I have had way too many clients tell me this exact same thing. Before reaching me at my company, they had contacted another “De-cluttering” company out there to get information. By the time they contact me, they are at their wit’s end.

When someone gets up the courage and strength to reach out for assistance in their crippling situation, they have already hit a “rock bottom” of sorts. Either they find that their relationships are in jeopardy, their health is failing, or other areas of their life have hit a wall.

The last thing one needs is to be literally told, “We completely understand. People who have clutter in their environments are sick. You have a disease that needs to be treated.”

This angers me to no end. Yes, there are a percentage of clinically depressed or chemically imbalanced people out there who also happen to collect stuff or have clutter in their environments.

But, the MAJORITY of my clients are very strong, healthy, successful people who are completely free of all medical conditions.

The MAJORITY of my clients are those people you spot in a grocery store, or on the street, that appear polished, confident, exuberant, strong, and free of all life-issues. You know exactly what type of people I am referring to. They are business owners, company management, CEOs, Lawyers, Dentists, Police Officers, and the list could go on forever. The key here is that my clients have all perfected their “outside world mask” that they dust off and put on every day when they venture out of their hell. After much practice and refining the act, they are able to pull of this facade in any situation.

For the most part, acquiring extensive amounts of “stuff” is purely a habit in life that we have formed in order to fulfill something deeper. ALL of my clients, by the time they reach out to me for my services, INTELLECTUALLY KNOW that the state of their environment is not right or healthy. By the time they contact me, they mostly also KNOW and can identify all of their AVOIDANCE behaviours that they have adopted along the way. But, because this has been life as they know it for quite some time, they are at a loss for where to start in eliminating the problem.

Does this last paragraph resonate with you at all? Sound familiar at all? I like to equate the habit of accumulating “stuff” to a habit of smoking cigarettes, over-eating, doing drugs, shoplifting, or drinking alcohol. The list goes on here as well. But, when a person finally comes to the realization that a particular habit has robbed them of TOO MANY valuable things in their lives, and threatens to rob them of more, this is the moment that they have hit their “rock-bottom”. This is the moment that they decide to reach out and admit they need help conquering their habit.

If at any time, you ask a cigarette smoker if they believe that continuing to smoke is good for them, they simply CANNOT and WILL NOT honestly answer, “Yes”. But, do we automatically tell all cigarette smokers that they have a chemical imbalance or a serious disease? Not at all. Why? Because this is ludicrous!