{"id":122,"date":"2009-04-09T08:47:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-09T08:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2009\/04\/clearing-your-life.html"},"modified":"2009-04-09T08:47:00","modified_gmt":"2009-04-09T08:47:00","slug":"clearing-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2009\/04\/clearing-your-life.html","title":{"rendered":"Clearing Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I often talk about the benefits of cleaning out what you can from your life. Getting rid of stuff makes room for better goodies. That\u2019s why I\u2019m so absolutely delighted to have a special guest today\u2014Gail Blanke, a bestselling author, motivational speaker and former columnist for Real Simple. Gail is also founder, president, and chief executive officer of Lifedesigns, LLC, a company whose vision is to empower men and women worldwide to live truly exceptional lives. Below she shares some fo the lessons from her terrific new book, Throw Out Fifty Things \u2013 Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n


What\u2019s The Cure For Inertia, Stagnation And Utter Depression? Throw Out Fifty Things!<\/span>
By Gail Blanke<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Okay, we\u2019re living in really tough times. Jobless rates are soaring, home values are plummeting, 401K\u2019s are dwindling and bad people are running off with good people\u2019s money. And nothing is the way it was – or likely will be again.<\/p>\n

But sometimes it takes a crisis for us to know what we\u2019re made of, what we stand for, how good we are. And sometimes it takes a crisis for us to let go of the past \u2013 so we can grab hold of the future<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Darwin was right. It\u2019s not the strongest of the species that survives – or even the smartest. It\u2019s the one that can adapt to change \u2013 whether you\u2019re a country, a company, an institution \u2013 or an individual. And if we want to survive, never mind thrive, we\u2019ve got to let go of anything and everything that would hold us back.<\/p>\n

So I ask everyone I work with, from CEO\u2019s to stand- up comics, to go home and throw out fifty things.<\/span> (And, by the way, magazines and catalogs only count as one.)Why fifty, you ask? Because once you make it to fifty, a kind of powerful momentum takes over; the throwing out thing becomes a habit, an ongoing mind-set. And then something really wonderful happens: you take control of your life. You start living it and it stops living you.<\/p>\n

Look, there\u2019s only so much room \u2013 in our homes, offices and heads for all the physical and emotional debris \u2013 I call it \u201clife plaque<\/span>\u201d that we\u2019ve allowed to build up. So there\u2019s no time to waste dithering about whether all this stuff should stay or go. It\u2019s got to go.<\/p>\n

And believe me, you\u2019ve got plenty of stuff to throw out<\/span>: You\u2019ve got all those mis-matched socks, the single gloves, your teenager\u2019s old tricycle \u2013 and that drawer in the kitchen. You know that drawer: There are keys in that drawer that haven\u2019t opened up anything in decades. Throw \u2018em out. And when you get really warmed up, you\u2019ll get to the good stuff: the old regrets, the anger, being right about how wrong it all is, about how this wasn\u2019t supposed to happen to you, and about how your best years are behind you. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hey, and while you\u2019re at it, why not throw out that old, tired view of yourself <\/span>\u2013 that set-in-stone notion about what you\u2019re good at and what you\u2019ll never be good at, your conviction that the way you do it is the only way to do it, your old beliefs about how things should be done and life should be lived \u2013 and what you need to be happy. Give it up. How else are you going to fit into the new economy?<\/p>\n

Of course, letting go takes courage<\/span> \u2013 something that might seem in short supply right about now. So where do we find it? By taking a look at our \u201cdefining moments\u201d from the past. A defining moment is a moment when you found something in yourself you didn\u2019t know you had and pulled it out. It might be a time when you drew a line \u2013 or erased one, if that\u2019s what needed to be done. But it\u2019s always a time after which you never thought of yourself in the same way again. You\u2019ll discover a pattern of courage. You\u2019ll find that you\u2019ve already got the confidence you need to move forward into the change \u2013 not away from it \u2013 in spite of the noise, chaos and unpredictability of the moment.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the time to hunker down and wait for the light at the end of the tunnel. You could wait a lifetime. It is the time to burst onto the scene with the energy and optimism that comes from clearing the clutter and reinventing your life.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not kidding about \u201cfifty.\u201d <\/span>
—————–
Check out Gail Blanke\u2019s book, Throw Out Fifty Things \u2013 Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life<\/span><\/a><\/span> and get motivated to clean your stuff and your life!<\/p>\n

If you enjoyed my post, please leave a comment and\/or click on the bookmark and write a short review at some of the sites, especially Stumbleupon and Digg. Thanks!

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I often talk about the benefits of cleaning out what you can from your life. Getting rid of stuff makes room for better goodies. That\u2019s why I\u2019m so absolutely delighted to have a special guest today\u2014Gail Blanke, a bestselling author, motivational speaker and former columnist for Real Simple. 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