Marie Kondo is a Life Coach

Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix is all the rage this month. You can’t do a Facebook scroll without seeing what everyone loves or hates about the show and the KonMari Method of cleaning your house. Personally, I love her! She’s an adorable sprite that I want to put in my pocket to carry around with me. Don’t even get me started on the way she demonstrates how you should feel when something sparks joy in your life. It’s The. Best.

Marie Kondo | Marie Kondo Instagram

Another thing I love about Ms. Kondo is that she is a life coach, as I am sure most home tidying  experts already know. In my own Heart’s Horizon coaching program, I define 12 heart segments, or prisms, for success. One of those prisms is Infrastructure.

Infrastructure for Success in Life

In order to be successful in your life, you need to have infrastructure. Infrastructure includes systems that make you successful in getting to school or work, cooking, cleaning, and paying your bills—the systems that make you able to care for yourself and your family.

Throughout the series, we see Marie Kondo helping implement infrastructure systems that will help her clients keep their houses tidy. Her advice to keep things that bring you joy or things that you want to keep with you as you “move forward with into your future” are invaluable. We see her teach families new ways to fold their clothes and store their oddly shaped items so they are easily accessible.

My own attempt at KonMari-ing my daughter's dresser.

Success in One Area Leads to Success in Others

The unexpected thing is that these systems allow her clients to free up emotional space in their lives as well. We see a widow, Margi, with a house full of items left behind by her husband that’s passed away, as well as her grown children who have all moved out. By clearing out their old spaces, she is able, for the first time, to see her own future in those rooms. She creates a craft room that is all her own, with a structure that will work just for her because she was given permission and instruction by Ms. Kondo on how to let these old items go.

We see several couples who have such messy kitchens that one partner avoids going into that room as often as possible. Many of the participants mentioned that they were never really taught to cook or organize a kitchen, so they avoided it altogether. The KonMari system gives them the system that they were lacking from childhood, and also allows them to become a true partner in the organization of their house, rather than taking more of a “child” role by having a partner teach them what to do. Having ownership in the infrastructure of your house gives you confidence in the rest of your life. We see this at the end of each episode of “Tidying Up.”

I love seeing people succeed in any of the 12 Prism areas, and that’s why I love this show! Often when a person gains mastery in one area, it gives them the confidence to move into other areas so that they can achieve balance in their life. This is why I coach. Gaining life skills, confidence, and balance are things that we all need, and many times we need help. So, if Marie Kondo is booked, give me a call. 20 minute Discovery Sessions are always free.