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Introduction

So, you're fed up with your cluttered house and have finally decided enough is enough. You're sick of the mad morning rushes to find backpacks, boots, or an item of clothing you'd planned to wear. You are cleaning because there's just so much clutter to dust under and around - or sometimes skip altogether. More importantly, despite all your diligent cleaning, you still end up feeling exhausted and frustrated because the house still looks messy and not very clean.

You long to open a drawer or cupboard and instantly find what you need. Your dream is modest; you don’t want a picture-perfect home, just a neat, tidy space where everything has its place and where there's a place for everything. You want some sanity in the madness of your cluttered home.

Decluttering your home is your only option. This is not to be confused with reorganizing or spring cleaning. You will just end up moving clutter from one place to another or dispersing it around. Your home doesn't need a good spring cleaning, it needs is a good decluttering - and understandably, you don’t know where to start.

This 7-day challenge will walk you through the process of thoroughly decluttering every room in your home in a few simple steps. A word of warning, however - it's not going to be effortless, so be prepared for some hard work and some tough decision-making, especially if you are attached to your "stuff". But the end result will be a totally transformed home and a tremendous feeling of relief and pride.

Decluttering your home goes far beyond having a sparkling streamlined home that's easy to maintain and clean. It's about making your life easier and more comfortable and ultimately, creating a warm and inviting haven for you and your family. This is a reward that is well worth the effort.

Chapter 1 – Why Less is More

In addition to the immediate benefit of having a tidier and nicer-looking home, decluttering has other powerful benefits, some of which go beyond the tangible.

It declutters the mind. Our minds are constantly processing everything around us even if we aren't aware of it. Clutter and mess cause the brain to go into overdrive, processing all the forms, shapes and colors in a space, often leaving us feeling drained and tense. After you declutter, you will notice that you feel calmer and happier in your space because your mind is calmer.

Decluttering relieves stress. Naturally, a decluttered mind will mean lower stress levels. In fact, a study carried out at UCLA found that families who lived in cluttered homes had higher levels of stress and tended to have more confrontations. In other words, decluttering is a great stress-buster!

3. Decluttering saves money. Once you experience the peace of mind that comes with a neat, decluttered home, you will be inclined to make wiser buying decisions to avoid bringing new clutter into your space. You will buy only what you really need - and plan beforehand where the item will go in your home and if you really have room for it. You will actually be amazed at how much money you were spending on things you didn't really need. Getting rid of duplicate gadgets and appliances that are just taking up space will also save money on maintenance and upkeep.

4. It makes cleaning easier. This is a no-brainer. Less stuff makes for easier cleaning and less time spent on cleaning. Your home will also stay cleaner longer because there's less clutter to gather dust.

5. Decluttering frees up time. Less cleaning and maintenance means you have more time to spend on things that bring you real value and enrichment, such as spending more time with family and friends, pursuing causes you are passionate about or spending more time outdoors.

6. It transforms your mindset. When you step inside your door into your neat, sparkling home and experience the peace and tranquility it brings you, you will reflect on your lifestyle. You will begin to realize that our crazy, consumer-driven culture does not bring us happiness after all. A simpler lifestyle with fewer possessions will allow you to focus on the truly valuable things in life like family, friendship, travel, and improving your mind. These are the things that bring happiness and contentment.

The bottom line is that decluttering has a profound effect on your overall wellbeing. So, with all these benefits in mind, let's roll up our sleeves and jump into the 7-day decluttering challenge!

Chapter 2 – Days 1- 4

Decluttering Key Rooms

The first four days of the challenge involve a major decluttering of the rooms that are used most often in the home. Once you have done this, you will have completed half the challenge. Remember, the goal is to declutter and not to organize or rearrange. That will come later.

Day 1: Declutter Bedrooms • Head for the closets! The rule here is that anything that hasn’t been worn in 6 – 12 months simply has to go. The same applies to things that don’t fit well and duplicate items of clothing. Keep only the clothes that you currently wear, including shoes, handbags, belts, and other accessories.

Sort the clothes into three boxes: those that need to be thrown out altogether, those that can be donated and those that you absolutely want to keep but store away (these are things that have sentimental value like a wedding dress or a sweater your grandmother knitted for you years ago but of course, you never wore).

• Do the same for all drawers and shelves in the bedrooms. Get rid of books, gadgets and knickknacks that are just sitting there gathering dust. Sort them in boxes to be donated or stored later.

• Tackle the nightstands, which always tend to be cluttered with tissue boxes, phones, medicine and other junk. Declutter and place these things in the drawer, where they are still close at hand but out of sight. Nightstands should be bare except for a bedside lamp.

• If you have a vanity table, get rid of items like unused hairbrushes, perfume bottles and accessories you never wear. Keep only the things you use on a daily or regular basis.

• Sort toys in your kids' bedrooms keeping only the ones your kids play with often. Get rid of old stuffed toys unless they have a sentimental value, games your children have outgrown, broken toys like Barbie dolls without arms, deflated balls and that old Barney doll the dog chewed up. A colorful touch is a great way to keep all your kids' toys close at hand but out of sight when not used.

