DESIGN YOUR HOME FOR SUCCESS What You Can Do Today Guide Discover the small changes you can make to your home that will transform your life. B Y J A M E S H O U S T O N Chapter name Page 1
MEET JAMES HOUSTON GET STARTED TODAY DESIGNING YOUR HOME FOR SUCCESS Congratulations on opening this guide to get started today designing your home interior and ultimately your life for success. My name is James Houston, the founder of MindSpaceDesign and creator of the Design Your Home for Success process. Back in 1999 when I first moved from Australia to break into the fast paced world of photography in New York I experienced the toughest years of my life. During my darkest days I discovered a simple yet powerful process that allowed me to create a home interior that has supported me in achieving my goals and dreams. Once you understand this approach to home interior design you will never look at your home in the same way again. You too can create a home that connects you every single day to live the life you really want to live and actually support you in achieving that awesome result. The great news is that it s easy to understand and you can start on any budget. While the entire 101 guide series breaks down in detail the philosophy and step-by-step process to Designing Your Home for Success this What can I do today guide introduces you to a few changes you can quickly make to your home right now that will make a difference. My Design Your Home for Success philosophy is based on mind/lifestyle integration. Your HomeSpace is an extension of your MindSpace and your MindSpace is definitely affected by the state and vibe of your HomeSpace. As you proceed with this process, even with this short starter guide, understand that the goal of Design Your Home for Success is to create a HomeSpace that represents and connects you to the future you want to experience and supports you in achieving that result. Your HomeSpace is actually influencing not only how you feel each day but also the outcomes in your life. The Design Your Home for Success process has been the secret to my success and I am so excited to share it with you. Cheers, -James Houston MEET JAMES HOUSTON Page 2
WHY YOUR HOME MAY BE HOLDING YOU IN THE PAST What I have come to discover while creating this process is that my home is the foundation for my entire life. The objects and elements that are in my home subconsciously influence not only how I feel but also the outcomes in my life. Unfortunately its easier for us to see what s not working in someone else s home rather than our own. The Design Your Home for Success process helps break down the steps to allow you to see where the problem areas are and what needs to change. Let me ask you a question. When did you set up your home interior, maybe a year ago? Ten years ago? Maybe there are pieces in your home that you have had since college? Ultimately we set up our home interior based on what was going on for us at that time. For example if you were struggling financially you will buy second hand or cheap furnishings or maybe even grab a couch off the street or a garage sale. In the same way you may have been in a relationship at that time and bought several pieces for your home with your partner (like a bed or a couch) or even been given certain pieces as a gift from that person like a painting or furniture piece. As our lives evolve and change so do our circumstances but the one thing that often stays the same is our home. You may not be struggling financially any more like you were when you bought that couch, chair or china. The relationship you were in back then may have turned out to be dysfunctional, unhealthy or maybe even abusive and now you have a healthy relationship or maybe you are single looking to meet someone great. The reality is our homes must evolve as we do because on a subconscious level you are still being influenced by the objects and elements in your home that can often represent negative memories and associations. WHY YOUR HOME MAY BE HOLDING YOU IN THE PAST Page 3
Taking this concept one step further I believe your home actually needs to feature objects and elements that represent and connect you to your future dreams and goals. For example the celebrated comedian Kevin Hart actually has several large portraits of successful comedians that inspire him such as Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor displayed on the wall next to his staircase. Every day he walks down his stairs he takes a moment to acknowledge those portraits thinking to himself Eddie was great, I want to be great, Richard was great, I want to be great and so on. This simple ritual has definitely supported Kevin Hart each day to achieve incredible success in his career. You see when your home represents and connects you to your future dreams and goals you are training yourself to have a subconscious connection to that result. In the same way that Pavlov trained dogs to salivate when they heard a bell ring we can train ourselves to connect to and feel the vibe of the results we want to achieve in our lives. It s that simple. In the following 101 guides found on the Resource page I will teach you how to create a home that represents your future goals and dreams. For now you can start the process by removing the objects and elements that may be holding you in the past. I call these negative Anchors. WHY YOUR HOME MAY BE HOLDING YOU IN THE PAST Page 4
