The mind is an extraordinary part of you.
Hard to imagine that it’s producing so many thoughts in a day.
what if you could clean up those thoughts?
You eliminate the bad thoughts, possibly reprogram your mind, and change your life.
But instead, you struggle. You have a long to-do list.
All those thoughts force you into procrastination.
It’s a downward spiral.
Spring cleaning of the mind.
You read about people decluttering their houses.
It helps reduce stress and create a sense of peace and order.
Let’s clean up your thoughts.
Here are 12 ways to declutter your mind for happiness and success.
Ready when you are.
1. Focus on the present moment
Most of your fears and frustrations are because you live in the past.
Because you had a negative experience, you assume the same thing will happen tomorrow.
It’s like you are a prisoner of your mind.
The past gives you identity, and the future holds the promise of salvation.
Both are an illusion.– Eckhart Tolle
In his book The Power Of Now, Eckhart Tolle wrote about becoming an observer of your mind.
It’s like taking a step back and listening to your mind.
This is my routine:
* You experience negative thoughts.
* Imagine you become an observer of your mind.
* Become aware of your thoughts
* Bring your thoughts to the NOW.
* Say out loud: “ I live today”.
Please feel free to make these steps your own.
2. Set specific goals
You know about the importance of goal setting. But 99% of the people are doing it wrong.
You must be specific. Here are some examples:
A vague goal: Improve my writing skill.
Specific goal: improve my writing skills on Twitter and learn to write copy in 280 characters.
When you are specific about your goals, you don’t need to use mental power to think about your task.
The clearer your goals, the faster you work.
The faster the results will come.
3. The one-item to-do list
The One thing, written by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan.
A great book. It changed my life!
You’re used to making a long list the night before.
Starting today, focus on putting one item on your list.
I know you have many tasks in a day, but there’s always one that is the most important.
The next day, start working on that one task.
When you’re done, go for a walk, Do something that relaxes your mind.
Over time you’ll notice that you’re able to do more tasks.
But start small. In a year, you’ve finished 365 tasks.
Imagine how that will impact your life and business.
4. Work in blocks
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management technique developed by Francesco Cirillo.
It teaches you to work in blocks of 15 minutes with a 5-minute break between.
You can take a longer break when you complete a cycle of 4 Pomodoros.
The word Pomodoro cracks me up every time I hear it, but the system works.
Feel free to experiment with the block times and breaks.
When you get it right, you will be an unstoppable entrepreneur.
5. Mind your breathing
During meditation, you’ll learn to focus on your breath.
It’s a great way to calm the mind.
When you have a meditation routine, fantastic, I salute you.
If not, start small here’s a video that got me started.
You might need more time to sit and meditate. But you can take 5 minutes to close your eyes and focus on your breathing.
You’ll have a great opportunity to do so between your Pomodoro breaks.
6. Be mindful of your words
-Don Miquel Ruiz writer of the book: The Four Agreements
Pay attention to the words in speech and thoughts.
Words have huge power.You never realise it, but still, you suffer from them daily.
Let’s take a look at some examples:
You: I don’t feel like writing today. Nobody cares anyway.
Effect: You procrastinate, feel bad, And believe you’re not good enough.
You: My writing will inspire thousands, so I must create great content.
Effect: You sit down and write. People will read your work.
In due time, when you become better, they’ll buy your products and services.
Be mindful of your word, and your life will change.
7. Get moving
Your main focus should be on upgrading your body, mind and spirit.
We touched on the mind in previous points. Let’s focus on your body.
Make time to exercise 15 minutes a day.
You rather train in short time slots and maintain it daily.
You love getting that beach body, but that will take more effort.
When you enjoy it, go for it.
Block 15 min a day in your calendar and take fearless action.
Building a strong body will strengthen your mindset at the same time.
8. Be grateful
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll have more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never have enough.”
— Oprah Winfrey
Studies have shown that practising gratitude can lead to less depression and anxiety.
You’ll even sleep better. Practice gratitude to improve all aspects of your life.
You will float like a butterfly without stinging like a bee.
Document the things you’re grateful for.
When you don’t like writing, use an app called Otter.ai.
It transcribes your voice recordings into written text.
Super handy on your daily walks.
9. Say no
When you get a call from your friends on a summer day to go to the beach, you jump in the car you race off.
It’s very important to enjoy life, but sometimes, you must make choices.
The word that the most successful people use is no.
Here is my NO list. Copy and paste what you need:
* Junk food.
* Toxic people.
* Lack of travel.
* Alcohol & drugs.
* Being indoors all-day
* Mindless social media scrolling.
* Netflix binge-watching sessions.
Say no more often, work hard and earn the right to say yes more often.
10. Hire a cleaner
Time is more precious than gold. When it slips away, it will never return.
What on earth has this to do with decluttering your brain?
Hire a cleaner for $100 a month. You’ll buy back your time that you can use to be more productive.
Earn 10X more than the money spent on a cleaner.
You can thank me later.
11. Forgive and forget
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.-The buddha
Imagine somebody dropped your Grandma’s 400 years old mini statue.
You’ll be mad, but anger will consume you like wildfire. It will dominate your thoughts for weeks or even months.
Never hold a grudge. Anger costs you a lot of mental energy.
There’s so much joy in forgiveness.
Let it go and focus on the things that matter in life.
12. Surround yourself with smiles.
Remember when you were a child, everything was possible. You had the wildest dreams and the craziest ideas.
Well, let’s bring that back. Do crazy stuff, go paragliding, jump off a cliff.
You will get a fresh perspective on life.
It’s important to have a group of people around you that makes you laugh.
First, connecting with people is great, but smiling is even better.
Your mood will change, and you ‘ill be more creative. That’s a promise.
You never know the next million-dollar idea will pop up at a barbecue.
A lighter brain equals success.
When you’re a frequent reader of my articles, you’ll know that I put a lot of emphasis on taking action.
TD;LR
* Focus on the present moment.
* Set specific goals.
* Put one item on your to-do list.
* Work in blocks.
* Mind your breathing
* Be mindful of your words.
* Exercise for 15 min a day
* Be grateful
* Say NO more often.
* Hire a cleaner.
* Forgive
* Surround yourself with smiles.
The next step is to hang your paper somewhere in plain sight.
Look at your list daily, and take fearless action.
I know you can do this.
All you have to do is believe in yourself!