They are surrounded only by the things they love.
A person’s awareness and perspective on his or her own lifestyle are far more important than any skill at sorting, storing, or whatever. Order is dependent on the extremely personal values of what a person wants to live with.
People cannot change their habits without first changing their way of thinking.
The ultimate secret of success is this: If you tidy up in one shot, rather than little by little, you can dramatically change your mind-set.
Once the exam has ended, the passion poured into cleaning the previous night dissipates and life returns to normal. All thought of tidying is wiped from the person’s mind. Why? Because the problem faced - that is, the need to study for the exam - has been “tidied away.”
This doesn’t mean that tidying your room will actually calm your troubled mind. While it may help you feel refreshed temporarily, the relief won’t last because you haven’t addressed the true cause of your anxiety. If you let the temporary relief achieved by tidying up your physical space deceive you, you will never recognize the need to clean up your psychological space.
A messy room equals a messy mind.
Visible mess helps distract us from the true source of the disorder. The act of cluttering is really an instinctive reflex that draws our attention away from the heart of an issue.
When your room is clean and uncluttered, you have no choice but to examine your inner state. You can see any issues you have been avoiding and are forced to deal with them. From the moment you start tidying, you will be compelled to reset your life.
Tidying is just a tool, not the final destination. The true goal should be establish the lifestyle you want most once your house has been put in order.
Putting things away creates the illusion that the clutter problem has been solved.
We should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of.
The best way to choose what to keep is to take each item in one’s hand and ask: “Does this spark joy?”
Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest.
Think in terms of category, not place.
In the end, all that will remain are the things that you really treasure.
To truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose.
The same goes for pajamas. If you are a woman, try wearing something elegant as nightwear. The worst thing you can do is to wear a sloppy sweat suit. I occasionally meet people who dress like this all the time, whether waking or sleeping. If sweatpants are your everyday attire, you’ll end up looking like you belong in them, which is not very attractive. What you wear in the house does impact your self-image.
Like clothes or any other belongings, books that have been left untouched on the shelf for a long time are dormant. Or perhaps I should say they’re “invisible.” Although in plain sight, they remain unseen.
“Sometime” means “never”
In the end, you are going to read very few of your books again.
My idea was to copy the sentences that inspired me into a notebook. Over time, I thought, this would become a personal collection of my favourite words of wisdom.
The moment you first encounter a particular book is the right time to read it.
My basic principle for sorting papers is to throw them all away.
When you attend a seminar, do so with the resolve to part with every handout distributed. It’s paradoxical, but I believe that precisely because we hang on to such materials, we fail to put what we learn into practice.
Transform your closet into your own private space, one that gives you a thrill of pleasure.
Your living space affects your body.
When we essentially “detox” our house, it has a detox effect on our bodies as well.
Your real life begins after putting your house in order.
Human beings can only truly cherish a limited number of things at one time.