Declutter Your Mind How to Stop Worrying, - Scott, S.J_

Here’s a summary of the introduction:

• Our thoughts are constant and often negative, cluttering our minds. Clearing mental clutter is challenging but important for well-being.

• We have about 100 billion neurons in our brain, constantly processing experiences and analyzing them in the form of thoughts. Thoughts form our perception of reality.

• Though thinking is necessary, our minds often wander into rumination and negativity. This inner dialogue distracts us from the present moment and causes us to miss experiences.

• We often assume more thinking will solve our unhappiness, but it usually makes us feel worse. Negative thoughts relate to the past or future and trap us in cycles of regret or worry.

• The thinking/judging dynamic creates painful emotions. Unchecked thoughts can paralyze us and rob inner peace.

• We sometimes self-medicate to escape our thoughts but need sustainable solutions. We aren’t doomed to be victims of our “monkey minds.”

• Though we can’t stop thinking, we have a “conscious self” that can manage thoughts. We have more control than we realize. Managing thoughts opens creativity and clarity.

• Mindfulness practices and habits can disempower thoughts, provide mental space, and allow us to live according to priorities and values.

The goal of the book is to provide strategies and tips to declutter your mind from excessive and negative thoughts so you can gain more inner peace and happiness. The introduction establishes why mental clutter is problematic and that we have the ability to better control our thoughts.

The goal of the book is to teach practical habits and mindsets to declutter your mind and reduce stress and overwhelm. Instead of just telling readers what to do, the book provides science-backed actions and exercises that can create real change if practiced regularly.

The book is divided into four sections:

1. Decluttering Your Thoughts - Learn why you have negative and cluttered thoughts, including daily stress, too many choices, unhealthy beliefs, and lack of mindfulness. Provides exercises to reframe thoughts and reduce rumination.

2. Decluttering Your Life Obligations - Strategies to simplify your schedule, set boundaries, and minimize excessive commitments and distractions. Learn to prioritize what really matters.

3. Decluttering Your Relationships - How to improve communication, set healthy boundaries, and reduce drama and toxicity in your relationships. Also covers self-care and making meaningful connections.

4. Decluttering Your Surroundings - Practical tips to declutter and organize your physical space by getting rid of excess stuff and simplifying your environment. Creating an uncluttered space leads to an uncluttered mind.

The authors, Barrie Davenport and S.J. Scott, share their personal stories of simplifying their lives, reducing stress, and focusing on what really matters - relationships, experiences, health and meaning. The book provides actionable strategies and exercises readers can implement to achieve a clearer, calmer mindset and lifestyle.

The book is helpful for anyone who struggles with anxiety, negative thoughts, lack of focus, and feelings of being overwhelmed. Readers will learn skills to better manage their thoughts and priorities in order reclaim time and energy wasted on excessive worry and rumination. The ultimate goal is achieving greater peace of mind and well-being.

• President Obama limited his wardrobe selections to gray or blue suits to reduce decision fatigue and focus his mental energy on more important decisions.

• We are overloaded with too much stuff - clothes, gadgets, data, information, social media, etc. This constant consumption leads to anxiety, distraction, and reduced productivity.

• We have a “negativity bias” - our brains evolved to focus more on threats and negative information as a survival mechanism. This inclination towards negative thinking contributes to excessive worrying, anxiety, and pessimism.

• To declutter our minds, we need to build habits to retrain our brains. One habit is focused deep breathing. This means:

1. Sit up straight to open up your lungs.

2. Become aware of tense areas of your body and breathe into them to relax them.

3. Breathe through your nose, not your mouth. Your nose filters air and prevents impurities from entering.

4. Practice abdominal breathing - filling your stomach, not just your chest. This massages your organs and provides the most oxygen.

5. Notice the difference between shallow chest breathing and deep abdominal breathing. Abdominal breathing is calming and rejuvenating.

6. Make a habit of paying attention to your breathing throughout the day. Deeper, slower, controlled breathing leads to a calmer state of mind and body.

In summary, focused deep breathing is a simple but powerful habit for decluttering your mind and reducing excessive negative thinking. By bringing more awareness and control to your breathing, you can work against your brain’s natural tendency to overthink and worry.

