"If you continue to think the way you always have, you will continue to get what you've always got." —Wise Person
In basketball, a fastbreak is a quick offensive drive toward a goal in an attempt to score before the opponent’s defense is set up.
When it comes to life goals, our FUTURE SELF is on offense—leading the way to achieving big dreams by using clarity and agility.
Our PAST and PRESENT SELF takes the role of defense—blocking shot after shot, putting obstacles in our way, and feeding us negative thoughts to slow us down.
If this sounds familiar, you need a fastbreak…especially when it comes to spring cleaning.
Have you started any spring-cleaning projects?
Maybe like Gretchen, a client of mine, you have the room-by-room checklist printed, but don’t know where to start?
Or like me, you’ve started…like you do every year, but never quite get to cleaning the baseboards or washing the screens?
And this year is shaping up to be another year of unfinished cleaning projects?
Before you start your next cleaning project or beat yourself up for not finishing the last one…
Let’s be honest…at some level, we just don’t want to do it…or least not all the expert-recommended cleaning.
Instead, I like to take a page, and an acronym (I love a good acronym) from the professional organizer Peter Walsh and apply it FIRST to spring cleaning and decluttering our THINKING.
By using the F.A.S.T method for decluttering our thoughts, both Gretchen and I made huge progress with our spring cleaning…in less time…and with less stress and resistance.
F: Fix a time ⏰
Just like cleaning a house, mental decluttering needs a dedicated time.
“Squeezing it in” simply means it’ll never happen…you know I’m right.
Instead, set aside specific times for self-reflection or meditation…make it a routine.
Whether it’s daily or weekly, schedule these periods as non-negotiable appointments with yourself. This scheduled time helps in establishing a routine that facilitates clearer thinking and honest prioritization.
Me? When I got honest with myself, I discovered I really don’t care if the baseboards are cleaned every spring. If I notice one looking grungy in October, I’ll clean it then.
A: Anything not used in 12 months 📆
When it comes to our thoughts and beliefs, we need to apply a little inverted thinking.
If there are old grievances, outdated self-perceptions, or lingering doubts that haven’t served any positive purpose in the last year, it’s time to let them go.
Reflect on your recurring thoughts and ask yourself:
– Is this thought useful to me?
– How long has it been influencing me?
– Will it be beneficial in the future?
– Does it bring any value to my mental and emotional space?
Almost every person I’ve worked with carries self-doubt from childhood. Our early experiences led us to believe we are unworthy of our dreams, not enough/too much, invisible…alone.
Then we spent the last several decades noting all the examples where this was true:
-Dreamt of writing a novel…never make the time to do it? I’m not disciplined enough.
-Tried saving for a mini-vacation…flat tire, refrigerator quit, kids need braces? I don’t deserve a vacation.
-Asked a new acquaintance to lunch…got ghosted? I’m always ignored and will never make new friends…I’m destined to be alone.
What’s the recurring thought lurking in the dark corners of your mind that keeps whispering in your ear? And then, when things don’t go your way…it gets really loud?
Throw that thought out with this week’s trash.
And keep throwing it out!
S: Someone else’s stuff 💩
Often, our minds are cluttered with opinions, expectations, or judgments that belong to others.
It’s important to identify which thoughts are genuinely yours and which are imposed by others. This can include societal expectations or family pressures.
Acknowledge them, analyze their impact on your life, and if they don’t align with your personal values, it’s time to mentally give them back.
Gretchen mentioned how much lighter she felt when she let go of thinking that her value and worth were determined by how clean her house was—a belief she’d adopted from her own mother.
She tossed out that belief and instead, took the four hours originally scheduled on Saturday morning for spring cleaning and turned it into two hours of cleaning. She set a timer and committed to her family that they would go to the park for the other two hours.
Rather than getting in her way, disrupting her cleaning, or creating new messes in their wake, her husband and children offered to help with some small tasks.
She finished 20 minutes early…plenty of time to pack some picnic snacks!
And most importantly, she celebrated being intentional about not passing on this old belief about value to her children.
T: Toss 🗑️
Regularly ‘throw away’ harmful or unnecessary mental content.
This includes negative self-talk, pointless worries, and destructive criticisms.
Use techniques like journaling to ‘toss’ these thoughts out of your mind.
It always amazes me how much lighter I feel when I write down my stinkin’ thinkin’. It slows me down enough to really process its validity AND I don’t pollute someone else’s thinking with my unhealthy thoughts.
Celebrate your mental decluttering progress.
Reward yourself when you successfully overcome or reduce a negative thinking pattern.
Can you catch yourself drifting into thoughts about your dreams not mattering or you’re the only one who struggles with speaking up for yourself?
Write your negative thought on a piece of paper, crumple it up, and toss it in the garbage…make it a game. 🏀
Make the basket…score two points (three for extra distance). Miss the basket…get the rebound and try again…two points for resilience.
Are you thinking this is silly and it really won’t make a difference?
Science says otherwise when it comes to being intentional about our thinking. Try it for one week!
By adapting the FAST method to declutter your mind, you can create a healthier, more focused mental environment, similar to the way you would organize a physical space.
And when you have more mental space…there is room for imagination and BIG dreams.
It’s time for a FAST-break into your spring cleaning…start with your thoughts.
