Clear the clutter, create opportunity
By Melissa Winter
Clutter has a way of sneaking into every part of our lives. Sometimes it’s physical, such as a closet overflowing with clothes, a desk buried in papers, or boxes stacked in the garage. Other times it’s less visible: too many priorities competing for our attention, unfinished projects weighing on our minds, or habits that no longer serve us.
As coaches, we often discover that growth doesn’t come from adding something new, but rather, comes from removing what’s getting in the way. A recent Buffini mailer about decluttering got me thinking about how often this shows up in coaching conversations.
Here are three areas where clearing the clutter can create space for new opportunities.
1. Closet Clutter: Dress for the Professional You Want to Be
Do you have a closet full of clothes you haven’t worn in years? Maybe every so often you tell yourself, “I really need to clean this out.” But then you hold up a shirt or jacket and think, “I might wear this someday,” and before you know it, everything goes right back to where it was.
As you sort through your closet, here’s another question to ask yourself: Which of these clothes represent the business professional I want to be today?
I remember one client telling me he decided to stop wearing sweatpants and flip-flops when picking up his kids from school. Instead, he started showing up in dress slacks, a button-down shirt, and sometimes even a sport coat with his business name badge.
The change wasn’t really about the clothes.
Because he felt more professional, he stopped sitting in his car during pickup and started introducing himself to other parents. Before long, he was adding new contacts to his database, building relationships, and eventually earning business from those conversations.
Sometimes a small change in how you show up leads to a much bigger change in how you engage with the opportunities around you.
2. Declutter Your Thinking
Walk into your office for a moment and really look around. Is your desk covered with stacks of paper? Are books, notebooks, and ideas scattered everywhere? Maybe you’ve been meaning to organize it, but it never seems urgent enough to make the list.
Sometimes physical clutter is simply a symptom of something deeper. As coaches, we often discover that what’s really holding someone back isn’t a messy office; it’s a cluttered mind.
I worked with one client who couldn’t seem to break through to the next level in his business. As we talked, he kept mentioning the piles of papers around his office and how his perfectionism left him feeling paralyzed instead of productive.
I asked him a simple question: Who in your office is already producing at the level you’re working toward? What’s one thing about their workspace that you could emulate?
By our next coaching call, he’d hung new shelving, added a bookshelf, and created a dedicated place for the Buffini workbooks he’d collected over the years, so he could actually use them instead of letting them gather dust.
But the shelves weren’t what changed his business.
The real breakthrough came when he stopped trying to create the perfect system and started learning from people who had already achieved what he wanted. He connected with other Buffini Members, sought their advice, simplified his approach, and focused on consistent action instead of perfection.
That year, he had his best year ever!
Sometimes the biggest clutter we need to clear isn’t on our desk. It’s in our thinking.
3. Boxes in the Garage: Put Your Tools to Work
Have you ever stocked up on Pop-Bys because they were a great deal…only to leave them boxed up in the garage?
Here’s the thing: those Pop-Bys aren’t making you any money sitting in storage. You need to actually deliver them. You’ve already invested in those resources. Now it’s time to put them to work.
I once had a client tell me she walked into her office break room and found a stack of Buffini notecards sitting on a table with a sticky note that simply read, “FREE.” She smiled and took them.
This was someone who faithfully wrote her notes every month and consistently sold around 50 homes a year during the peak of her career. She didn’t see those notecards as a burden. She saw them as an opportunity.
I’ll never forget her telling me, “Where someone else gave up, I’m going to make money.” And she did.
More than 20 years later, she’s downshifting into retirement while still receiving referral income because she consistently invested in relationships throughout her career.
Create Space for What Matters Most
The goal isn’t simply to have a cleaner closet or a more organized office. It’s to create space for better habits, stronger relationships, clearer thinking, and more consistent action.
Whether you’re clearing out your workspace, simplifying your mindset, or finally putting the marketing tools you’ve already invested in to use, remember this: every piece of clutter you remove creates room for something more valuable.
Pick one area to focus on this month, share it with your Coach, and ask them to help keep you accountable. Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs don’t come from adding more: they come from clearing away what no longer belongs.
Are you feeling overwhelmed with mental clutter and don’t know what to do next? Sign up for a free business consultation to turn that clutter into clarity. You’ll get clear on your vision, discover what’s holding you back, see what’s working well for people just like you, and get action steps to move forward. Schedule your business consultation today.
