Clean Up Your Messes and Incompletes

Jack Canfield's Success Principle #28

Today, Jack addresses the problems that are created by incomplete projects in our lives. All projects include six steps:

1) decide to undertake the project,
2) plan the details,
3) start the work,
4) continue making progress,
5) finish the project, and
6) complete any loose ends.

Most of us fail to complete projects, which might include things such as thanking an employee for a job well-done, sewing a pom-pom on a hat we have knitted, hauling junk to Goodwill after cleaning out the garage, or forgiving the people who have hurt us to bring closure to our relationship. Failing to complete keeps us bound to our past, so that we're not free to fully embrace the present.

I must be the Queen of Incompletes. My garage is stacked from floor to ceiling with totes full of incomplete projects. If I actually sewed all of the fabric, knit all of the yarn, and put all of the photos in albums; I could park my car in the garage.

The Bible calls us to finish our work, just as Jack does. Colossians 4:17 reads, "See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord."

How do we manage all of the messes we have made? Jack offers some really helpful suggestions for getting rid of our incompletes.

Stop wasting your valuable 'attention units.'
We only have so many attention units: spaces in our minds where we must place things to be remembered. When we say yes to too many projects, we have fewer attention units to complete current tasks. As a result, work piles up. Over time, they become totes full of incompletes, like the ones in my garage.

Incompletes usually represent areas in our lives where we're not clear. Or they may indicate emotional or psychological blocks. Incompletes make us uncomfortable, so we avoid them. I realized that I have been avoiding sewing new patches onto an antique quilt, because I'm afraid that the owner will be dissatisfied with my stitching.

I have not brought closure to my relationship with my parents, because I'm unclear whether I have the right to tell them I don't want to see them anymore until they get healthy. Survivors of abuse struggle with the guilt of wishing to move on and feeling tied to their chaotic families.

Get into completion consciousness.
This section really hit home for me: 50 half-completed projects are equal to 20 completed ones. For as along as I can remember, I've had trouble finishing projects.

When I was in second grade, my mother was in the hospital. I wrote her a letter that reads, "Today, I finished all of my yesterday's work at school!"

Abuse and trauma can cause inattention, which lead to incompletes in our lives. The depression of PTSD often gets misdiagnosed as attention deficit disorder. If we are aware of this, we can address the underlying psychological issues that lead to incompletes in the first place.

Practice the 4 Ds of completion.
Jack reviews this common practice that many office managers share with their employees to keep work moving efficiently:

*Do it immediately.
*Delegate it to someone else and ask them to report that it's finished.
*Delay it and get back to it later. (This one gets me into trouble.)
*Dump it into the trash, the Goodwill bin, the garage sale.

By following these four Ds of completion, we can clear out a lot of clutter from our lives.

Make space for something new.
We can't have new things in our lives until we make space for them. This means that we have to clean up our hearts, our minds, and our homes. Jack suggests simple tasks, such as getting rid of clothes we haven't worn in over six months, cleaning out the attic full of useless items, and dumping everything from our 'junk drawer.'

If we're still grieving over a broken relationship, and we want a new one; we must clear the old hurts from our hearts before we can embrace the love of someone new.

Figure out what's irritating you.
As we go through our day, there are little things that annoy us and steal our peace. Jack recommends fixing, replacing, mending, or getting rid of irritants. We can walk through our home, our yard, our office, and even our community to observe what bothers us.

I am irritated by the cracked chimney flue that doesn't allow us to use our fireplace, the broken tiles in Joe's bathroom, and the brush overgrowing a tree in the front yard. These things annoy me the most, because I don't have the funds or the strength to deal with them. I can, however, set aside the money and make plans for someone else to take care of them later. Just listing them and knowing that I have a plan can help reduce the irritation that they cause.

Hire a professional organizer.
If you're seriously buried under mountains of incompletes, Jack suggests hiring a professional organizer. If you can't afford one, ask a friend to help. While I have heaps of incompletes in my own home, I am quite good at organizing other people's messes.

Today's Challenge
Make a list of 25 incompletes in your life that are holding you back from embracing the present. Include household messes, psychological junk, and over-commitments that you need to clear. Set aside a few hours this weekend to deal with three of them.