Which of our thoughts are clutter

Which of our thoughts are clutter?

A powerful question to uncover clutter-thoughts is:

‘Does this thought serve me?

Does it help me to feel and act in a way that allows me to achieve the results that I desire?’

If we begin to do the mind-decluttering work on a regular basis (learn about ‘thought downloads’ in Part 4 of this series), we soon discover some of the thoughts that don’t serve us (any longer).

Thoughts that we brought along from the past

These could be thoughts that we believed to be true in the past but that no longer fit the person we have become or want to become.

They don’t support us in a positive way, they hold us back and keep us from making changes.

Examples of thoughts that might keep us from achieving our home decluttering and organising goals:

• • ‘I like looking at nice things. That’s why I need lots of stuff to decorate our home nicely. However, it’s such a burden – these ongoing re-arrangement and re-decoration projects!’
  • ‘I want a cleaner/clearer home. But I always loved abundance. Clear surfaces and walls will feel terrible, won’t they?’
  • ‘All women in my family are a bit messy. I am like my mother and she says my grandmother was the same.’
  • My mother told me that I should never give away something that I might be able to use again some day. But how am I supposed to store all this unused stuff in my new little apartment?’

As any thought is optional, we are under no obligation to keep them, not matter how long we have had them.

We can sort out any thoughts that we no longer want to have, we can throw them in the ‘mind-clutter bin’.

Why do we hang on to some thoughts?

As we know from our home-decluttering projects, sometimes it is hard to let go of something, although it has become useless and we don’t need or like it any longer.

We keep physical things, for example, because we got used to them, or because we believe that they still have value, or that we might need them again some day.

It’s the same with our thoughts.

Sometimes we hang on to thoughts that are no longer serving us for similar reasons:

• • If we had a certain thought for a long time, it might feel as if it somehow belongs into our life. (‘Some people are good at organising their stuff. I never was one of them.’)
  • Or we feel that we have to keep a thought because an important person ‘gave’ it to us. (‘My mother always said that even as a little child I was messy.’)
  • We also might fear that we are no longer ‘complete’ if we let go of a certain thought because it feels closely linked to our identity. (‘I have always been this way. It’s part of who I am.’)

How to let go of clutter-thoughts?

Getting aware of a negative thought doesn’t mean that it’s easy to get rid of it.

Our mind got so used to thinking it that it’s often very hesitant to give it up.

We have to take the lead and direct our mind.

We deliberately decide to let go of a certain thought and to replace it with a new and more useful thought.

And then we make sure that our mind understands and accepts the new thought. 

We can tell our mind, for example:

• • ‘I used to believe that I was not good at organising my stuff. Now I am getting used to believing that I can and will learn how to organise my home. I am becoming a good organiser.’
  • ‘How I might have been as a child has nothing to do with how I choose to be today as an adult. I am getting really good at tidying my place.’
  • ‘I am totally free to choose my thoughts, feelings, and actions. I am the only person to decide who and how I am.’

LITTLE EXERCISE

• • Which is one of the thoughts from the past that no longer serves you?
  • How can you persuade your mind to let it go?
  • Which different thought will you start thinking instead?