REMOVING NEGATIVE ANCHORS EXERCISE There are two things in your HomeSpace that subconsciously hold you back in your life: clutter and negative Anchors. AN ANCHOR IS ANY STIMULUS THAT CHANGES YOUR STATE. It can involve various kinds of sensory input visual, auditory, feeling, scent or taste. Your state is created by your sensory experience, your memories and thoughts. In the Design Your Home for Success process, there are two types of Anchors: Positive Anchors represent your LifeVision and move you toward your goals. Negative Anchors represent something from your past that moves you away from what you really want. The reality is that your home is put together at some time in your past. It may have been 6 months or 16 years ago, but what ever was going on for you at that time in your life influenced the items and furnishings you purchased and even the colors you used. We have all experienced points in our life that were not healthy or positive and you want to make sure that the items in your HomeSpace don t still subconsciously connect you back to that memory and experience. For the removing of negative Anchors exercise, I want you to walk around your HomeSpace one room at a time starting at the front door. As you enter each room I want you to look at the objects, elements and furnishings you see and ask yourself when you bought the item, what your circumstance was at that time and what that object means to you. If the item in question represents something negative from your past such as a time when you were struggling financially, a dysfunctional relationship you were in, a time when you weren t healthy or working in career you didn t like then its time to remove it. REMOVING NEGATIVE ANCHORS EXERCISE Page 5
Here are a few suggestions that may help you consider what needs to be removed or changed- Are there loose shoes and clutter around your entryway? Is the doormat in need of replacing? Do you see any gifts, photos or memories from old romantic relationships? Are there any broken, worn chipped or cracked furnishings, curtains, rugs or household items like china or glassware? Are there cheap generic souvenirs, cheap objects, toys and ornaments cluttering your side tables, cabinets and countertops? Look at your bedding, towels, linens, napkins, table cloths to see if any are ripped, worn or badly stained. Are there old kids toys, unused appliances, folders of files and boxes of office supplies? Can you spot strange objects that you have from college or your youth? One friend of mine had a real skeleton hanging in the living room and another friend had a straight jacket in the toilet. Any artwork or photography that is dark, uninspiring or with strange subject matter. Look at the titles of the books and magazines in your HomeSpace, if the titles are not inspiring, positive or healthy they need to go. This includes any gossip magazines and newspapers lying around. Any fake plastic or dead plants that need to go? Do you see any dirt stains or marks on your walls? Take note of the smells - bad odors count as negative Anchors. Look at any photos of yourself in your HomeSpace. Do you look unhealthy or unhappy in any of them? Were you in a bad place at that time? These need to go or be changed for photos of people you love and where you look great. Do you have gifts, photos or reminders in your home of people who are a negative influence on your life? Open your cabinets, pantry and refrigerator in your kitchen and look at the food inside. Are these foods made of processed junk or does it represent a healthy balanced diet? Can you spot any exposed trash, bottles or piles of unorganized items lying around? Do you have unflattering, worn or ripped clothing? Cheap wire coat hangers and old shoeboxes need to go Can you see excessive electric cables and wires exposed? REMOVING NEGATIVE ANCHORS EXERCISE Page 6
Being aware of these items is a powerful step toward designing the home and life you want. If you notice any of these negative Anchors, you should start removing or fixing them right away. Remember to acknowledge what they represented to you and why you are removing them. You will start to notice a change in the vibe of the room. One of the most powerful negative Anchors in your HomeSpace is actually clutter. Clutter in your HomeSpace shows up in your MindSpace as fear and limiting beliefs. De-cluttering is not a new concept but it should be taken care of with a similar approach to junk food while you re on a diet keep it away! De-cluttering is going to take you some time to completely work through. For the purpose of today s starter guide, I want you to focus on removing negative Anchors. If you would like a more detailed guide on dealing with clutter, please visit http://mindspacedesign.com/resources. The 101-Introduction guide helps break down the step-by-step process of removing the things that are not working and bringing in the things that will support you. REMOVING NEGATIVE ANCHORS EXERCISE Page 7
TOUCH POINT UPGRADE EXERCISE Imagine you were already living the awesome, successful, abundant life you really want to be living. Now start thinking about how your small household items would feel if you were already living that life. What do your bath towels feel like? How about your dishcloth or even your toilet paper? Think back to a time when you stayed at a beautiful hotel and remember how amazing the various elements of the room felt. When we are on a budget we tend to skimp on these small household items, but these are things you can change right now to start to experience how your dream life would feel. You can literally own and enjoy the same towels and toilet paper that a billionaire uses right now. When you make these changes, you are placing an intention behind the fact that you deserve something better. And the good news is that it won t break your budget. These items are what I call Touch Point Anchors and they can subconsciously change the way you feel about your home and what you deserve in your life. When you meet someone and they give you a limp handshake why does that not feel as connected as a firmer handshake? It s simply how you respond to the touch. Why does drinking a good red wine seem even better poured into a beautiful wine glass as opposed to a plastic cup? The look and feel (or Touch Point) of the glass heightens the experience and subconsciously adding more value to the wine drinking experience. To complete the Touch Point Upgrade Exercise, touch the items listed below in your home and ask yourself if they feel as good as your last hotel experience. Be honest and consider if they should be replaced with a higher quality. If they need to be replaced then commit to purchasing these items. If you are on a budget then start changing the smaller items such as toilet paper and sponges first. Remember there are great discount outlets for towels and bedding. If possible I recommend visiting a store where you can actually feel the product so you can start to experience quality Touch Points. TOUCH POINT UPGRADE EXERCISE Page 8