• Another great way to declutter a child's bedroom is to enlist the help of your kids in a fun game, where they choose four or five of their favorite toys to keep in their rooms and store everything else away in a hall closet. These toys can later be replaced with five new ones from the storage closet when the kids get bored with the ones they have.

• Get your family involved in this part of the challenge, including your spouse or partner. They should be responsible for deciding what items of clothing they want to keep (while applying the 6 – 10 rule) and get rid of the rest. That way, you will avoid blame of throwing out a favorite sweater or shirt.

• Be firm and don't waver. Get rid of everything you don't need. Don’t argue with yourself that the green evening dress is still in fashion and may come in handy on a special occasion - just ditch it. You can always buy a nicer one if that future special occasion does come up.

• Again, toys and items of clothing with sentimental value that you absolutely can't part with can be stored away but should not be cluttering your closets and drawers.

When you are done, all closets drawers and shelves should contain at least half of what was in/on them before. Mission accomplished!

Day 2: Declutter your kitchen

Brace yourself. You’re going to be absolutely astonished at all the stuff you will find stashed away in your kitchen cupboards, totally forgotten! You'll probably find stuff you bought and never used as well; pasta machines, mini-blenders and other gadgets you thought would make your life so much easier when you bought them.

• Again, apply the trusty 6 – 12-month rule here with no buts, while going through every cupboard and drawer in your kitchen. Get rid of everything you have not used within that timeframe. The likelihood that you will ever use it or that it's necessary for your kitchen is almost nil.

• Keep only the essentials. You don’t need 10 spatulas, 6 baking dishes and 30 mugs if your family consists of 4 people. Keep only the items you need to keep your kitchen functioning and ditch the rest.

• Get rid of duplicate gadgets and appliances. For example, if you have a multi-purpose kitchen machine, it can serve as a blender, juicer, mixer and food chopper, so you can get rid of other similar gadgets.

• Place working appliances and other sorted items in boxes. They can be donated or sold in a garage sale to make you some extra cash.

• Go through spices, canned goods and other food items and throw out anything that has expired. If you have a pantry, declutter that as well and place all food items in it to make room in your cupboards.

• Declutter your countertops by placing items on them in your now-emptied cupboards. Your countertops should be bare except for the things you use every day like a coffee machine, kettle, fruit bowl or blender.

• Group utensils and cutlery in drawers where they are easy to find.

• Get rid of chipped and cracked plates and glasses, stained pots and rusty utensils.

• Separate pots from pans and sort them in different cupboards. Make sure you match everything with its proper lid.

• Sort essential plastic containers and make sure each has a matching lid.

When you are done, your drawers and cupboards should contain much less than they did before and countertops should be bare except for essential appliances and items.

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It is relatively easy to start an online business. But of you don’t approach this in the right way you will never be successful. Many people that start an online business give up on it in a very short time. We do not want you to do the same.

In this powerful report we will identify the 7 mistakes that you need to avoid with your online business.

When you avoid these mistakes you will have a much greater chance of making your online business a success.

Most people that start an online business do it out of curiosity. They have seen many wild claims about how they can make a fortune with just a few clicks of their mouse so they get themselves a domain name and some hosting and play around.

They follow the methods outlined in some training program that promises them the world. Claims of instant traffic and all this kind of BS. When the reality sets in that there is no such thing as making a fortune in their underwear by clicking their mouse, and using “miracle software” they lose interest rapidly and quit.

The thing is that it costs very little to get started with an online business. A domain name is around $10 a year and web hosting $10 a month. If you install the WordPress blogging platform then you can set up a website for free. So with so little invested it is no wonder that so many people give up when they realize that it is not as easy as they think.

If you don’t treat your online business as a proper business then you are much more likely to fail. You do not have to invest a lot of money but you do need to make an emotional investment in your online business.

Setting up an online business is relatively easy – making it a success is not. It doesn’t matter what others tell you there is work involved to create a robust and sustainable online business. You will need to invest in tools like an autoresponder service to make it work properly.

You need to believe that you are creating an asset. The website that you build is your asset. As an exit strategy you can sell your website to an interested party for a considerable sum. When your online business is successful and making regular income there will be a lot of people interested in buying it if that is what you want to do.

To create a successful online business you need to work on it every day. Forget all the nonsense about miracle software. You need to learn to do the right things and get the word out about your online business all of the time.

If your online business is just a hobby or a fad to you then your chances of success go way down.

Imagine that you invested your life savings into a brick and mortar shop in the local mall. Would you treat that as a hobby or a fad? No you wouldn’t – so imagine that you have invested your life savings in your online business.

There are going to be days when things go wrong with your online business. Something will stop working or the campaigns that you are running are not delivering the results that you want. You need the resilience and commitment to overcome these problems and carry on. Treating your online business as a real business will help you to do that.

How many people that start an online business do you think create a plan for their business? The answer is very few. Nobody knows how many online businesses fail every year but it will be a lot. Most new online business owners do not set goals or create any kind of plan. They are then surprised when it all fails.