Here is a summary of the movements of the diaphragm:

•The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle at the base of the lungs. It separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity.

•When you inhale, the diaphragm contracts and flattens downward. This enlarges the chest cavity and reduces pressure in the lungs, causing air to be drawn in.

•When you exhale, the diaphragm relaxes and moves upward. This reduces the chest cavity volume and increases pressure in the lungs, causing air to be expelled.

•With deep, abdominal breathing, the diaphragm fully descends during inhalation, expanding and filling the lower lungs. The belly expands outward. During exhalation, the diaphragm relaxes and moves upward, expelling air from the lower lungs. The belly contracts inward.

•Shallow, chest breathing primarily uses the upper chest muscles rather than the diaphragm. The chest rises and falls with minimal movement in the belly. This type of breathing is less efficient and can increase stress and anxiety.

•Deep, diaphragmatic breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms the body and mind. This helps lower heart rate and blood pressure, decreasing feelings of stress and anxiety.

•Practicing deep breathing exercises helps strengthen and improve the flexibility of the diaphragm. This allows for greater lung expansion and more efficient oxygen exchange.

•Deep diaphragmatic breathing is a foundation for many mindfulness practices like meditation, yoga, tai chi, and qi gong. Developing awareness and control of your breathing has significant benefits for both physical and mental health.

Sit comfortably and focus your attention on your breathing. Notice the flow of air moving in and out. When thoughts arise, gently bring your focus back to your breath. Start with 10-15 minutes a day and build up. Don’t judge yourself for wandering thoughts, just redirect back to your breath.

The goal is to gain awareness and control of your mind. You do this by:

1. Being the watcher - Observe your thoughts impartially without judgment. Separate yourself from your thoughts.

2. Name that thought - Acknowledge thoughts are just thoughts, not reality. Say “I’m having the thought that…”

3. Just say no - Say “STOP!” out loud and visualize blocking the thoughts. Visualize pushing thoughts away or into a balloon.

4. Use a rubber band - Wear a rubber band and snap it when you have negative thoughts. This interrupts the thinking.

5. Know your triggers - Notice what triggers worry and overthinking. Write them down so you can catch them.

6. Distract yourself - Do something to occupy your mind like focus on breath, multiplication tables or poetry. Remove room for negative thoughts.

Building the habit of reframing negative thoughts takes consistent practice of these strategies. Notice your thoughts, separate from them and reframe them in a more constructive way. Over time, you can gain control of your mind and limit negative or anxious thinking. While we have a natural negativity bias, we have the power to challenge unhelpful thoughts.

The key is to start with awareness and make a habit of noticing your thoughts and the stories you tell yourself. Then reframe them in a way that empowers rather than victimizes you. This is a learnable skill that requires patience and practice. Keeping a meditation or thought diary can help show your progress over time.

• You can’t overcome negative thinking completely, but you can manage it by being proactive with your thoughts.

• Interrupting negative thoughts is only part of the process. You need to fill the void with constructive thoughts to avoid falling back into old patterns.

• Challenge negative thoughts and replace them. Examine exaggerated thoughts and find concrete examples to contradict them. Replace them with positive reminders.

• Practice acceptance. Accept situations you can’t change and determine actions to take, lessons to learn, and support to seek. Fighting against reality adds more suffering. Acceptance allows you to take useful action.

• Take mindful action. Do something to distract yourself from negative thoughts, like a hobby, exercise, or work. Require focus and mental challenge. Prevent overthinking and worry.

• Set a worry timer. Allow yourself to worry for a set time, then do something distracting. You can’t stop worrying completely, but you can limit the time you spend worrying so you don’t get too overwhelmed.

• Identify your core values. Define your priorities and guiding principles. They help clarify how to spend your time and energy. Live according to your values for happiness, peace, and clear thinking. Values provide stability amidst change and reduce confusion, overthinking, worry, and anxiety. They are a measuring stick for choices and decisions.

• Examples: A value of freedom and flexibility allowed saying no to job opportunities that wouldn’t provide happiness. Values act as a compass to move in your desired direction daily.

• Living in alignment with your core values leads to greater happiness and fulfillment. Identifying your values and priorities helps provide purpose and direction.

