Steve Andreas – Clearing Out Clutter

There are probably only a few things that you do want, and an immense number of things that you don’t want. If you were focused on eliminating what you don’t want, it would take you much longer, because there is so much more of it that you would have to process.

Steve Andreas – Clearing Out Clutter

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Sometimes we have to go through a lot of stuff to find the right things. Many people find it difficult to do this. What if you could learn an extremely simple trick to make it simpler?
When most people do this, they look through their closet full of clothes, the drawer full of socks, or the shelf full of books, and try to decide what they don’t want. While this seems very logical and straightforward, there are several reasons why it’s not the best way to accomplish the task.
Imagine that you went to a grocery store to buy some food, and you were focused on what you don’t want. Take a moment to visualize yourself actually doing this in your head. To find out how this shopping experience would feel, pause for a second. . . .
Doesn’t that seem a little backward? Imagine shopping as you normally do, but focusing on the things you want. . . .
It doesn’t matter if you have a list or you just look around for what you like, focusing on what you really want is easier and more straightforward.
There are probably only a few things that you do want, and an immense number of things that you don’t want. If you were focused on eliminating what you don’t want, it would take you much longer, because there is so much more of it that you would have to process.
You have only a certain amount of attention; if you are focused on what you don’t want, you have much less attention for what you do want, and you might even lose track of it altogether, which is what happens in paranoia.
Perhaps most important, if you are focused on what you don’t want, you will be having the feelings that go along with thinking of those things. These feelings will likely be less pleasant than those that you experience when you focus on what you want. You can try this with your imagination. First think of a food that you don’t want, . . . Then, think about a food you like. . . .
Which one feels better? It is easier to think about what you really want. But if you are having the feelings that go with thinking of all those things that you don’t want, you are likely to stop soon, so that you can feel better!
So far I have written about what you do want and what you don’t want. But there is another category of stuff that is even larger than both of these put together; stuff that you don’t much care about one way or another—“Mister In-Between.” When you focus your attention on what you do want, all this is ignored along with all the stuff that you don’t want.

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To summarize, if you are deciding what to buy in a store, it makes a lot more sense to focus on what you do want than what you don’t want. Because it is more difficult for us to process negations such as “don’t” (“do not”).
Now let’s go back to the task of sorting through an accumulation to decide what you want to keep. When you are trying to sort through stuff, all the factors I mentioned above apply. If you focus on what you don’t want, it will be mOdere difficult, less direct, it will take longer, and it feels unpleasant, so you will probably soon give up and do something else—perhaps berating yourself for your sloppiness and “lack of willpower” or “lack of persistence.”
How can we transfer the natural and efficient way we acquire stuff to the task at hand of disposing of it?
It’s absurdly simple: empty out that closet, drawer, or bookshelf completely and put everything that was in it somewhere else. Now imagine that this is stuff in a store, and you can select what you want from it—absolutely free! Take a look at it and decide what to keep.
This method of sorting through your stuff can have an added benefit. It will simplify and streamline everything. If you were successful in doing what most people do—focusing on what you don’t want, and discarding that, you would still have all the stuff that is meaningless to you—“Mister In-Between.” All you have to do is pick what you really want from the pile. “Mister In-Between” You can still find stuff in the pile that needs to be thrown away.
If you like to keep things tidy, “in between” Keep your stuff around for a while to make it useful. Once it is finished, date it and put it in a container. If you haven’t looked at it after a given length of time—perhaps six months or a year—look through it quickly to be sure there is nothing you want to keep, and then dispose of it.
Another little trick I use is to think of who would be happy to have the stuff that I’m discarding. Even though I don’t have a use for it, it might be important to someone else; the thought that someone else might appreciate it gives me additional pleasure at the thought of passing it on to someone else, making it even easier to let go of it.
This is only one specific application of the importance of focusing your attention on positive outcomes—what you do want, rather than what you don’t want—a key element of NLP, and of living a life that works for you.
Do you have any other strategies? “tricks” That will make it easier to get stuff cleaned out. If so, I invite you to join this discussion.

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