Why It’s So Dang Hard to Let Go of Things From Your Past

Still holding onto things from a life you've outgrown? 🤔

Maybe it’s your pre-kids backpacking gear. Or the formal dinnerware for parties you no longer host.

For Steve, it was dress shirts from his fancy music exec days.

Thirty in all. 😳

Carried back and forth across the country every time he moved.

For 30+ years.

Awesome vintage finds, for sure… but definitely not relatable to his life now.

So why do we hold onto clothes and gear and stuff from our past lives?

Well, you can blame your brain.

Identity preservation bias is the tendency to hold onto possessions because they’re tied to who we were...

...even when that version of us no longer fits our life today.

So those dress shirts or that backpacking gear stays in the closet because it represents a version of you that once felt important or alive.

And letting it go can feel like letting that you go too.

A bit painful and sad is one way to look at it.

But if you’re looking forward to what the FUTURE holds – the gift of new opportunities, new joys, new experiences…

…making physical and emotional room for them to land in your life is one big way to ensure they actually happen.

And that starts by letting go of what no longer serves you. 💝

So ask yourself: Do I love or use this item now, or am I keeping it for who I used to be?

If the answer is “who I used to be,” pause and ask what that item is really giving you today.

If it’s mostly taking up space – physically or emotionally – consider keeping the memory and letting the object go. For instance, take a picture or record a little story about it and share it with a loved one.

You don’t have to erase an old chapter of your life to make room for the next one...

...just let the physical presence go that no longer serves you.

Want to understand why we even hold onto things in the first place?

Grab my free guide – “The 5 Sneaky Brain-Based Traps Keeping You Buried in Stuff” – for the eye-opening answer.