How Big Is Hoarding?

Hoarding, holding on to possessions that do not advance a person’s life or that would be more valuable elsewhere, can have a huge impact on the life of an individual or a household — but how big is it in the world outside? It is bigger than you would think. Hoarding is so widespread that it can move the world’s largest national economy. As I wrote in my Shamanic Economist blog today, hoarding by businesses was so big in the fourth quarter of 2009 that it gave the worst recession in recent U.S. history the appearance of a recovery for that quarter.

Economic recovery sounds like a good thing, but it is a tragedy when thousands of businesses are spending billions of dollars on things that they can only store for later, and ultimately throw away at additional expense. Yet in the United States, we are all part of a culture of hoarding. It is part of the pre-industrial mindset that comes to us from the 19th century, and most of the time, we are not even aware of the ways the hoarding mentality colors our thinking. What is needed is a shift in emphasis from preserving the value of things, as important as that is, to maximizing our ability to work, which is ultimately what will deliver our success.

We can all be part of the solution by making this shift in our individual lives. If you are thinking of buying something that you realistically may never have the chance to use, let it pass. Focus instead on acquiring the things you need for what you are doing right now — the things that will improve your ability to deliver immediate results. Clear away clutter and give yourself more room to work. Shorten your to-do list so that you can take more immediate action. This all sounds terribly mundane until you start doing it, and then you realize: the shift in emphasis from things to action is a shift potentially big enough to change everything.

Picking Up After a Failed New Year’s Resolution

January is half over. The year is 1/24 gone. Enough time has gone by for me to forget my new year’s resolution (embarrassing, but true). Others have given up — life is too busy and will power is not enough to accomplish the transformations they were hoping for.

Choosing a New Year’s Resolution

Today is a day when some people are worrying about making the right new year’s resolution. My suggestion is to pick a new year’s resolution that points to the kind of action that you can take every day and the kind of result that will make a lasting change in your life. I would also suggest that the way you make a new year’s resolution is important. Give it serious thought. Make it consistent with the way you’re living your life and where you’re going.

When you choose a new year’s resolution thoughtfully, you get an advantage that most people who make resolutions don’t have. You get the power of decision. Most resolutions, and most of the decisions people make, are really just spontaneous emotional reactions. There may be some emotional power behind these resolutions, but it fades away as soon as your emotions change. That’s the reason most new year’s resolutions fail. But if you think carefully about something and make a decision, there is a much better chance it will lead to something. In fact, people who make thoughtful decisions more often tend to be more successful in life. If you’re trying to pick a new year’s resolution, use that situation as an opportunity to make a real decision. Just by approaching it that way, regardless of the specific resolution you choose, you’re practicing the pattern of decision-making that will tend to make your life a success.

Snow Day

It’s probably the biggest snowstorm of the winter here, with 10 to 15 inches recorded in the local area. I was snowed in yesterday as the snow fell, and I am staying home again today, with no special reason to brave the roads, many still covered with packed snow.

Two snow days in a row gives me a chance to get some things done. But does this mean I can catch up on everything that has been piling up? Not likely!

The snow day, of course, is just another version of the rainy day I write about in Fear of Nothing. We save things to do as if we will have a chance to do them on a rainy day, but usually, all this really means is that we will not be doing them. We are so connected to the world today that free time is surprisingly scarce.

Clearing the Dining Room

The dining room, after clearing most of the stuff away

Many houses have a room that serves as a clutter magnet. The room’s original purpose, whatever it was, has been buried under all the stuff that no one knows what to do with. Whatever people have, if they don’t know where to put it, this room is where it is most likely to end up. Most often, the room in question is the dining room.

And that’s what it was in my house. From the day I moved in, the dining room was just a place to plop things down. I did not even own a dining table, so the idea of using the dining room for dining seemed remote. Still, I didn’t like the idea of a room just filled with miscellaneous stuff. I was sure I would want to use the room for something, so I decided to clear it all out.

“I Don’t Know What I’m Going to Do Today”

In my last post, I suggested that when you get to the point of saying, “I finally got caught up!” you use the extra leverage of that situation to get caught up in other areas of your life. If you take that approach, you may soon get to the point where you wonder whether there is anything more for you to do — where you look at your schedule and say, “I don’t know what I’m going to do today.”

It is not that there is nothing to do, but the few things on your list look like they might take you only a few hours to complete. What do you do then?

“I Finally Got Caught Up!”

I finally got caught up.

I’m talking about my online media list. There used to be a long list of magazines, newsletters, movies, and podcasts for me to look at and listen to on the Internet. As of late this morning, I got through them all. I also caught up on my e-mail — at least, I read every message that has come in.

But the fact that it took me so long to get to this point tells me something is off.

Bob Doyle Video on Limiting Beliefs

A difficulty many people have in breaking free of their to-do lists and clutter is the seeming conflict between that challenge and the law of attraction. The law of attraction seems to say, “Don’t pay any attention to your to-do list or your clutter, because if you do, it will just expand on you.” Yet that strategy does not work either. People try to pretend that the clutter and to-do list do not exist, and what happens? The clutter still gets deeper, and the to-do list continues to get longer.