Joshua Becker (a prominent advocate for minimalism) outlines four elements needed to successfully transform your lifestyle.

Find your motivation
Believe it is possible
Remove excess
Implement new habits to manage clutter

If you haven’t defined your vision and your “why” you can learn how to do it here.

Believing that living a decluttered life is possible is the first step toward transformation. Many of you may look to others who embody a minimalistic lifestyle, feeling inspired yet uncertain about your own journey. It’s common to feel apprehensive, especially if you’ve been surrounded by clutter for years and have developed emotional attachments to many of your belongings. You might fear that letting go will be an insurmountable challenge. However, regardless of your starting point, taking that leap of faith is crucial.

Begin with small, manageable tasks; this approach allows you to build momentum and gradually increases your confidence. As you clear even a little space, you'll start to notice the benefits—less stress, a clearer mind, and a sense of accomplishment—propelling you further along your decluttering journey.

Take action

Set aside 1 h during the week. If that’s not possible, start with 10 minutes a day (you can set the timer on your phone for 10 min and power through as much as possible). You can stop after 10 min, or keep going if you feel energized.
Walk through the rooms in your apartment or house, and observe what you see. Pay attention to rooms/spaces that get used the most. Notice the amount of objects, how they make you feel, the energy they create, but observe without a judgment or panic. If you start to stress out or worry, just acknowledge the feelings and move on.
No grab a trash bag, and do a walk through one more time, but this time start removing visible clutter. No need to open drawers, or cabinets. it could be items like old magazine, clothing on the floor that is past its prime, excessive decor, etc. Try to fill out at least one bag.
Then sort the items into three categories: recycle, donate, throw away. Put the ‘throw away’ and ‘recycle’ piles immediately in the bins. The “donate pile” goes immediately in your car to be dropped off at donation or by the door so you can grab it on the way out.
Give yourself a pat on the back and notice how you feel. You may already start feeling you are making progress and the space you are in is feeling lighter and more inviting.

When I went through the exercise, I grabbed completely random items: Christmas decorations that were still sitting after the holidays (that we never used, but also never put back into storage), old books and games stacked up in my office that didn’t fit in the drawers, old decorative perfume bottles that were sitting on top a wine fridge (pretty random place if you ask me), unused baskets & containers, few clothing items I never liked.

In this first round of decluttering you don’t need to be very thoughtful and deliberate. Simple tackle the obvious items. You might learn that this was surprisingly easy. Under the time crunch you didn’t have time to overthink what to get rid of and what to keep. If it was more challenging than you thought, don’t worry. As you practice declutterring over the next few weeks, you will develop the skill or muscle and forge new pathways in your brain, making it easier overtime….just like riding a bike. First you needed the training wheels, then slowly, but still shakily rode on your own, and now you are confidently dashing down the windy road.

Good luck!