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  • Writer's pictureKatie Frantz

Change Starts with You

Organizing your home is one thing, but being an organized person is a different story.

There are plenty of people out there who are trying to organize their homes, declutter their lives and become better about putting things away. All of their efforts are great and should be celebrated, but… for most people, over time those efforts diminish and fall back into old habits and clutter build up.

This is why I teach the true core of home organization and it has nothing to do with actual organizing. It has everything to do with what’s happening inside of you!

Have you ever tried losing weight? It’s challenging isn’t it? Do you know why losing weight for most people poses such a challenge? It’s because losing weight has more to do what’s happening with us mentally than what we do with our physical bodies. Exercising and eating healthy is a total mental game and while using our will power to force us to eat better and exercise daily might work for a few weeks or months, if we can’t gain control over what’s going on in our head, over time the weight will most likely be regained and we’ll struggle losing the weight and more importantly, keeping it off.

This is why when people come to me ready to be more organized, I don’t jump into the decluttering and storing process, I first teach them the most essential element to creating true organization in their life, and that’s making change within themselves FIRST, before jumping into the action of organizing.

If clients can learn the tools to create change within their thinking and take action on what’s going on in their head, then their success is not only bound to happen, but it will actually be maintained for their entire lives.

Talk about exciting, right?

Can you imagine being able to lose weight successfully, easily and keep the pounds off for the rest of your life?

This is why I don’t believe in quick fixes, forced will-power motives, or temporary cover-ups.

It just doesn’t last.

It’s not worth it to me to teach surface layer organization. It’s everything to me to teach the core of real change and help people learn how to create change for themselves so that whatever they want to create in their lives, homes or families can and will happen!

Pretty darn amazing!

So, you ready to learn the tool I teach all my clients to create the results they want?

The tool is called “The Model” and it was developed by Master Life Coach, Brooke Castillo and taught to me by Life Coach, Jody Moore. If you have never heard of either of these life coaches, I highly recommend you look them up. They also have fantastic podcasts that are a great resource when learning more about “The Model.” (Podcast Info Below!)

The tool called, “The Model” is a mental exercise we use to help create change within our thoughts, which then helps us create the results we want.

Here’s a handy guide to explain the basics of what “The Model” is and how it works.

To explain further, I’ll break it down for you.

Circumstance:

Now, many of us would consider a circumstance as a situation we’re currently in; I’m married with 4 kids, or I own a House, have a job at … or live in the state of Idaho. They are simple statements of what is, a fact. They also are something that is absolute or something that could be proven in a court of law.

When using the model, the more specific the circumstance, the better. Examples of more specific circumstances in regards to your home could be, “My house is 2,000 square feet in size.” “My 3-year-old daughter knocked over my glass vase and it broke.” “We have 6 boxes of Christmas decorations in our garage.” Make sense? They are just simple facts that are completely neutral and specific.

What is NOT a true circumstance are things like, “I have a terrible car.” “Or My kids are so messy!” Or “My house is cluttered with stuff.” Those are NOT circumstances, because those statements have attached emotions and opinions to them. They can NOT be proven in a court of law, because others may think you have a great car, your kids aren’t that messy and your house doesn’t have that much clutter. Make sense?

Circumstances are always NEUTRAL. Meaning there’s no good or bad, positive or negative attached to it. It’s completely neutral.

Even more severe circumstances like; My house burned down, can still remain a neutral statement. This circumstance may cause emotional reactions or thoughts when we think about it, because we may have opinions about a circumstance like that and what it means to us, but it is still a neutral fact and one that will cause different reactions and thoughts from different people.

Once you have clearly defined your circumstance by making sure it is a neutral, opinion-free, proven in a court of law kind of statement, you can then write it down in the circumstance line of “The Model.”

Thought:

The thought is a simple statement or sentence describing ONE thought that comes to the forefront of your mind when you think of your circumstance. Try to keep it to ONE THOUGHT. I know that can be tough when we have all sorts of thoughts floating around in our head, but to create a clear “Model” make sure you limit your thought to ONE.

If needed, do a brain dump and get all your thoughts on a piece of paper. Then, pick the one thought that stands out to you the most or you feel is the most prominent thought from your brain dump.

*Note: Look for our “Brain Dump” blog article coming this month to explain this exercise further.

For example, if you have a circumstance like, “I have 6 loads of laundry to fold.” You may have a thought like, “I can never keep up with all this laundry” OR “I hate folding laundry.” Or you may react with a positive thought like, “I love to fold laundry while watching my favorite TV show.”

Keep it simple and write down that one thought you have when you think about your circumstance.

Feeling:

Similar to our “Thoughts” line, you will just pick ONE FEELING you’re experiencing when you think of the thought you wrote down in your model.

*NOTE: If you need help, take a look at our “Feeling Your Feelings” blog post on our Tidy Tips page for some helpful guidelines and resources.

As you can probably begin to see, the model works in a chain effect kind of way as you work yourself down it.

Action:

Action is how you react to the feelings you are having. Sometimes and for many of us, action can also mean “inaction.” Doing nothing is still an action. Writing down your action to your feeling may take some extra thought and it may surprise you how we react when we think and feel certain things.

Once again, try to avoid listing different actions, try to just pick the main action you do in regards to the feeling you’re feeling.

Result:

Lastly is the result line. it is the last part of the model and is where you write down the ultimate result that came from the action you did.

Sometimes a result can mean no change, or nothing resulted. Sometimes we can’t even really understand what the result is at the time, which is why it helps to sit and dump all your thoughts onto paper so you can pin point the central result from your model.

Interestingly, our results are almost always a reflection of our thoughts, which is why we show an arrow going from our thoughts line to our results line. It’s like the saying goes, “What you think, is what you are.” This shows how powerful our thoughts really are and what actions we take or don’t take because of those thoughts.

Now, some of you may think this model is somewhat odd, and even a little out of your element, but I want you to know that when clients incorporate this tool into how they organize their lives and make changes, it truly is unbelievable how significant this tool is in their overall success moving forward.

This is why it’s the very first element I teach in our Online Organization Program and why it makes such a difference when helping clients create lasting, unbelievable changes in their lives.

It changes who you are inside and reflects those changes in your home, personal and family life.

Do I use this tool for myself? You betcha! In fact, I do “The Model” at least once a day and it has become such a key in my life, that if I ever find myself feeling overwhelmed, stuck, frustrated or indecisive, I whip out a piece of paper and write it all down.

The Model helps us see what’s really going on inside and how we can change anything we want, no matter what circumstances come our way!

I told you it is pretty darn powerful.

Stay tuned this month for videos, handouts and loads of examples I’ll share to teach you more about the Model and how to start using it in your daily life and as you learn to become an organized person.

Follow us on Social Media, subscribe to our Tidy Tip Tuesday emails and get ready to transform your life with this amazing tool!

Change is within you, my friend! Get ready for changes that last!

-Katie

For more Information about Master Life Coaches Brooke Castillo and Jody Moore, check out their Podcasts, “The Life Coach School” and “Better Than Happy”

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