UPGRADE LIST Does your toilet paper feel thin and cheap? Is your toilet brush cheap plastic and in need of an upgrade? Are your bath towels plush, soft and absorbent or thin and rough? Are your dishcloths worn out, burnt and stained? What is the state of your kitchen sponge? Do you need to replace your sloppy soap for a nice body wash pump? Do your bed sheets feel amazing or worn out? Do you use cheap wire coat hangers to hang your clothes? What s the state of your floor mats and rugs? Does your glassware and china have chips and cracks? Are they all from the same set? When dining use cloth napkins. How do your look and feel? Simply put: If these items feel cheap, worn out and generic they need to be upgraded. TOUCH POINT UPGRADE EXERCISE Page 9
YOU GET IN LIFE WHAT YOU BELIEVE YOU DESERVE As you are changing out these generic items for better quality products that feel better to touch know that you are acknowledging that you deserve a better lifestyle. Changing out many of these small items can be done on a budget and as you start to experience using better feeling products you will start to appreciate better quality. Simply upgrading your toilet paper is something you can notice and acknowledge every time you use it. Have you ever experienced sitting in a business class seat on an airplane compared to an economy one? It s still just a seat but the feeling and experience is very different. It also subconsciously affects the way you feel about yourself and your life. These two simple actions of removing any objects and elements from your home that represent something negative from your past and upgrading the Touch Points in your home are things you can easily do today. The Design Your Home for Success process was created to affirm to yourself that you deserve to be living the life you really want to experience. Your home is a daily reminder that you do in fact deserve to be living a life of your dreams then you are setting yourself up for success. WHAT A PRODUCTIVE DAY! You should be really proud of the exercises you have completed today. You are starting to understand some of the core concepts behind MindSpaceDesign and I hope my approach to home and lifestyle design has inspired you to continue and explore the 101 introduction and room-by-room guides. You can find these Guides on the resources page: www.mindspacedesign.com/resources I also suggest you sign up Sign up for updates from MindSpaceDesign to hear about the future events and educational courses being offered. Once again welcome and I look forward to helping you design your home, and more importantly your life, for success. Cheers, -James Houston YOU GET IN LIFE WHAT YOU BELIEVE YOU DESERVE Page 10
NEXT STEPS Despite being simple, the entire Design Your Home for Success process involves a lot more than I can touch on in this one guide. In order to help you take on the process in more detail, I have created a series of resources that you can access for free: If you have not already, I strongly recommend that you read the Design Your Home for Success 101 Guide to fully understand the 3-step process. This will help you make powerful changes to your bedroom as well as any other rooms in your HomeSpace. You can access the Getting Started guide here: http://mindspacedesign.com/pages/guide I have created several other room-by-room guides to help you consider what needs to change in each room of your HomeSpace. With these guides you can learn how to apply the Design Your Home for Success process to your living room, kitchen and home office. You can access the room-byroom guides here: www.mindspacedesign.com/resources If you would like to learn the core concepts behind MindSpaceDesign in more detail, I encourage you to sign up for the free five-part video series called The Top 5 Game Changers for the Home. Each day you will receive an email and video that takes you through a new perspective about your HomeSpace, vibes, letting go of the past, embracing the future and creating the life you truly want to be living. Click here to learn the Top 5 Game Changers for the Home: http://mindspacedesign.com/ pages/top5-gamechanger Once you ve created your LifeVision it is important to take time to connect to visualize and feel the vibe of your ultimate life. In order to aid this process, I ve created an exercise I call Vibization that allows you to focus on all areas of your life. Click here to sign up for the free MP3 audio exercise: www.mindspacedesign.com/vibization We continually create new resources to educate you on the Design Your Home for Success process. One of the best ways to keep in touch with us is by signing up for our monthly newsletter. Click here to sign up for the MindSpaceDesign newsletter: www.mindspacedesign.com/newsletter Oh and don t forget to drop by the MindSpaceDesign Facebook Page and share your thoughts and any photos of your transformed bedroom rooms and your established Anchors. I can t wait to hear how this process helps you. I articulated this process to inspire others to take charge of their HomeSpace and create an environment that reminds them that they deserve to live a life of their dreams. Help me inspire others by sharing your breakthroughs and insights. Thank you for taking the time to read the What You Can Do Today Guide. I look forward to helping you design your home, and more importantly your life for success. You deserve it! Cheers, -James Houston NEXT STEPS Page 11