Where Did All of This Stuff Come From?
Aristotle said that nature abhors a vacuum. He supposedly came to that conclusion by observing that nature requires every space to be filled with something.
Well, I guess that’s true about our house as well.
About eight years ago, we moved to our beautiful four-bedroom Colorado mountain home from a two-bedroom apartment. The house has cabinets and closets everywhere, built-in bookcases, a full laundry room (more 
cabinets), and a large garage. When we moved in, the belongings we brought barely put a dent in all of the new space. Yet somehow during the time we’ve lived here, like nature we kept filing in the space with things we ‘needed’ until it felt complete. And that was long past what we ‘needed’ to live comfortably.
In preparation for a move to a wonderful (but smaller!) apartment in Denver next month, we have been working through every inch of our house sorting what comes with us and what goes out. And I keep coming back to the thought, “Where did all of this stuff come from?”
Now to be clear, we do not hoard things nor is our home filled with clutter. And to be fair, we are both running our consulting and speaking businesses from our home.
But even with all of that, we simply have too much. So the purge has begun.
What Stuff Should You Purge – Right Now?
As we pack our home, I am thinking about what I need to bring with me or leave behind in other parts of my life as well. Do I really need those ineffective habits? Should I bring my tendency to procrastinate to my new life in Denver? How about the box of other excuses I store in my head? Shouldn’t I just leave them out by the curb on trash day?
How about you? If you had to throw just one ineffective habit overboard right now, what would it be? How about two or three – or even five or ten? Just silly things we do that hold us back from our dreams, goals and healthy results.
What would the first thing you would toss away be? And what’s your excuse for not doing it right now?
John J. Hall, CPA
John J. Hall, CPA, is an author, speaker and results expert who presents around the world at conventions, corporate meetings and association events.
Throughout his 35-year career as a business consultant, corporate executive and professional speaker, John has helped organizations and individuals achieve measurable results. He inspires audience members in corporations, not-for-profit organizations and professional associations to step up, take action and “do what you can.”