit you from believing in yourself, and may even form an identity that blocks you from being successful or happy. At times these limiting beliefs may even join with other beliefs to form a belief system, such as when someone has a number of limiting or negative beliefs about themselves which lead them to poor self-esteem.

Why? Those beliefs may have made sense at one time, but they no longer apply. We've just forgotten to throw them out. They have become subconscious and are usually outside of our awareness. We don't even know we believe them.

The truth: We can change these beliefs once we recognize we're still carrying them around. Hanging on to beliefs that limit us keep us from having a joyful, successful life.

3. Failure to set or enforce boundaries.

The boundaries we set and enforce help define us and insure that others respect the things that are most important to us. When we don't set boundaries, or don't enforce the boundaries we have set, we enable others to disrespect us, pull us into their drama, and we open the door for more negative experiences.

Why? Some people don't realize it is necessary to set boundaries. Others worry that the people close to them won't like the boundaries.

The truth: If you haven't set boundaries, people around you probably won't like it that you have finally set some limits on their behaviors. They will get over it the clearer you are about your boundaries and the more consistently you enforce them.

Some people believe that emotional clutter is an inevitable part of life. They believe that you can't escape from the negative things you've experienced and how you feel about them. They believe that their identity as a victim can't change. They believe all sorts of limiting beliefs and don't believe they can change them. They believe that they'll always be picked on, ridiculed or disrespected. They don't really think it is possible to reach their dreams.

Just like physical clutter keeps you from seeing what you have or finding what you need, emotional clutter blocks you from using the resources you need to move forward. When emotional clutter is in the way, you aren't able to see what you have going for you because negative emotions and limiting beliefs clutter up your life. You hang on to them, and they block you from happiness and from having the life you would like to have.

You can get rid of emotional clutter. You can get rid of those mental blocks that trip you up, sabotaging your dreams. When you let go of your emotional clutter, you will be able to find beneath it all the resources that you already have around you and inside you to make your dreams come true. Moving the clutter out of the way makes it possible to access those resources. And then your dreams are born.

(c) 2009 Linda S. Pucci, Ph.D.

Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people reach their goals and create meaningful, successful lives and careers. She specializes in helping clients overcome emotional clutter--those negative emotions and limiting beliefs that block success and happiness. Get more information at www.InnerResourceCenter.com.