Do the Clearing

by John Benz

The waiting is over—it's time to have the things you want!

What if you got along better with your family, your friends, and the people at work? What if you were truly in love? What if you finally lost the weight you've been struggling with and you didn't have to worry so much about money? What if you had a way to work things out so you could really enjoy your life?

Restart and redefine yourself

Whether it was through luck, serendipity, or some sort of divine intervention, you’ve found yourself here. Where is here? Here is where you take the life you’ve been living and turn it into the one you really want. Do the Clearing is your restart. It’s your chance to make important changes, to make things right, even to reinvent yourself completely. In these pages, John guides you through the 7 steps he uses with his clients to finding, and then letting go of, what’s holding you back. He shows you how to use your surroundings to gain an advantage and how to take the events from your past that have been pushing you toward failure and give them new endings that will inspire you to succeed.

There is something better ahead for you

Your life can be very different from the way it is now. You can lose weight, you can have relationships that make you happy, and you can feel fulfilled at home and at your job. It isn’t too late to have what you want. It isn’t too hard or whatever else you’ve been led to believe. You are much more than you thought—more powerful, more clever, more resilient—and you’ll see this for yourself once you begin to follow the steps in this book.

With Do the Clearing you can:

• Let go of repetitive negative thoughts
• Leave bad relationships in the past—guilt free!
• Feel confident taking action in tough situations
• Remove motivation crushers from your life
• Increase your ability to resolve conflicts quickly
• Have better sex
• Get along with the people at work
• Replace the thoughts that have you believing you can’t lose weight
• Act differently in situations that used to upset you
• Let go of unresolved pain from your past
• Increase love and happiness in your life
• Stick to your goals

Your life is the greatest thing there is

Do the Clearing and realize the truth. You have tremendous power. Connect with it. Take this chance, start reading, and see for yourself. Click the buy now button at the top of the page and begin creating the life you want today.

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2014

Reviews

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do The Clearing
A step-by-step guide to living a happy life and getting what you want
By John Benz

Initially I was led to believe this was a how-to book about weight loss and honestly, what an odd title for that kind of book, right? And this is about losing weight? Sounded to me like either the Clearing was a dance move or something one did similar to a ‘cleansing.’

Boy was I wrong.

Not only did this little gem turn out to be a book for anyone wanting a better, more fulfilling life-path, but it also presents a fresh way to consider our stuff and how it can be holding us back. Right now, take a look around your house, do you have things others have given to you that have something negative attached? A bad memory pops up when you dust it off, yet back on the shelf it goes. Sound familiar?

Author Benz takes the familiar, our personal things, and gives them a new face. One with question marks all over. The simple act of Clearing your home of negative reminders is a really power-packed suggestion.

“Could my (Benz) clients’ possessions be influencing them to feel powerless? Could the things they kept in their homes be contributing to an image they had of themselves that was holding them back? Were they coming up short because of who their possessions were telling them they were?”

The Answer was a huge, loud and now obvious YES! So begins the first portion of his ground-breaking discovery of our relationship of self-image and our stuff. Namely the things with attached baggage. Whether you’re a man or a woman, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The shelf filled with dust-covered bowling trophies, the chipped china from a first marriage (hideous pink flowers with neon blue butterflies), that string-art picture of a walleye your hubby gave you years ago.

Are you keeping it or is it keeping you?

Self-reflection can be a scary thing. It also can set you free. Free to be the next thing. Your best you. Imagine all those reminders gone. Room to breathe in a new energy. The stuff part is the beginning. It’s the thing you can change in physical terms. Now you see it, now it’s off to Goodwill. On to the really tough part.

The you part.

We’re going in people—inside your head—that is. This is where the real Clearing takes place. The kind that may be the most challenging, but is so important if you really do want to make a change in your life. To move forward. I found this part to be the most difficult in that it requires you to be brave, to face what lies beneath.

“Your residual thoughts have you seeing yourself in ways that hide the truth about who you are and what you can do. They are responsible for all the things you do that keep you stuck and that get you in trouble, and until you Clear them, they will continue to take form in the behaviors you find yourself repeating that are holding you back in your life today.”

This is normally where I add some clever zinger to leave you with. A motivational push, a proverbial shove to take action, yet Benz puts it best;

“Now that you’re here, what are you going to do?”

Well?

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twice as long as it needed to be. Great concept, especially around the physical things. The mental side needed more understanding of mental and nervodiverse conditions and could be damaging to certain readers. Didn't seem like the author had enough knowledge of trauma to write the second half and could be triggering. Take it with a big pinch of salt/common sense.

