Minimalist.

By: David Damron

A Life with No Stuff

What would happen if you awoke to find yourself lying on a bed of grass in the middle of a lush
forest with only the clothes on your back? Would you survive? Would you thrive in these new
life conditions? These questions really have no purpose other than to stimulate your mind to
think of a life without all that chains you down today.

I would be lying if I said I don’t enjoy the comforts of modern man. I thoroughly enjoy having
clothes to wear and entertainment at the push of a button. However, I see the benefits of living
life with little emphasis on things while focusing on the necessities to my well being physically
and mentally.

A life without stuff would be difficult. Conversely, the lives we live today with endless amounts
of stuff may actually be tougher when analyzing the bigger picture.

Stuff Versus Necessity

How many of the items you are sitting
around reading this are actually of major
importance to your development and
survival?

As more and more stuff has been invented
and sold, the reliance on things and the
mentality that they are needed has
skyrocketed. Whether it is of ease or
laziness, stuff has come to control many
people’s way of life. Unfortunately, this
constrains individuals from being able to live
a life where they have control over their
choices.

Right now, acknowledge that you may be
viewing your things as necessary and make
a conscious decision to view your things
differently. This is extremely tough to do,

but a highly necessary to develop a future
that you control.

What This Doesn’t Mean

By no way am I saying to get rid of every
possession you own and live off the land for
the rest of your life. I think this would be an
amazing way of life, but it is an extreme
way of changing your complex life into a
simple minimalist one.

The reason we need to try and view
our lives as they are and what they
would be like without all of the stuff is
to assist in developing a lifestyle that
does not revolve around the building
up of items, but the building up of our
experiences, ideas, and desires.

It is not rational to ask of you to eliminate
all that you have worked hard to earn

though you may want to start putting your
hard work’s pay into that which opens up
the opportunities that aren’t afforded when
possessions are your life.

Why Everything

The reason I referenced losing everything in
this section was because you need to view
the basics before you can add the
unnecessary items. By clearing the mind of
allowing you a few objects instead of none,
you are free to imagine the blankness of
having nothing. When you get rid of
everything you are forced to think with a
clean slate. What would you absolutely
need to fulfill your dreams if you had a
clean slate? That is the mindset you need to
take going into a major life overhaul.

How Much Do You Really Want & Need

Becoming a minimalist isn’t just about getting rid of stuff. Living a minimalist life is about
changing the mindset of want to the mindset of necessity.

What we need and what we want are such different things that it is difficult to transition from
one way of thinking and way of life to the other. As you become more of a minimalist, you will
find that it truly doesn’t matter what you want as in possessions. It begins to identify your
desires based on what you need to live a fulfilled life.

Want

There are a million things I want in my life.
I know that I would love to have brand new
everything. I know that I want to have the
best of the best whenever possible. But
what I want more than that is to have the
lifestyle and opportunities that truly guide
who we are and who we want to be.

In most of society today, wants are
developed by others. Whether it is by high
society, celebrity, or power, our wants tend
to be guided by becoming something that
we most likely would rather not be.
Through time, we have been told to envy
others and this character flaw has led to
many of our misguided actions.

So, what do you truly want? If you could
have anything non-physical, what would it
be? I have this feeling that most of the non-
physical aspects to life are much more
valuable. In fact, the act of wanting what
others tell you to have is a non-physical
thing that ends with you obtaining
something physical.

Ask yourself where and by whom your
wants and desires are guided by. If your
answer is others, then you may want to
start asking yourself, “What do I want that
isn’t influenced by others?”

Need

I need very little to survive. You need very
little to survive. Getting to the point we
accept that is the journey that lies ahead.

Needs are that which we cannot live
without. There is a major difference
between what we can live without and what
we think we cannot live without.

If you choose to live a minimalist life or
implement more minimalist aspects to your
life, you will find that no matter what you
think you need, you can get by with less
than imagined. It’s a matter of whether you
want to choose this lifestyle or not.

_____________

Now, I am not a saint when it comes to
being a minimalist. Nor do I expect
everyone else to be. However, being more
in tune to what your wants and needs are
will open the possibility of controlling your
own destiny rather than being controlled by
the destiny that others have placed upon
your mindset.

Does consuming make us happy?

I wish I could say I wasn’t keen to picking up the latest and greatest piece of technology. Are
there times that I would love to be an out of control consumer? There definitely are, but I have
learned to control such desires so that I can have the life that I actually want.

Why did I share this personal aspect with you? I want you to realize that becoming a minimalist
isn’t about getting rid of everything you own. It isn’t about eliminating every ounce of want in
your body. It is about gaining control of your own actions and desires. There are things I would
love to have, but there are much bigger dreams I have that are more fulfilling than immediate
satisfaction.

I have been a consumer. I have become a minimalist. I know both sides of the coin. Choosing a
minimalist life has provided me with more than a credit card ever could.

Are You Happy?

How often do you ask yourself if you are
happy? Like truly happy. How happy are
you with your life right now? Tough
question to ask yourself I bet. Minimalism
may be your saving grace.

Often I ask myself how happy I really am. If
I have a negative response then I begin to
ask what is affecting my life that is bringing
me down. Many times this leads to the
discovery that my focus has been on
everything but my dreams, my goals.

As you develop the mindset of looking at
the basics that are necessary for your
ultimate success, you will find that stuff
rarely propels you to reaching the
destination of choice.

What Makes You Happy?

As with most of the applied ideas in this
eBook, you need to ask yourself what life

you want to be living. If being a video game
programmer or a stay at home mom is in
your cards, then you need to apply not only
the actions but the mindset to see success.
To have the life that you will be happy with,
you must control your decisions. The
obvious one is choosing to be a minimalist
and hopefully, minimalism will continue to
allow you to fulfill your dreams if you are
willing to put the time and effort in.

The Happy Minimalist

It is quite obvious that you want to be happy and you have a desire to simplify your life. As
consumers continue building debt and collecting stuff, the minimalists of the world are finding
independence in action and mindset that can be had by those who choose to follow this path.

Will you never buy anything ever again as a minimalist? Definitely not, but you may be able to
limit the abundance of stuff and increase the abundance of happiness by focusing on the things
you truly do want and need.

MINIMALIST.

It’s Not About the Stuff. It’s About You.

The primary reason many people start this journey with me is for the physical possessions
aspect. Many people are just overwhelmed by all that they have taken on and understandably
so. As we start to rid ourselves of the clutter, we begin to see that the problem isn’t the stuff.
The problem is the mindset.

The mindset is the primary factor when it comes to becoming more of a minimalist. It may
begin with cleaning out the garage or selling your stuff on Craigslist, but the goal is to generate
a mindset that feels no need to re-accumulate unnecessary tangible and intangible things.

Becoming a minimalist is a great feeling. There is no specific date or time when one has
officially becomes a minimalist. Rather, the feeling of being a minimalist comes when one
knows they have no ties to that which is not a necessity and is capable of populating their life
with that which is necessary to their growth and development.