When I successfully cleared my own clutter, I never imagined that it would turn into a business and enable me to fulfil a childhood dream.

When I was young, I dreamed of having my own business like my dad, but I had no idea what it would be. I just knew that I loved the idea of being a boss, feeling important and respected (something I rarely felt growing up) and I wanted a nice big office desk like my dad’s, with lots of important papers piled on top of it. (Do we think that may have contributed to my extreme amounts of paperwork clutter?!)

I loved visiting my dad at his office and sitting behind his big desk. His office was in a converted town house like the ones you see in London period dramas. It was just off Baker Street in London, adjacent to the old EMP records offices, and had a wonderful imposing big front door.

His personal office was what would have been the drawing room with wonderful big windows and high ceilings, lots of floor space and a few plant pots dotted around. His desk always looked so small and a little lost in the room. He several executives working for him in the offices in the small basement rooms.

I always thought ‘Wow – my dad’s a real success, he’s so important’ when I visited him, and I thought how wonderful it would be to achieve all that myself, but I had no idea how. I believed that his work must be super important, given that my mother and I didn’t see him much, but I knew that this was his amazing office where he did that really important work.

When I was young, I had no idea what work I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to enjoy it as much as my dad seemed to.  Yes, I had always wanted to have my own business, I just didn’t know what that would be.

When, decades later, I successfully cleared my clutter, I didn’t immediately think that it was a potential business venture. It was only when my therapist suggested I do my N.L.P. (Neuro Linguistic Programming) training because I didn’t know what I wanted to do that the seeds were sewn. She said the N.L.P. would give me valuable life skills that might help me work out what I wanted to do, and it might also give me skills I could use in any future career.

I suspect Meg already knew I would see the opportunity of combining the N.L.P, clearing my clutter and setting up a business.

At the end of the N.L.P. training there was an opportunity for people who were thinking of setting up an N.L.P. coaching business to do some extra sessions focused on the practicalities of getting started. With my newfound attitude of trying things outside my comfort zone, I decided to do the sessions.

One of the sessions was all about marketing your business. Back in 2003 it was harder than it is today to set up an N.L.P. coaching business. N.L.P. was still considered unknown and a bit ‘new age’ back then. Even my mother told people I had joined a mind control cult when I tried to share some of the exercises I had learnt with her. With N.L.P coaching there are no physical things to buy and no guaranteed outcomes, so marketing it to people can be a challenge.

I remember sitting in one of the sessions listening to a marketing expert talk about how you can’t make assumptions about what people will and won’t buy, what their priorities are, or how much they’ll pay for your particular skill. He pointed out that, contrary to what I had always believed about setting up your own business based on what my dad had told me, you don’t need to have qualifications or 20 years’ experience of doing something to ‘prove’ you have the skills and experience necessary to sell your skill.

Successful businesses aren’t always run by the most skilled people in the field. Being good at what you do is one thing. You need a different set of skills to run and build a successful business. You can’t have a good business if you sit and wait for people to notice that you’re good at what you do and pick up the phone. You must shout about what you can do so that you become the ‘go-to’ person in your particular field.

I knew the person taking the class was right because my dad was one such example. He was a brilliant construction project manager who worked hard and had the best reputation for getting a job done. That’s why he was asked to be part of a consortium that invested in building a building in the shadows of Canary Wharf in the London Docklands in the 1980’s, which they eventually sold for a fortune. The other business owners knew that my dad was the best in the business and would get it done which is why they wanted him to be part of the group.

After that success, it was dad’s business partner who was the man who got the work in and my dad ‘did the doing’.  It was dad’s business partner Ian who went for the 3-hour lunches to network with the people with the high value jobs. It was because Ian was so good at networking to get the work, and my dad was so good at doing the work, that they had such a successful business partnership with a great reputation. When Ian retired the work started to dry up.

So yes, I understood that having all the qualifications and experience in the world doesn’t mean you’ll have a successful business.

This class that I joined at the end of my N.L.P. training was starting to sow the seeds of a business idea. I didn’t want to set up an N.L.P. coaching business. I wanted to take it one step further and arguably make life even harder for myself (!), by setting up a coaching business focusing on a specific niche – the area of clutter and hoarding. I had relevant experience of clearing my own clutter. I had my N.L.P. skills and qualifications. That was enough to get me started.

The next step was to take the experts advice and just ‘try’ something to test the waters and see if there was enough interest to invest more time, energy, effort and money in developing a business. I placed a small, 3-inch ad in a local magazine, offering my services to share what I had done, from which I got 3 bookings. I then cashed in some shares I had to pay for my first website, and the rest as they say is history.

People say that setting up and running your own business is hard work. Absolutely – and even harder when you’re a former clutterholic whose comfort zone includes being in-time, insecure, having low self-esteem and being a people pleasing perfectionist. I have made many mistakes from which I took the learning and feedback. My natural determination to prove people wrong that I’ve had throughout my life has helped drive me to try different things and fail fast to get the learning and feedback and move on. I thrive on the daily challenge of growing my business.

I never imagined my clutter challenge would lead me to fulfil my dream of running my own business. I never imagined that I wouldn’t have a traditional career. I don’t run my business from a lovely, converted London town house office like my father did – although I do dream of having a home with a barn conversion that’s a home office and studio where I can hold workshops and classes. I don’t have a personal assistant who brings me tea like my dad did, but my husband brings me tea when he’s at home, and we sit outside my office by the pond with our cats, chatting and sometimes brainstorming ideas or challenges together. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I am definitely living my Best Life version of a successful business, just like my dad lived his Best Life version of a successful business. For my father it enabled him to be extremely successful financially. For me it’s enabling me to teach a skill and feel I make a difference in this world. Both of us are living our Best Lives, and that just proves that what’s right for one person isn’t necessarily right for another.

If you can figure out what your passion is then you’ll be able to incorporate it into your Best Life. To do that, you’re going to have to let go of your perfectionism, try lots of things, and dare to dream.

You can clear your clutter fast, or you can clear your clutter forever, but you can’t clear your clutter forever, fast.

To find out how Clare can help you clear your clutter Forever, without the need for an expensive home visit, click here now: https://www.clutterclearing.net/clares-help-centre/