• To define your core values:

1. Review a list of common values and choose the top 5-6 that are most important to you for your personal life and work.

2. Identify ways you are currently not honoring those values.

3. Develop actions to better align with your values. Start with the areas where you feel the biggest disconnect.

• Clarifying your life priorities helps determine how you want to spend your limited time and energy. Divide your time among 7 key life areas: career, family, relationship, personal growth, leisure, life management, health. Decide your ideal allocation of 100 hours/week total.

• Compare your current priority reality to your ideal. Take action to focus on imbalanced priorities, starting small. Bump out less important activities. Make adjustments as needed, despite challenges.

• Mindful goal setting applies your values and priorities to planning your future. Worrying about the future causes anxiety, but planning provides purpose.

• Set specific, measurable goals for the next 1-3 years. Make them challenging but achievable, with concrete steps. Review and revise as needed. Short-term goals should align with long-term vision.

• Develop milestones and deadlines for each goal. Celebrate achievements to stay motivated, then set new goals. Continuous progress, however small, leads to greater fulfillment and life satisfaction.

• An important long-term goal: develop and follow a life purpose or mission statement. It provides direction and helps guide daily decision making. Review and redefine as needed.

• Other tips: start with one priority or goal at a time. Review progress regularly. Learn from both successes and perceived “failures.” Be flexible - life changes, and so can your goals and mission. But stay true to your core values.

Contentment and progress do not have to contradict each other. It’s possible to be happy with your life now and still work toward a better future. Focusing completely on the present or solely on the future can both lead to suffering. The key is finding a balance between contentment in each moment and progress toward meaningful goals.

Creating short-term, purposeful goals can help you achieve this balance. Focus on the areas of your life that are most important to you and set S.M.A.R.T. goals - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound - for each one. Review your goals and progress weekly and schedule actions daily to make consistent progress. When done right, achieving your goals can be a source of contentment itself.

The summary focuses on the key ideas around balancing present-moment contentment and purposeful progress toward the future through short-term, meaningful goals. The details around the SMART acronym and the six-step process for setting goals are omitted for brevity. Please let me know if you would like me to clarify or expand on any part of this summary.

•Answer three questions: What are my personal obligations? What are my priority projects? How much time do I have? Respond honestly and schedule only what you can realistically accomplish.

•Schedule project tasks: Look at your goals and schedule time each week to work on important activities and tasks. Break big projects into smaller milestones.

•Process ideas: Take action on ideas immediately or schedule time to follow up. Put ideas that aren’t actionable into an archive to review monthly.

•Take action on your goals: Turn goals into projects by working backwards from the deadline. Schedule time each week to work on goals. Make goals a priority by starting your day working on them. Schedule time for single actions and tasks.

•Review your goals: Review goals daily, weekly and quarterly. Daily review keeps goals top of mind. Weekly review ensures you’re making progress. Quarterly review evaluates if goals should be changed or replaced.

•Connect goals to your passions: Find work you love to free your mind and energize your life. Signs you’ve found your passion include waking up enthusiastic, feeling authentic and confident, having purpose and meaning, and having happier relationships.

•Write a life vision: Describe what you want in each area of your life, especially work. Start with what you don’t want. Let your values and priorities guide you.

•Identify your strengths: Take a strengths assessment to determine your talents, skills, and abilities. Look for themes in what you’re good at and what you enjoy. How can you use your strengths more?

•Explore options: Research different jobs, careers, businesses, and paths that leverage your strengths and fit your vision. Get informational interviews, shadow people, take online courses, read books, etc.

•Start with small experiments: Try out different options on a small scale to determine what fits before making a big change. Start a side hustle, volunteer, take a part-time job, etc. See what you enjoy and are good at.

•Review and reflect: Look at what you’ve learned from your experiments and explorations. What did you enjoy most? Where did you feel most confident and engaged? How can you do more of that? Make a plan for next steps.

•It’s a journey: Finding your passion and purpose is an ongoing process of self-discovery. Be patient and kind with yourself. Make continuous progress through continuous small steps. Celebrate your wins and lessons along the way.

Here is a summary of the five key skills:

1. Flexibility - The ability to adapt to changes and different work environments. Being open to opportunities and possibilities.

2. Financial freedom - Having an income and lifestyle that provides freedom and balance. Not being overly focused on career at the expense of other life areas.

