The Book That Changed My Life -- Do The Clearing

Book Description, as posted on Amazon:

"Whether it was through luck, serendipity, or some sort of divine intervention, you’ve found yourself here. Where is here? Here is where you take the life you’ve been living and turn it into the one you really want. Do the Clearing is your restart. It’s your chance to make important changes, to make things right, even to reinvent yourself completely. In these pages, John guides you through the 7 steps he uses with his clients to finding, and then letting go of, what’s holding you back. He shows you how to use your surroundings to gain an advantage and how to take the events from your past that have been pushing you toward failure and give them new endings that will inspire you to succeed."

About The Author, John Benz: 
"John went to his first Weight Watchers meeting when he was five years old. Thirty years later, he discovered a process that helped people lose weight and live happier lives like nothing he'd experienced before, a process he would eventually detail in his book, Do the Clearing. Today, John is a triathlete and IDPA Marksman, devoted to his clients, his dogs, and finding the best greasy spoon in whatever town he’s in. He spends most of his time coaching, writing, speaking, and traveling the country helping people do the Clearing." -Amazon Page

I read this book several months ago and continue to have an increasing appreciation for the author's system as times goes on.



Before I dive into my review on this book, let me just say that you do not have to be a minimalist to adopt or appreciate or even utilize and adore the system John Benz tells us about in Do The Clearing.

...The author's approach is incredible. 


The way the book is written makes it feel almost like having a one-on-one coaching session with an expert who seems very genuine. A gimmick-free self-help book that has had a lasting impact on me in so many areas of my life that I find myself incorporating his powerful techniques in more and more new ways, even all these months later.

The author knows how to deliver his message and self-help techniques in a way that will stay with a person for a lifetime, and in many areas of life. I felt like Benz's method and way of getting his message through were extremely well-laid out, professional, and simple enough that anybody can follow and apply the techniques in their everyday life.

I have to admit, it took some time for the authors' teachings to really resonate with me on the level that was intended. That's because as a person who tends to have a lot of... stuff  -- because I *might* need this old, outdated remote for a TV that I don't even have, or plan to have, in the future -- part of me was resisting the strong message to get rid of so much of my belongings.

In fact, even after all these months, I'm still learning. I found myself really resonating with his message just a couple of weeks ago when I looked around my bedroom and felt such a dreadful, overwhelming feeling at all the stuff. I mean, a lot of my stuff I *need.* Basically living out of my bedroom, which is pretty much what I'm doing at the moment,  is hard, so it's been difficult to honestly figure out what items should be gotten rid of. As someone who's accumulated a lot of stuff that I keep because either 1. it's too useful to just throw out (but not so useful that I'm actually using it), and 2. it's something I can't just give away for various reasons. For example, a huge box of various supplements I've accumulated but never finished. You can't give an open bottle of weight-loss pills to away, you can't donate them to charity, but it feels so wasteful to throw them away.

That type of situation has been very typical for me in this lifetime journey of really figuring out if you need every item you've accumulated.

A couple of weeks ago, long after I'd read this book and even forgotten about it for a short while, the message hit me and resonated with me stronger than ever.

That's what I like about the author's awesome approach and technique here. For the rest of my life, I'll likely have these moments where the message comes back to me and reminds me that I have to do something about the items I accumulate over time.

It's so easy to stash random objects that are, like I said, useful enough that you don't want to toss them, but not so useful that you find yourself using them on a regular basis.

But there comes a point where the author's words are such pure truth that you look at your accumulated stashes and think "yep, it's time." I had a kind of realization where I asked myself 'why keep any of this stuff that I've never even touched since I first got it? It genuinely felt bad when I saw it cluttering up my space, so what excuse could possibly justify keeping anything that doesn't feel good?'

The overall message the author is so perfectly portraying is that what we surround ourselves with, especially the objects and "stuff" that lives alongside us does have an impact on us. Our happiness, even things you'd never even think of -- such as weight! Or feeling insecure, or not being able to lose weight, or over-eating, etc.  For the first time ever, we're learning (thanks to John Benz) that the things we spend the most of our time with do impact so many aspects of our lives, including parts that are holding us back or keeping us unhappy.

I have to give him credit for this genuis discovery because this never would've occurred to me, but I'm finding (although somewhat reluctantly at first,) that his words are true.

We need to declutter our lives and really get honest with ourselves about the types of emotional responses we're picking up over the things we live with.

I'll admit that at first, I found it tough to relate something like a mirror hanging on the wall to something like being obese.

Benz not only tells the reader how this whole thing works and how to improve your life by using techniques to create a space that actually gives you power and happiness, but also shows you real instances through examples and stories of other people who took on this journey.

You'll find dozens of useful accounts of different people who Benz coached, some who were open to the ideas and techniques and improved their lives immensely as well as some who completely walked out on him when he mentioned the "Do the Clearing" idea/technique, then ended up resonating with it in such a positive way that they went back to him to share their life-changes.

As other readers of this book have said, once you are able to do some "clearing" of the items in your household that you know are holding you back, or contain something negative about them, it is quite freeing and empowering.

The only tough thing about this is actually finding it within you to apply the "clearing." It can be hard. It can feel impossible. You can even think hell no, I'm not getting rid of anything I own. But you'll definitely find yourself giving it thought.

If you're anything like me, every time you look at any object in your house, you'll ask yourself 'how do I feel when I see that?'

Answering the question can be a little confusing. There will likely be some items (or if you're like me, many) that you'll need to ponder on for some time, and that's okay. I've learned for myself that if it feels bad to put it in the trash, then that's probably an important sign to pay attention to as well.

I've allowed myself to ponder. To get certain before making the decision to completely toss something that felt important or that didn't feel thrilling and good to get rid of.

A little technique I've been using that seems to be helping me along immensely is going through my objects (especially stuff I've got stuffed in the closet or under the bed), and when I come to one that I simply can't decide on, or it doesn't feel "right" to just toss it, I'll set the object(s) out on my dresser or counter for a week or so. I make sure to place it somewhere I'll have to look at it multiple times a day, and each time I see it, I pay attention to how I feel about it. Is it cramping up my space enough that it's just downright irritating at this point? Can I move it somewhere else and enjoy it? If both of those fail, then I feel comfortable in my decision to get rid of it.

That's just one small additional technique that has helped me to really decide on many items that I simply couldn't get an answer to when asking "does this dolphin lamp make me feel powerful?"

This is not something you'll complete in one night, or probably even one week unless you're a minimalist, then it'll be pretty easy probably.

This is something you'll likely use for the rest of your life. Every time you look at your junk drawer, or see the stash of old electronics hanging around under your bed (or wherever you keep them.)

If you're like me and tend to have to really be convinced that you're better off (and that it IS OKAY) to let it go, then you may even need to take time before you can really answer whether or not some items are worth keeping or are holding you back in any way.

Once that really kicked in for me, I found it so easy (and thrilling) to fill up an entire trash bag!

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