MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors

Real Simple spoke to three organizing pros about what you should always declutter, versus those you should be intentional about keeping.

1. Papers & Documents:
   • Always Declutter: Manuals for appliances and electronics should be decluttered as they are readily available online.
   • Never Declutter: Keep important documents like birth certificates, social security cards, and legal documents, filing them away for safekeeping. Consider keeping them in a small fireproof safe.
2. Kitchen Supplies:
   • Always Declutter: That weirdly-shaped wine glass you never use? That can go. Discard or donate unused kitchen gadgets and duplicate items.
   • Never Declutter: Hold onto any item that is used regularly, as well as some of the seasonal items, like turkey basters.
3. Household Paper Products:
   • Never Declutter: Non-perishable items like toilet paper and paper towels do not need to be decluttered, even if bought in excess. They can be stored effectively.
4. Sentimental Items:
   • Always Declutter: Is the area under your bathroom sink a complete disaster? Dispose of tiny hotel toiletries and samples that are so rarely used. Remember, they have expiration dates!
   • Never Declutter: Keep half-full bottles of regularly used toiletries and products. You never know when you will run out of your current shampoo or get the urge to switch back to previous routines.
5. Toiletries:
   • Always Declutter: Is the area under your bathroom sink a complete disaster? Dispose of tiny hotel toiletries and samples that are so rarely used. Remember, they have expiration dates!
   • Never Declutter: Keep half-full bottles of regularly used toiletries and products. You never know when you will run out of your current shampoo or get the urge to switch back to previous routines.
6. Duplicates of Useful Tools:
   • Never Declutter: There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to find the scissors or measuring tape. Maintain duplicates of items like these in different areas of your home for convenience- and save yourself that hated “now where did I put the __?” frustration.
7. Clothing:
   • Always Declutter: Donate clothing that no longer fits or hasn’t been worn in a year. Give stained or damaged clothes to a textile recycling company or organization so they don’t end up in a landfill.
   • Never Declutter: Keep well-made, classic pieces like a quality trench coat or loafers, as they are likely to be useful in the future. You never know what might come back into style, so keep quality pieces of clothing around.

Author and financial planner Tom Corley has spent years studying hundreds of wealthy people. One common denominator between them is that wealthy people cultivate “rich relationships,” spending time with people who are fulfilled, driven, happy, and successful. He provides some tips for taking account of your existing relationships, and for striving to bring more rich relationships into your life.

1. Make a List: Create a comprehensive list of your relationships. Utilize a notepad to record all individuals, such as mom, brother, best friend, and co-worker.
2. Identify Influence Relationships: Assess the amount of time spent with each person. Designate those exceeding one hour a week as “influence relationships,” which can exert either a positive or negative impact on you.
3. Score Your Relationships: Assign a plus sign to names representing enriching relationships and a minus sign to those indicating less productive connections in a third column.
4. Tip the Seesaw: Develop a plan to minimize the time spent with relationships that lack enrichment to less than one hour a week. Simultaneously, increase the time dedicated to nurturing enriching relationships to more than an hour a week.
5. Find More Enriching Relationships: Compile a list of individuals falling into the enriching relationship category, whether known or unknown. Join networking, civic, or nonprofit groups to expand your social circle.
6. Initiate Casual Connections: Connect with people by inviting them for coffee or a drink. These informal gatherings are remarkably effective in fostering the growth of your relationships.

Our habits are building blocks of our identities. So: to make a new habit stick, we have to make it a part of who we are.

1. 1. Goals such as “I want to lose 20 pounds” or “I want to squat 300 pounds” are not identity-based goals. They are outcome-based goals, which provide an easier path to disappointment.
   2. Changing your beliefs isn’t nearly as hard as you might think. There are two steps: First, decide the type of person you want to be. Second, prove it to yourself with small wins. Incremental changes provide a feeling of momentum and growth.
   3. Choosing that new identity takes careful calculation. The power of choosing a new identity holds at any level—as an individual, as a team, as a community, as a nation. What do you want to stand for? What are your principles and values? Who do you wish to become?
   4. For instance, say you want to lose weight. Change your identity to be someone who moves more, every day. Achieve the small wins of buying a pedometer, then walking an extra 100 steps per day. Then 200. Continue ratcheting up.
   5. The identity-based habit approach forces you to become the type of person who can achieve the things you want to achieve. The identity comes first– the results can come later.