How to Cut Through Clutter to Find Clarity

Find out why Professor’s Whiteboard is a metaphor for mental and physical clutter, and how to keep clutter at bay with clarity.

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One of Shakespeare’s most famous quotes came from one of his most famous plays, Hamlet. “This above all: to thine own self be true.”

In the scene, where this quote was used, a dad is giving his son advice. He provided a host of great tips. But of them all, the most important one, the one that stands all others is: “To thine own self be true.”

It’s Shakespeare’s advice on clutter and clarity.

There’s a question we often get from listeners of our podcast: What’s up with “The Professor’s Whiteboard”?

The Professor’s Whiteboard is a Metaphor

We use a virtual whiteboard to showcase the BIGG takeaway in each episode of our podcast, The BIGG Success Show. “The Professor”, George, opens up the closet to get the whiteboard and “a mountain of stuff” falls out. The “stuff” is clutter in all its forms.

So “The Professor’s Whiteboard” is an audio representation of what we do at BIGG success: We help you cut through the clutter to find clarity.

It’s a huge problem for a lot of us today: too much clutter, not enough clarity. It’s often caused by too many options.

We humans crave options. And smart people, creative people, and multi-talented people – the kind of people who are part of the BIGG Success community – simply have more options to process. Which creates more clutter.

Physical clutter, of course. Digital clutter, increasingly so. We see the physical clutter. We feel digital clutter – as we search for a file, but can’t seem to find it.

According to Newsweek (June 7, 2004), the average American loses 55 minutes EVERY day searching for things they can’t find. Do you think it’s fair to say that the average person loses more than that on digital clutter? The two of us guess “Yes”.

And we haven’t even talked yet about the most costly forms of clutter: mental, emotional, and spiritual. Anyone of them can rob a person of days, weeks, months, years, and even a lifetime.

To show you how to avoid this, let’s go to the Professor’s whiteboard for 3 ways to cut clutter and find clarity…

1) Keep a clear mind

The single best way to avoid MENTAL clutter is by defining your vision. Where are you going personally, professionally, and financially?

With an unclouded vision, you’ll be amazed how easy it is to keep the clutter away. So guard against clutter – now and in the future – so you can advance faster toward your vision of BIGG success.

2) Keep a clear heart

How do you avoid EMOTIONAL clutter? The single best way to define your mission? Why is it so important for you to achieve your vision? Who will be better off as a result?

Your mission touches your heartstrings. People you care about depend on you. If you get unfocused – if you don’t deal with the clutter, they will suffer. As a result, you will suffer, too.

So the sooner you cut out emotional clutter and trim it regularly, the better off you and the people you care about will be.

3) Keep a clear soul

The shortest path to avoiding SPIRITUAL clutter is to define your values. What do you stand for? What do you believe in?

When you have clearly-defined values, decision-making becomes easier and more effective. You aren’t disappointed with yourself. You feel good about the person you see in the mirror every morning.

BIGG Takeaway

It turns out that Shakespeare was a master de-clutterer. What’s the secret? “To thine own self be true.” When considering any “opportunity”, steer clear of clutter by focusing on how it impacts your vision, mission, and values. It leads to BIGG success!

George “The Professor” & Mary-Lynn
Co-Founders, BIGG Success

Direct link to The BIGG Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/forcedn/biggsuccess/01090-022822.mp3