3. Meaningful relationships - Having loving and supportive relationships with a partner, friends, and family. Spending quality time with others.

4. Good health - Remaining active and energetic. Focusing on nutrition, exercise, and wellness. Taking care of both physical and mental health.

5. Continual growth - Remaining open to new experiences through travel, learning, reading, and stepping outside one’s comfort zone. Continuing to develop and improve oneself.

• A long-term Harvard study found that close relationships and social connections are the key to happiness and health. High-quality relationships—whether with friends, family, or partners—involve things like communication, trust, shared interests, and acceptance.

• You can improve your relationships and happiness by being more present. This includes:

• Practicing empathic listening: Focus fully on the other person, avoid interrupting, ask open-ended questions, reflect what they’re saying. This benefits both the listener and the speaker.

• Practicing mindful speaking: Be aware of what you say and how it impacts others. Speak with compassion and respect. This can improve your relationships and your own well-being.

• Doing loving kindness meditation: Focus on feeling warmth and compassion for others. Studies show it can increase feelings of connection, decrease perceived hostility from others, and increase positive emotions.

• End the comparisons to others. Comparing yourself unfavorably to others causes suffering and unhappiness. Accept yourself and focus on your own talents, skills, and gifts rather than longing for what others have.

• The key is to focus on the relationships you have and nurture them. You can’t change others, you can only change your own reactions and interactions. By using these strategies, you can reduce stress, improve your happiness and peace of mind, and strengthen your connections with friends and loved ones.

Comparing yourself to others fosters negative feelings that damage relationships. It leads to emotions like envy, jealousy, shame, and resentment which undermine connection. While occasional comparison can motivate self-improvement, frequent comparison indicates a need for change.

Three practices can help end harmful comparison:

1. Radical self-acceptance: Accept who you are right now. You can’t change certain things, so accept them. This acceptance brings peace of mind.

2. Change what you can: Embrace wisdom to know what you can and can’t change. Compare to inspire improvement but accept what you can’t change. Focus on your values and priorities.

3. Express gratitude: Appreciate what you have rather than longing for what others have. Acknowledge your blessings and how much worse off you could be without them. Gratitude combats comparison and cultivates contentment.

To break free from negative thoughts about past relationships:

1. Resolve what you can: Initiate communication to work through unresolved issues. Talking openly releases you from pain and torment. While not always possible, resolution is ideal.

2. Challenge your story: Question your interpretation of events. Try to see the other perspective. This reduces pain and anger, allowing a less negative view.

3. Offer forgiveness: Forgive others in your heart to free yourself from suffering. Let go of resentment and anger which only hurt you. Forgiveness brings inner peace.

Summary: Stop comparing and ruminating. Accept yourself, change what you can, appreciate blessings. Resolve issues when possible, reframe your story, and forgive for your own wellbeing. This frees you to build fulfilling present relationships.

• Forgiving someone doesn’t necessarily mean reconciling with them. It means letting go of resentment and anger so it doesn’t further poison you. It can be hard, especially if the person hasn’t taken responsibility for their actions. But you can start by recognizing they’re doing the best they can. Shift your thoughts from them to yourself. Acknowledge your feelings without blaming them. Ask how you can improve.

• See relationships like acts in a play. Some characters have short roles, some larger. Some are villains, some are good. But all are necessary. Embrace them all, then move on.

• Forgiving yourself may be required. Reflect on your actions and how they may have hurt the other person. Accept any wrongdoing and forgive yourself. Try seeing your past mistakes as a blessing - they were part of who you were and helped you learn. Now forgive yourself and move on, focusing on who you want to be.

• Practicing mindfulness with your partner strengthens intimacy and reduces stress. It means paying attention to the present without judgment. It’s challenging but with practice increases awareness and helps you stay calm and resolve issues lovingly.

• Make a commitment to practicing mindfulness daily. Leave yourself reminders. Tell your partner about your commitment and ask them to commit too.

• Be emotionally present - attuned, empathetic, reflective. Listen without defensiveness. Reflect back what you hear to confirm understanding. Communicate authentically, not passive-aggressively.

• Look for lessons in conflict. Consider other perspectives. Ask if you’re being your best self. See what you can learn and how you want to grow.