If you are going to start a n online business then set a goal for it. The easiest goal to set is a financial goal. Think about how much you want your online business to generate in the first 12 months and then turn that into your financial goal.

You are probably starting an online business because you believe that it can provide you with the freedom that you crave. This is fine and a successful online business can provide you with freedom. No more working a dead end job and commuting for hours.

Your online business has the potential to make you a lot of money. The only thing standing in the way is you. So use the SMART goal setting process to set your goals. If you are not familiar with this process here is what it means:

Specific – your goal must be specific e.g. my online business will generate $100,000 in the next year

Measurable – you must be able to measure how you are progressing with your goal. Fortunately there are a lot of tools available to measure the success of your online business

Achievable – forget the hype here. It is extremely unlikely that you will make a million dollars in your first year. Not impossible though

Realistic – think about the time that you have available and other resources such as money

Timed – you must add a time to your goal such as 1 year. Open ended goals are useless

After you have set your goal you need to create a plan to achieve it. What you want to end up with is a daily set of tasks that you can work on to move you closer to your goal. So think about the macro tasks of your plan and then break these down into daily micro tasks.

A simple plan would be:

Decide on the niche and online business model

Setup website

Add content

Find offers to promote

Promote

Of course these are high level activities and there would be sub tasks involved to achieve them. You can start today by deciding on the niche that you want to enter for example. Write your goals and plans down and carry them with you wherever you go.

You need to carefully consider the niche that you choose for your online business. If you get this wrong then you can spend a great deal of time, effort and money and not get much in return. There are thousands of niches but not all of them are a good fit for an online business.

In a lot of guides about setting up an online business they will tell you to follow your passions. There is good intention behind this. If you start an online business with a niche that you are passionate about then you will be more motivated to make it work.

That is all very well if the niche you are passionate about has the potential to make you a lot of money.

You may well be passionate about sheep shearing in the Outback, but how many other people are going to be?

There are two things that you need to look for when choosing a niche:

Is there demand?

Is there money in the niche?

If the answer to either of these questions is “no” then you need to find another niche. You can check the demand for a niche by using the free Google Keyword Planner. Just enter in some seed keywords that relate to your niche e.g. “drone photography” and see how many searches this and similar terms receive each month. The higher the number of searches the better.

To see if there is money in the niche use a seed keyword and perform a search in Google. Are there a lot of ads on the first page of the search results? If there are then this is a good indicator that there is money to be made.

You can also use a website called OfferVault.com and search for available offers using your seed keyword. If there are a lot then you are probably on a winner. There are some niches where you just know there will be a ton of demand and many opportunities to make money. In our opinion the top 3 are:

Health and fitness – weight loss etc

Wealth creation – make money online, investing etc

Personal development – better relationships, meeting boys/girls, self improvement etc

If you are in any doubt about choosing the right niche - go where the money is. Don’t worry if you are not an expert in the niche right now. You can learn and master it. It is better to do this than choose the wrong niche that you are an expert in and passionate about.

There are a number of different online business models that you can choose from. Some examples of this are:

- Affiliate marketing

- CPA marketing

- Selling your own products and services

- Freelance services

- Dropshipping

- Dropservicing

- Amazon FBA

- Your own ecommerce store

- Self publishing

It is critical that you choose the right online business model that suits your circumstances. To open your own ecommerce store or participate in Amazon FBA you will need to invest some money to purchase stock to sell. Do you have this money available? If not then you could borrow it but you are taking a risk here.

If you do not have a lot of time available then creating and selling your own products and services is going to be tough. You can outsource the creation of products but you will need to spend a fair bit of money doing this.

Do you have a particular skill that is in demand? Here are some freelance services that are always in demand:

- SEO optimized content writing

- Copywriting

- Graphic design (logos etc)

- Programming

- Web design and development

- Creating mobile applications

- Search engine optimization

- Social media marketing

If you have any of these skills then you can market them and make good money online. You will need to be disciplined if you are going to do this as your customers will expect work of the highest quality delivered on time.

Probably the easiest online business to get started with is affiliate marketing. If you don’t know what this is the concept is simple. There are a lot of product vendors out there that will pay you a commission for promoting and recommending their products.

All you have to do is to sign up to their affiliate program and then drive targeted traffic to the offer. Each time that someone makes a purchase using your affiliate link, you will earn a commission from the product vendor.

You can promote physical products or digital products. Physical products are an easier sell but the commissions tend to be low. It is harder to sell digital products but the commissions are usually much higher.

There are affiliate networks that you can use to find offers to promote. If you are interested in physical products then you could join the Amazon Associates Program. You can find thousands of products to promote but you will only make around 3% to 5% commissions.

If you go for digital products then you can join Clickbank.com or Digistore24.com and find products that offer 50% commission and higher. One thing that you need to bear in mind is that because it is so easy to get involved with affiliate marketing there are a lot of online business owners doing it so you are going to have competition.

Do you have the latest bestselling novel swirling around in your head? I