[Tim Larison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a complementary copy of this book for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

No matter what your age, chances are you have some emotional baggage from the past that can still bring up painful memories. Wouldn’t it be a relief to get rid of those thoughts? An aid to do that is John Benz’ new book Do The Clearing: A step-by-step guide to living a happy life and getting what you want. “By helping to free you from the negative thoughts and feelings from your past that are hindering your life today,” Benz writes, “the Clearing can create changes in a very short period of time.”

Do The Clearing is divided into two parts: Clearing Your Possessions and Clearing Your Residual Thoughts. I found Benz advice easier to follow in the “Clearing Your Possessions” part. “If you haven’t already, go ahead and look around your home. Pick out a possession. What memories come to you when you think about it? Who gave it to you? Where did you get it? … How do those memories and associations make you feel?” the author writes. So after reading this I take a glance around my study where I have various books, travel pictures, and sports memorabilia displayed. I saw a seat cushion from the only Super Bowl I have attended in person – Super Bowl XXI in Pasadena, California. If you’ve read my blog in the past you know I’m a HUGE Denver Broncos fan, but my Broncos lost that day to the NY Giants. “What am I keeping this around for???” I asked myself after considering Benz’ words. Memories of that Super Bowl are not pleasant for me!

Benz “possession clearing” may cause you to get rid of things far more significant the sports memorabilia. Perhaps an old picture from a failed relationship, a piece of furniture that you had during a unhappy period of your life, or something else. I found Benz suggestions very practical. He suggests getting rid of unpleasant possessions so you never see them again. Giving them to a relative or friend, or selling them in a garage sale doesn’t count – if you do that you could still come across the dreaded item in somebody else’s house!

The second part of the book, on Clearing your residual thoughts, was tougher to read yet even more powerful. Is there a story you keeping repeating to yourself about some painful event in the past? “If you don’t like the ending , why don’t you come up with a new one?” Benz asks. “If you go back, continue the story, and give this event a new ending, then you will see who you really are. Those old thoughts won’t fit, and they will go away,” he writes. Benz leads the reader through a step by step process to clear those unpleasant memories:

1. Realize how brave you are
2. List events that ended badly
3. Prepare your new endings.
4. Repeat your three communications
5. Write your commitment statement
6. Begin, and go until you’re finished
7. Complete your closing ceremony

There’s guidance on confronting and forgiving, too, in the book’s 304 pages.

Do The Clearing is very well organized. Benz gives us his thoughts, backs it up with a bunch of real life “clearing” examples from his former clients, and includes a question and answer section for those who still may have doubts. “I feel bad confronting. I don’t want to hurt anyone. What should I do?” is an honest inquiry that Benz deals with in the q & a section.

“Never let any one person or thing blind you to the awesomeness you possess,” Benz writes in the book’s concluding pages. “and if some of the events in your life don’t turn out the way you planned, keep going, create new endings, and never stop making this the life you want.” I liked this positive recap. Do The Clearing motivated me to let go of some unpleasant things and thoughts from my past, and I think it will do the same for you, too.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to live happily and get what we want

Author John Benz is a triathlete and IDPA Marksman, a life coach, speaker, and now author of this very helpful book DO THE CLEARING. As his bio states John went to his first Weight Watchers meeting when he was five years old and now, 35 years later he discovered a process that helped people lose weight and live happier lives like nothing he'd experienced before, a process he details in this book.

John provides an outline of the intention and content of this book that is as well stated as any reader’s synopsis: ‘This is where you take the life you've been living and turn it into the one you really want. Do the Clearing is your restart. It’s your chance to make important changes, to make things right, even to reinvent yourself completely.’ Here are the 7 steps to finding and then letting go of what’s holding us back, showing us how to use our surroundings to gain an advantage and how to take the events from our past that have been pushing us toward failure and give them new endings that will inspire us to succeed. Our life can be very different from the way it is now. We can lose weight, have relationships that make us happy, and feel fulfilled at home and at our job. It isn’t too late to have what we want. It isn’t too hard or whatever else we’ve been led to believe. We are much more than we thought—more powerful, more clever, more resilient—and we’ll see this for yourself once you begin to follow the steps in this book. Using DO THE CLEARING we can learn to Let go of repetitive negative thoughts, Leave bad relationships in the past—guilt free!, Feel confident taking action in tough situations, Remove motivation crushers from our life, Increase your ability to resolve conflicts quickly, Have better sex, Get along with the people at work, Replace the thoughts that have us believing we can’t lose weight, Act differently in situations that used to upset us, Let go of unresolved pain from our past, Increase love and happiness in our life and Stick to our goals.

The aspect that makes John’s book credible is the manner in which he guides from within (having been there). It is a fine pathway to gaining what we want in life.

[Terry Sprouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Do the Clearing” is an excellent book that delivers big on what it promises.