• Spend quality time together without distraction. Schedule it if needed. Emotional intimacy insulates from conflict and promotes peace of mind.

• Decluttering relationships may mean letting some go. Let go of those who repeatedly disrespect or hurt you, sap your energy, or don’t share your values. Forgive them, wish them well, and move on. Focus on those who lift you up.

•Letting go of relationships that cause you suffering is difficult but necessary for your well-being.

•Ending a relationship is painful, even if it’s toxic or draining. We invest a lot in close relationships, so ending them is hard.

•There are some signs that it’s time to end a relationship, like abuse, toxicity, lack of communication, or divergent values.

•Consider the positives of ending the relationship and the potential fallout. Think about what “goodbye” really means - it could be cutting off contact or setting boundaries.

•Communicate your decision without blame. Have a conversation in person if possible, and focus on your feelings, not their faults. Prepare for a negative reaction.

•Accept that it can be a process. It may take time, and you may question your decision. Allow yourself to grieve the loss.

•Letting go of draining relationships frees you up to focus on healthy, positive relationships. Although difficult, it can lead to greater well-being and peace of mind.

• Decluttering your surroundings, especially your home, can help reduce stress, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed. A cluttered environment distracts you, limits your ability to focus, and makes you feel agitated.

• Simplifying your home by decluttering and organizing it will make it a peaceful haven. Start by setting aside just 10 minutes a day to declutter. In a few weeks, your home will be much more organized and clutter-free.

• Set up a staging area for items you want to get rid of. Have boxes in different sizes, a timer, notebook, and pen. Create a schedule to make it a habit. Start with the rooms you use the most. Work quickly by removing everything from one area, wiping it down, and only putting back essential items. Deal with indecision by labeling and storing questionable items to deal with later.

• Tell your family about your project and ask for their support. Enjoy the process by putting on music and rewarding yourself for your accomplishments.

• Decluttering helps you focus on the present rather than clinging to the past. Release physical objects that weigh you down and limit your thinking. A decluttered space allows you to be the person you are becoming now.

• In summary, decluttering your surroundings is a key part of simplifying your life, reducing stress and anxiety, and creating mental space for what really matters to you. Start small and make steady progress to transform your home into a peaceful sanctuary.

Here’s a summary:

Simplify your digital life:

• Take an honest look at how much time you spend engaged with technology and social media. A lot of it is nonessential and draining.

•Pick one hour a day to unplug from all devices. Do an engaging activity instead like reading, exercising, or socializing.

•Declutter your digital devices by deleting unused apps, archiving old emails and files, and organizing your desktop. This will reduce distraction and free up mental space.

•Develop a digital “mindset” with boundaries for how much time you allot for work, leisure, and family. Be a role model for your kids. Commit to managing digital clutter.

Simplify your activities:

•We feel compelled to fill our time with constant activity and productivity. But downtime and “doing nothing” is valuable too.

•Our busy schedules often take over and we lose time for meaningful pursuits. We get trapped on the “treadmill of tasks”.

•Cutting back nonessential activities can feel uncomfortable but leads to less stress and more leisure. Ask “what are my priorities?” and “what activities can I eliminate?”.

•Make time for reflection, community, and simply “being”. Have conversations with loved ones about what really matters.

•Find the balance between hard work, leisure, and idleness that’s right for you. Staying overly busy contributes to mental clutter and depletion. Moderation is key.

In summary, simplifying your digital life and activities will help declutter your mind and calendar. You’ll gain more time for the essential and meaningful things in life. Staying constantly busy and plugged in is draining and unsustainable. Find the balance that allows you to work productively as well as rest and renew. When you pare down the excess, you’ll feel liberated and unencumbered.

Your world will not fall apart if you get behind on some things or have to cut back your commitments. In fact, reducing an overcommitted schedule and mental clutter can help reduce anxiety and stress, and allow you to focus on what really matters.

Some strategies to declutter your schedule and life:

1. Prioritize your priorities. Commit time for your top priorities like family before filling in the rest of your schedule. Don’t let “something important” override true priorities.

2. Purge unnecessary commitments. Review your schedule and drop or reduce anything you can without consequence. Delegate or shorten other items. Let go of obligations you feel guilty about to see if the fallout is really as bad as you fear.

