Walt and I were finally cleaning out the basements (yes, that’s a plural); and the over-stuffed three-car garage; and the attics (again, the plural); and all of the closets; and each of the seven, count them, seven bedrooms. This in preparation for our move to Ireland.
Cold and heartless that I am, I was bagging the shit up and dragging it to the dumpster.
Walt was of no help because he’s, how shall I phrase this, way too sentimental. Our kids were long gone, so it just didn’t make sense for us to keep the enormous house, or the objects within it, but he was having an awfully hard time accepting this truth. Tears were involved.
During my innumerable charity shop runs, I made a quick detour and picked up a copy of Marie Kondo’s book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Maybe you’ve read it. This is where Marie walks readers through her famous process of getting rid of stuff that’s no longer useful, nor sparks joy. The one that’s made her famous on, I don’t know, HGTV.
If anyone could help Walt make peace with chucking the plaster of Paris handprint and the T-shirt some kid wore in 1992, it was Marie. Cause he sure wasn’t listening to me. And I couldn’t have him throwing fits in the driveway. What would the neighbors say?
We needed this book.
I wanted this big result: a tidy home. OK, a completely evacuated home. But Walt needed the benefits associated with the big result.
When I refer to benefits, I mean the financial, emotional, physical, and spiritual benefits associated with a “tidy” house.
What could the financial, emotional, physical, and spiritual benefits of a tidy house be, you may ask? For God’s sake, isn’t it enough to have an organized house? Or one that’s clean enough to be sold to someone who doesn’t want our junk?
Well, some of them are surprising.
- A spiritual benefit: a calm and motivated mindset. (Walt needed this BAD)
- A physical benefit: You’ll look better because you’ll only wear the clothes that suit you and make you feel beautiful. All the others you’ll toss away. (Like a T-shirt no one can actually wear.)
- A financial benefit: You’ll save money because you’ll stop buying junk that you’ll only end up getting rid of. (Maybe sell your house, as opposed to paying on a mortgage.)
- An emotional benefit: You’ll let go of relationships that no longer serve, because you’ll grow accustomed to examining things closely and determining their use. (This is where I needed to tread lightly because, if I pushed too hard, who knows where that could lead.)
Just for fun, we’re going to pretend you’d like to write a prescriptive non-fiction book like Marie Kondo. Maybe one that lands you on network TV, where you can demonstrate your framework methodology.
I’m going to lead you through a super short exercise to get you started thinking about that one big result you give your clients, and the associated benefits.
Here are some questions I’d like you to write down and answer when you have a few minutes. They’re really important to your overall vision.
What is the Big Result you give your clients?
Now give me:
- An emotional benefit they get from this big result.
- A physical benefit they get from this big result
- A financial benefit they get from this big result
- A spiritual benefit they get from this big result.
Crazy simple, right?
Like getting rid of a crushed easter basket or an unidentifiable baby tooth wedged in Play-Doh.