As I began reading this book I had only moderate expectations. I thought I might learn a few god tips on how to get rid of my own excess baggage (both physical and mental). However, as I read examples of how other people had purged themselves and improved their lives by getting rid of unneeded possessions, something clicked inside me.

I was struck like a bolt of lightning with the thought, “Get rid of all those books that you don’t read anymore and the excess stuff in the extra bedroom.”

I stopped reading the book and immediately started putting books and unwanted possessions into bags, to dispose of them. Many of the books and other possessions I had stored were from a different era of my life, one that would never return.

The author asked us to evaluate each object that we own on the basis of “Does this make me feel powerful?” The possessions that I cleared out of my life, and the onerous feeling associated with them, made room for more positive possessions and feelings.

I also removed pictures and even a clock from my walls that did not pass the “”Does this make me more powerful” test. I sold some of the books at a used book store. The ones that didn’t sell I donated to Goodwill or they went in the trash. One way or another they had to go.

As I continued to read the book, I got flashes of other possessions that I needed to clear out. I would lay the book down and start to work clearing out those possessions. It was a back and forth process. Each time I cleared out more items, I felt a burden lifted from my shoulders.

I know how Atlas must have felt after removing the burden of the world from his shoulders.

I seemed to connect more with the first half of the book than the second half. However, I can see where the second half, which addresses clearing residual thoughts and dealing with past events in your life, could be useful to many people.

Overall, I got much more out of this book than I ever imagined. It’s one of a very few number of books I have read that had an immediate and positive impact on my life.

[Jessica Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether or not you need help with weight lose or any number of things Do The Clearing has thoughts and ideas that will come in helpful.

What if you got along better with your family, friends and people in general. Your life can be very different from the way it is now. You can have so many of the things you have always wanted. And regardless of what you might think it’s not too late. Do the Clearing and realize the truth. You have tremendous power Within the pages of this book are suggestions that can help with so many of the things we all struggle with.

In Do the Clearing John Benz starts off with a look at his past and what brought him to the point he is at today and how he wants to help people. At first I thought this was going to be a book on weight lose or something like this but it is so much more. We all have things we don’t like about ourselves and regardless of what that is there are ways to help make it better. One thing that we hardly ever think about to make ourselves happier is the stuff around us. Every single day we are surrounded by so many things, either in our home, office, car or just in general. But do many of those things actually make you happy. The thoughts of decluttering is coming up more and more lately. Is it just a fad or is there really something to it? While reading this book I would find myself looking around at things around me and shaking my head at what Benz was saying. So many times we keep things because someone gave it to us and we don’t want to hurt feelings but by doing that someone still gets hurt, you.

While there were so many things written well in the book I would say that it probably could have been cut down by about 100 pages and still gotten the point across on every aspect just fine. Overall a good read that everyone can come away with something helpful for their own lives.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Benz is a total genius. His unique approach is effective and has a lasting impact on the reader. This is a self-help book that literally stuck with me, and will forever. I find myself using his "Do The Clearing" techniques in more and more areas of my life, even months after finishing the book. This is a truly empowering message, delivered in a gimmick-free, truly useful way. I also love that the author is so straight-forward and simple with his message that absolutely anyone can grasp and apply the techniques and message as a whole. I feel like this is one of the very few "self-help" books that can actually have a life-time impact. I have to admit that I was reluctant about some of the message --such as the possibility of your belonging having such an impact on your happiness that you could literally be held back in life or even find it hard to lose weight simply because of your belongings -- but after time, as I went about my everyday life, I found myself resonating with the truth in his message, and even incorporating the simple techniques laid out in the book in so many different ways.

I am oddly and incredibly fond of this book. I never would've thought a "self-help" could have this kind of an impact on my life, much less an on-going one. I honestly feel like every human will have at least something they can take away from (and appreciate) through reading this book.

I guarantee you won't go long before you start asking yourself "does this object make me feel powerful?"

A 5-star, rare self-help gem!
John Benz has won my trust and my interest. I will look forward to more from this author.

[Kristi Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from the author in order to give an honest review.

I don't usually read self-help books because so many are one note or have impossible goals or are just too crazy to ever work. Just eating cabbage may make you lose weight, but how long can you keep that up? You get the picture?

However I was interested in this author's process on first clearing your possessions with negative connotations and then clearing your mind. All of the ideas in his book are common sense and very workable.

What about that rock your friend gave you that says, "Live a day at a time, but make sure this is the day you are living."? I always felt negative about my pal saying I was too much of a dreamer and she wanted me to just trudge along. It was freeing getting rid of it.

John Benz has lots of examples of other peoples' problems and solutions for doing "the Clearing". It's a very empowering book and once you put yourself on the road to do this it will be worthwhile. It's never too late do a little inventory of our possessions and thoughts and the best time to get started is now.

This is a well done tome that will have positive results if you take the time to commit to it.