3. Focus on 3 important goals each day. Do less but with more focus and intention. You can always do more if you achieve the 3 goals. This reduces feeling overwhelmed.

4. Build in time to do nothing. Take short breaks to sit and stare or go outside. Start with 5 minutes a few times a day and increase to an hour or more.

5. Re-examine your kids’ schedule. Kids need unstructured time as much as adults. For every week of intense activity, give kids 3 weeks of downtime. Overscheduling kids stresses the whole family.

6. Leave work on time. Working excessive hours leads to burnout, inefficiency and health issues. Gradually cut back to leaving on time at least one day a week. Turn off work devices when you’re done for the day.

7. Take a digital sabbatical. Spending too much time online or on devices creates mental agitation and distraction. Take breaks from your phone, computer and other tech. Start with a day or weekend and increase from there. Do real world activities instead.

8. Achieve a flow state. Find challenging but enjoyable activities that engage your skills. Set clear goals and eliminate distractions. Lose your self-consciousness and track of time. The activity itself becomes rewarding. Examples include sports, hobbies, creative pursuits or focused work.

The key is making conscious choices to avoid an overcommitted life and focus on what gives you meaning, joy and fulfillment. While it may feel overwhelming at first, creating space in your life will reduce stress and increase happiness. Your world will still continue even if you slow down.

• Set aside at least 15-30 minutes to enter a state of flow. Give yourself enough time to become fully immersed in the task.

• Monitor your emotional state. If you’re anxious or distracted, try calming exercises like deep breathing. If you’re slug: gish, do something to energize yourself. Then return to your activity.

• Simplify your distractions and limit interruptions. Put your phone away, close email and social media tabs. Find a space free of disturbances.

• Plan your time and break big tasks into manageable steps. Schedule your most productive times for important work and less demanding tasks for less productive times.

• Define your motivation or “why” before starting. Remind yourself of the benefits of completing the task.

• Prepare everything you need ahead of time. Have water, snacks, proper lighting, etc. This prevents interruptions and excuses to procrastinate.

• Practice mindfulness before beginning. Take a few deep breaths and visualize yourself accomplishing the task easily. Set an intention to focus. But don’t let this become another distraction.

• Use timers to maintain focus. Work in 25-30 minute bursts with short breaks. Or try the Pomodoro Technique with 25 minutes of focus and 5 minute breaks.

• Schedule longer 15-60 minute breaks for rejuvenation. Move, meditate or do light exercise. Limit screen time and stressful interactions.

• Reward yourself for completing tasks or series of sub-tasks. Take longer breaks or briefly check devices/social media. Find small motivations to keep going.

• Schedule mundane and mindless tasks for less productive times. Deal with email in limited bursts. Do easy paperwork or chores when your mind needs a rest from more demanding work.

• Bring mindfulness to all your actions, even mundane tasks. Slow down and be fully present in each moment. Find ways to simplify obligatory actions so you gain more time and mental space for what matters most.

• Practice mindfulness during ordinary daily activities like eating, cleaning the house, walking, spending time in nature, and exercising.

• When eating, focus on the food, smells, tastes, and sensations of eating. Eat slowly and savor each bite. Be grateful for the food and the people who prepared it.

• When cleaning or doing housework, focus on the present moment rather than rushing to get done. Approach the work with gratitude and see it as meaningful, however small.

• Walk mindfully by listening to the sounds around you, noticing the scenery and sensations. Let walking be the destination.

• Spend time in nature while listening, seeing, smelling and fully experiencing your surroundings. This provides mental and physical benefits like reduced stress and improved focus.

• Exercise mindfully by paying attention to your body, your breathing, and your environment. Focus on how your body feels and send energy to the areas being worked. Use your breathing or a mantra as an anchor to stay focused. Notice the temperature, sights, sounds and smells around you.

• The key to mindfulness in daily life is pulling your focus away from your thoughts and distractions to experience fully whatever you are doing, seeing, tasting or sensing. Be present and grateful in each moment.

• Your mind can feel cluttered when you are not fully present in an experience, like doing the dishes. Mindfulness practice helps declutter the mind by focusing your attention on the present moment.

