The Best Argument For Minimalism I’ve Found, Yet
Look, I’m not trying to get you to give up all your stuff and be a dish towel wearing hermit.
Look, I’m not trying to get you to give up all your stuff and be a dish towel wearing hermit.
I’m not asking you for asceticism or for you to suffer.
I’m not asking you to give away your car or your furniture.
I’m asking you to look seriously at your baggage (physical, social, and emotional) and decide what actually adds value to your life.
Some people call this minimalism. Some call it essentialism. Some call this living a life of purpose.
What you call it doesn’t matter.
Here’s the point:
“Love people. Use things.”
Here’s a great example of what I mean:
This is a photo of a divorcing couple, in court, dividing up their beanie babies.
I don’t know the details of this breakup, so it could be a completely healthy one for all I know.
All I can tell you is that it looks an awful lot like they are valuing the wrong stuff.
Consider this a strong visual representation of “Christmas yet to come.”
Do you remember the novel A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens?
Do you remember the terror that Jacob Marley evoked in Ebenezer Scrooge?
When Scrooge said that Marley was a good “man of business,” Marley barked back:
“Mankind was my business! The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business! The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
Scrooge was so laser-focused on his work and couldn’t empathize with the people around him. Scrooge was so focused on reducing costs that he sacrificed heat in the winter and healthy food at dinner. When visited by the ghost of “Christmas yet to come,” Scrooge realizes that he sacrificed important relationships with loved ones. He realizes that these sacrifices aren’t worth the outcome and he vows to change his focus when faced with his mortality.
It can be anything.
Whether it’s physical stuff, emotional stuff, work, projects, ideas, or anything that takes up space, time, or attention — it’s up to you to make sure you’re focusing on the few things that truly add value.
The rest is all noise.
The rest is a distraction.
The rest will steal your attention and push you off your trajectory.
You have it rough right now.
If you’re like me, you’re getting hundreds of emails, notifications, limited time only, back-to-school exclusive opportunities!
We live in the Age of Distraction!
Notifications like these are hard to ignore!
Trust me, I know how hard it is to look past that little red notification badge.
I get them all the time.
Some of them add value.
Many of them do not.
But you have no choice!
If you don’t manage your notifications and constantly audit your focus, you’ll end up just like Ebenezer Scrooge. You’ll have missed the many opportunities to spend your love, energy, and attention on the things that truly add value to your life.
Nurse Bronnie Ware spent years in Hospice, caring for and interviewing the elderly before they passed.
What she learned feels so predictable but so powerful and important.
She published them in her book:
The Top 5 Regrets of The Dying
I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Why is this so urgent?
If this feels a little scary, good.
If this feels a little urgent, good.
Most of the time, people need things to be important AND urgent in order to take action. This is the same strategy that marketers use to convince you to buy their stuff. We’re fighting fire with fire, here.
Take Action:
What is your intention for today?
What will you accomplish?
What will you get done no matter what gets in your way?
Decide on one, focused thing and get going.
If you’d like to help me inspire someone else to take action on this, please do so by sharing your next planned actions/regrets in the comments, or share this post with someone who needs to read it.