Juliet’s Success

On 22nd October, Juliet reached the halfway mark of her Journey – the peak of Step 4 Mountain known as Mount Everest.

This means she has cleared ALL the clutter in her first 2 rooms / areas.

Juliet has cleared her porch, hallway, under stairs cupboard and kitchen. She had a LOT of clutter as well as the items stacked up and over the floor. Well done Juliet!

As Juliet has shared:

When I started my Journey in September 2019 I never imagined I’d be able to get to Step 4, Mount Everest, much less climb it!

It wasn’t an ideal time for me to start. There were things going on in my life that made it hard to make the time and pay for my membership.

But I realised that I was procrastinating – again! And I knew deep down there was never going to be a ‘perfect’ time to start.

When I learnt about the 7 types of procrastination in Step 1 I was shouting ‘yes!’ at Clare in the videos because I had them all!

It took me 5 months to complete Step 1 and I felt like giving up, but Clare reminded me about the ‘curve’ of skills, experience etc and I put it into perspective and carried on with my Journey.

In the past I would give up after 5 hours – sometimes 5 minutes. This time I had managed to keep going for 5 months so it was a ‘significant’ success. I’d learnt and realised a lot about myself, my home and my Clutter in Step 1. 

I felt so stupid when I did the stock take in Step 1 and found I had lots and lots of cleaning materials and tools that I didn’t realise I had or need.

I’d bought every gadget ever invented to make cleaning ‘quicker and easier’ yet I had no way of cleaning anything because of the clutter!

I think I was hoping it would be like the cartoon Fantasia where Mickey Mouse’s broom comes to life in the night and does it all for you!

As I moved from Step 1 to Step 2 that procrastination and resistance was fighting hard. In Step 2 you start to do Clutter Clearing Sessions. 

I was amazed – and pleased – when I started saving serious amounts of money each week with the shopping challenge simply because I had so much food, ingredients and household things already in stock so I didn’t need to buy them for weeks. Plus, because I’d stopped impulse buying things in the supermarket, online and from the TV shopping channels, I started saving a fortune.

In my first month on Step 2 I saved 3 months of Journey membership just by halving my weekly shopping spending! And when I did start needing to buy things because I had used up my stock, my spending never went back to the levels it was at before because I’d cut out all the impulse buying.

I now effortlessly save more than the cost of my Journey membership every month, so it’s actually costing me nothing to be on my Journey.

I also started clearing a lot of paperwork clutter as I started doing my weekly Clutter Clearing Sessions in Step 2. Finally I was clearing clutter! I even started to look forward to my weekly Clutter Clearing Sessions – imagine!

My husband was glad to finally see visible Clutter Clearing progress after 5 months, although it was surprising how much of the paperwork clutter was actually his…! He now joins me as we do our weekly Paperwork Clutter Clearing Sessions watching the videos together.

It felt good to start getting paperwork clutter off my conveyor belt in Step 2. It was so funny that when I did my weekly to-do list Clutter Clearing Sessions on Day 5 each week and reviewed what I had put on my to-do list, I always crossed loads off because I realised I was never going to have time to do all those things, and as Clare says – the world will still keep turning if you don’t do them! I am MUCH more realistic with what I put in my ‘To Read’ and ‘Needs Action’ categories now.

In Step 3 I was shocked at what things in my life had triggered my decisions to keep my clutter. I was shocked to literally ‘see’, on my LIFE Timeline, how events and other people had influenced my fear of letting go. And it’s those realisations that meant I was able to climb Step 4.

I’d been in fear of Step 4 Mount Everest ever since I’d started my Journey, but Clare is right – when you do the work in Steps 1, 2 and 3, you’re ‘training’ to climb Mount Everest and it’s easier and quicker than you ever imagine.

It took me 5 months to complete Step 1.

I’ve climbed Step 4 Mount Everest in 7 weeks. That’s amazing!

Now, if anyone came to my home they wouldn’t see any clutter in my porch, hallway, under the stairs or in my kitchen, and I feel so proud that I haven’t just moved it like I used to – most of it has come off my conveyor belt because I know how to be realistic and let go SAFELY – and not only have I cleared it but I’m keeping it clear.

I’m now working on my living room and my goal is to have it cleared by the time I get to the bottom of Mount Everest in 5 weeks time and my reward will be to buy a new couch and a huge dog bed for the dog as there will be plenty of space for him to stretch out. I know I’ll succeed.

Yes we can all find many good reasons NOT to start our Journey. Yes it’s scary starting your Journey. I procrastinated for about 6 years because of the fear of the time, energy and effort that it would take to succeed, but then the fear of NOT clearing it and what that would mean for my family became greater. That was my true turning point.

I only wish I’d started my Journey 6 years ago because I’d have been Clutter Free for years by now…

Better late than never I suppose.

There’s never a perfect time. You can always say you haven’t got enough money or time. But when you’re determined you budget. We make time for the things that really matter.

I know I couldn’t have done this without Clare’s help and support. I hadn’t realised how strong – and destructive – my perfectionism and inner child was. Now we laugh about how I’m a recovering perfectionist just like Clare!

I think the most significant thing for me so far has been realising that there are reasons WHY I’ve struggled for so many years. Throughout my Journey I learn more about the ‘WHY’ of my clutter challenge which helps me believe that I will complete my Journey.

Yes you feel like giving up. You’ll have bad days and tough weeks like Clare says.

But when was anything worth having easy?

Clare asks with every step what advice we’d have for ourselves in the past, given what we’ve learnt, realised and achieved with each step.

If I knew back then what I know now, I’d say to myself at the beginning of my Journey:

You’ll be OK. You’re not alone. You CAN clear it. You will have bad days and tough weeks. You’ll feel like giving up many times, and your inner child will resist the change because it’s uncomfortable and unfamiliar. You’re eating the elephant bit by bit, you’re not alone and Clare is there to help make sure you succeed this time. And remember – once this is done, you’ll never have to do this again.

Juliet

Find out more about the Clutter Clearing Journey that Juliet is on here: https://www.clutterclearing.net/7-step-journey/