• Training your mind to declutter takes daily practice and awareness. Left alone, your mind will wander and follow distracting thoughts and emotions. You need to make an effort to manage your thoughts.

• Tools for decluttering the mind include:

› Mindfulness meditation and focused breathing - Help relax the mind and detach from intrusive thoughts.

› Challenging negative thoughts - Take charge of your thinking by reframing thoughts that don’t serve you.

› Defining your values and priorities - Create boundaries and focus for your thoughts and actions. Reduce time spent on things that cause worry or regret.

› Setting meaningful goals - Give your mind purpose and direction. Feel energized and focused.

› Simplifying your life - Remove distractions and clutter to free your mind.

› Being present in your relationships and daily activities - Focus on the current moment rather than your cluttered thoughts. Find more fulfillment and less distress.

› Keeping a tidy living space - A clean environment supports a decluttered mind.

• Begin your mental decluttering practice by defining your values, priorities and goals. Then determine which areas of your life contain the most mental clutter and choose tools to address them. Some tools can be practiced daily in short periods. Track your progress in a journal.

• Decluttering your mind is an ongoing process that leads to greater peace, happiness and success. Take action today to overcome your biggest challenges by choosing exercises to build new mental habits.

• Review a list of 400 value words to identify the 5 to 10 that are most important to you. See how you can better align your life with your top values. Make incremental changes.

Here’s a summary of the traits in three letters:

Exploration Expressiveness Extravagance Extroversion Exuberance

Facilitating Fairness Faith Fame Fascination Fashion Fearlessness Fidelity Fineness
Finesse Firmness Fitness Flexibility Flow Fluency Fluidity Focus Fortitude Frankness Freedom Friendliness Frugality Fun

Gallantry Generosity Gentility Genuineness Giving Grace Gratefulness Gratitude Gregariousness Growth Guidance

Happiness Harmony Health Heart Helpfulness Heroism Holiness Honesty Honor Hopefulness Hospitality Humility Humor Hygiene

Imagination Impact Impartiality Impeccability Independence Industry Ingenuity Inquisitiveness Insightfulness Inspiration Instinctiveness Integrity Intelligence Intensity Intimacy Intrepidness Introversion Intuition Intuitiveness Inventiveness

Joy Judiciousness Justice

Keenness Kindness Knowledge

Lavishness Leadership Learning Liberation Liberty Liveliness Logic Longevity Love Loyalty

Majesty Mastery Maturity Meekness Mellowness Meticulousness Mindfulness Moderation Modesty Motivation
Mysteriousness

Neatness Nerve

Obedience Open-mindedness Openness Optimism Opulence Order Organization Originality Outlandishness Outrageousness

Passion Peacefulness Perceptiveness Perfection Perseverance Persistence Persuasiveness Philanthropy Piety Playfulness Pleasantness Pleasure Plentiful-ness Poise Polish Popularity Potency Practicality Pragmatism Precision Preeminence Preparedness Presence Privacy Proactivity Proficiency Professionalism Prosperity Prudence Punctuality Purity

Qualification Quietness Quickness

Realism Readiness Reason Recognition Recreation Refinement Reflection Relaxation Reliability Resilience Resolution Resolve Resourcefulness Respect Restfulness Restraint Reverence Richness Rigor

Sacredness Sacrifice Sagacity Saintliness Sanguinity Satisfaction Security Self-control Selflessness Self-realization Self-reliance Sensitivity Sensuality Serenity Service Sexuality Sharing Shrewdness Significance Silence Silliness Simplicity Sincerity Skillfulness Smartness Sophistication Solidarity Solidity Solitude Soundness Speed Spirit Spirituality Spontaneity Stability Stillness Strength Structure Substantiality Success Sufficiency Support Supremacy Surprise Superbness Sympathy Synergy

Tactfulness Teamwork Temperance Thankfulness Thoroughness Thoughtfulness Thrift Tidiness Timeliness Traditionalism Tranquility Transcendence Trust Trustworthiness Truth

Understanding Uniqueness Unity Usefulness Utility

Valor Variety Victory Vigor Virtue
Vision Vitality Vivacity

Warmth Watchfulness Wealth Wholesomeness Willfulness Willingness Winning Wisdom Wittiness Wonder Worthiness

Zeal Zest Zing