Your Clutter Is An Iceberg
Whenever you get impatient and consider having a blitz on your clutter, remember that your clutter is like an iceberg.
The Clutter you see is only 10% of your Clutter Challenge. You need to deal with the 90% that is beneath the surface if you want to clear it forever.
If you keep just dealing with the 10% you see on the surface, more clutter will just rise up from the 90% below.
It’s a hard fact to accept. Let’s be honest – there are a lot of hard facts we have to accept about our clutter and our clutter challenge if we want to clear it.
If the impatience gets the better of you, by all means try to have (another) quick fix blitz by trying to ‘slice’ the top off the iceberg.
Or better still, procrastinate and let the iceberg float around and only acknowledge its existence when it starts to get a bit too close to the Titanic, by which time it’s too late to make much difference and it’ll sink the Titanic anyway.
Nope, the cold (well it is an iceberg) hard truth is – you have to make an important decision:
Are you going to face the fear and tackle the 90% of the iceberg you – and others – CAN’T see, or keep focusing on the 10% you CAN see and will be the last bit to go?
I know. It’s not fair. We – and others – SEE the clutter all day, every day, everywhere. Of course, we want to focus on the 10% we CAN see. We want to get that ice pick and start chipping away at it so it looks and feels different quickly.
But of course, if we do that, as fast as we chip away at it, the faster more comes up from below because we didn’t start at the bottom – the source.
OK. I think I’ve illustrated the point. I’m sure you like me are now thinking about watching Titanic on DVD again.
Here’s the thing.
People often come to me and want me to help them with the visible clutter first. That’s the clutter that’s annoying them, that’s what they’ve finally decided to deal with, that’s what they – and maybe friends or family members – expect to see them deal with first.
When I point out that they’ve already tried to change the iceberg top many times before and failed so it’s time to go to the 90% underwater, they resist. They panic about what other people think. They feel overwhelmed. They know that if they do that they won’t see a difference on the surface for a long time. They don’t want to accept what’s going on below the surface. And I totally understand that.
Been there Done that. Got the T-shirt.
But I’ve also had a clutter free home and life for 20 years by diving and dealing with the 90% below the surface.
I’m sorry I can’t sugar coat it. I think you deserve to hear the truth because there are too many ‘decluttering experts’ out there who are trying to convince people they can deal with their clutter quickly and easily.
But if there was a quick fix solution you wouldn’t have had your clutter challenge as long as you have. If there was a quick fix solution, you wouldn’t be reading this – right?
If there was a quicker, easier way, I’d be selling magic wands and making a fortune. And I don’t, and I’m not.
What’s required to clear 100% of the iceberg that is our Clutter?
- Routine
- Focus
- Acceptance
- Commitment
- Time
- Persistence
- Sacrafice
- Discipline
- Doubts
- Failure
- Learning
- Feedback
- Forgiveness
- Self-Awareness
- Help
- Support
None of the above area easy. None of the above are quick. And none of the above are going to be comfortable. Especially if you have the perfectionist gene.
The truth is it’s not quick, it’s not easy, and it can get uncomfortable. You need to take a SAFE step outside your comfort zone so you can get used to being uncomfortable. You have to be careful and cautious not to step on any landmines or end up in the panic zone like you have before.
But please believe me when I say –
YOU CAN DO THIS.
I did it. 100’s of my clients have done it.
Now it’s your turn.
Let’s go dive below the iceberg – who’s with me?!
Find out more about the Clutter Clearing Journey here: https://www.clutterclearing.net/7-step-journey/
