August 2008

Clean sweep

Unfinished business is a term describing all of the messes in your life that you have not dealt with. You may be struggling with legal, financial, relationship, organisational, health or career messes, to name just a few. When you allow these to build up, they can overwhelm you. It is a vicious cycle, if left unchecked, causes a downward spiral which in time, gains momentum. Suddenly life is out of control. This excess baggage is like a dead weight around your neck which can bring you to a stand still.

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This results in a tremendous drain on your energy. Some people have accumulated so much unfinished business over the years; it feels like they are pulling an elephant along behind them.

The above diagram is called the cycle of completion. Each of these steps - Decide, Plan, Start, Continue, Finish, and Complete - is required to succeed at anything, to get a desired result- to finish. Yet how many of us never complete? We get all the way through the finishing stage - but leave one last thing undone.

Are there areas in your life where you have left uncompleted projects or failed to get closure with people? When you do not complete the past, you cannot be free to fully embrace the present.

When you start a project or make an agreement or identity a change you need to make, it goes into your present memory bank and takes up what are called Attention Units'. We can only pay attention to so many things at one time, and each promise, agreement, or item on your to-do list leaves fewer attention units to dedicate to completing present tasks and bringing new opportunities and abundance into your life.

So why don't people complete? Often, incompletes represent areas in our lives where we are not clear - or where we have emotional and psychological blocks.

For instance, you might have a lot of requests, projects, tasks, and other things on your desk you really want to say no to- but you are afraid of being perceived as the bad person. Therefore, you put off responding to avoid saying no. Meanwhile the sticky notes and stacks of paper pile up and distract you. There may also be circumstances in which you have to make decisions that are difficult or uncomfortable. So rather than struggle with the discomfort, you let the incompletes pile up.

Some incompletes come from simply not having adequate systems, knowledge or expertise for handling these tasks, other incompletes pile-up because of our bad work habits.

"What does it take to actually get this task completed?" Is a question we should be asking ourselves often? Then you can begin to consciously take that next step of filing completed documents, mailing in the forms required, or reporting back to your boss that the project has been completed. The truth is that 20 things completed have more power than 50 things half completed. Rather than starting 15 projects that end up incomplete and take up space in the house, you would be better off if you had started just 3 and completed them.

In addition to incompletes, most households are also groaning under the weight of too much clutter, too many papers, worn-out clothes, unused toys, forgotten personal effects, and obsolete, broken, and unneeded items.

Do we really need all of this stuff? No, of course not.

One of the best ways to free up attention units is to free your living and work environment from the mental burden of this clutter. When you clear out the old, you also make room for something new.

If there is anything new that you want in your life, you have to make room for it. That means psychologically as well as physically.

Having a clean sweep helps you gain new clarity on problems, challenges, opportunities, and relationships. When we do not throw away clutter and items we no longer need, it is as if we do not trust our ability to create the necessary abundance in our lives to buy new ones. Unfortunately incompletes keep that very abundance from showing up, we need to compete the past so that our present can show up more fully.

How many things do you need to complete, dump or delegate before you can move on and bring new activity, abundance, relationships, and excitement into your life? Use the checklist below to jog your thinking, make a list, and then write down how you will complete each task.

Once you have made your list, choose four items and start completing them. Choose those that would immediately free up the most time, energy, or space for you-whether it is mental or physical space.

At minimum, clean up one major incomplete every 3 months. You may even need to schedule a completion weekend. By devoting 2 full days to handling as many things on the following list as possible.

1. Former business activities
2. Health and fitness goals never achieved
3. Holidays never booked or taken
4. Promises not kept, not acknowledged, or not renegotiated
5. Unpaid debts or financial commitments (money owed to others and you)
6. Closets overflowing with clothing never worn
7. Haphazard or disorganised tax records
8. Cheque book not balanced or accounts that should be closed
9. "Junk drawers" full of unusable items, missing or broken tools
10. An attic filled with unused items
11. Trunk or backseat full of trash
12. Incomplete car maintenance
13. A disorganised shed or garage filled with discarded items
14. Filing left undone. Computer files not backed up or data needed clearing for creating more storage
15. Desk surface cluttered or disorganised
16. Family pictures never put into an album
17. Mending, ironing, or other piles of items to repair or discard
18. Deferred household maintenance
19. Personal relationships with un-stated resentments or appreciations.
20. People you need to forgive
21. Time not spent with people you have been meaning to spend time with.
22. Acknowledgements that need to be given or asked for
23. Incomplete projects or projects delivered without closure or feedback

Like incompletes, daily irritants are equally damaging to your success because they, too, take up attention units. It is the missing button on your favourite shirt that keeps you from wearing it to important meetings, the torn screen on your patio door that lets in the insects.

One of the best things to do is fix, replace and mend those daily irritants.

Walk through every room of your house, your garage, and all around your property, jotting down those things that irritate, annoy and bother you and then arranging to get each one handled. Every time you notice them and wish they were different, they pull energy from you, subtracting energy from your life instead of adding energy to your life.

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Liisa Bell Georgie and Hector body + image + lifestyle p 1300 788 186 e enquiries@georgieandhector.com.au w www.georgieandhector.com.au