Temet Nosce

It is my most profound belief, that to be successful at Living Minimalism, or to be successful in any endeavor, you must, to quote Socrates, "Know thyself".  This integral foundation requires reflection, and introspection.  Knowing what you stand for, who you are, and what is important to you, is the bed of embers that keeps your fire burning when all the smaller sparks in your life fail to get you going.  The empty happiness that comes from small rewards will wane in the darkest hours.  But a person, with a dream that they feel in their core, will be sustained through things like, double-shifts, family illness, tragedy, or even temporary unemployment for several months.  It will drive them to make it through all of their hardest fought battles. 

"People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures." -F.M. Alexander 

Living Minimalism isn't easy, because it means change.  It means changing your habits.  It means taking the time to carve out excess.  Excess isn't just garbage; sometimes its the very real, and very enjoyable items of luxury that just don't fit with our core beliefs.  Living Minimalism means taking on some difficult tasks to achieve a dream.  Mostly, it means making hard choices, because choice always precedes change.  You choose to exercise more.  You choose to save your money, rather than spend it.  You choose to clean out your closet.  You choose to eat locally.  Making these choices once in while is good.  Making them consistently is a habit.  Habits are daily.  Habits require monitoring, and conscious attention before they become routine.  Routine of minimal living over time makes room for an exceptional life.  Implementation is tough, but deciding is the first, and hardest step to take.  Not choosing minimalism is choosing the status quo.  The status quo is easy.  The status quo is comfortable.  Choosing change is a challenge.  The hard decision to achieve everything will not have won until your dreams have shattered the ceiling of your comfortable sanctuary that houses you from your imagined fears.

"Make sure everyday you do what matters most.  When you know what matters most, everything makes sense.  When you don't know what matters most, anything makes sense." -Gary Keller

Dreams is what I wanted to talk about.  My professional guru, and the man in the preceding quote, calls this the "big why".  When thinking about goals, we all have some things we'd like to achieve, and most of them are not big enough, like hard work period might equate to dining out at a fancy restaurant, and splurging on a five hundred dollar bottle, perhaps to woo our partner, or just to celebrate a termination of a hard project.  That might work for a little while, but a little while isn't big.  Its a spark, not an ember.  A friend of mine wants to be able to buy real estate for each of his three kids, so that he can retire with the peace of mind that he alone has contributed to each of their futures in a permanent and meaningful way.  A few pictures of the little darlings in and around the office would be enough to remind him why he gets up for work each day.  There's real momentum in having a dream like that.  Its big.  Its deep.  Its his, and only his.  I don't have to understand it, and neither do you.  However, he does, and it moves him on the days he doesn't want to move himself.  I encourage everyone to discover their own "big why".  It can really help a person get into the happiest part of their lives, to really contemplate this, and implement parts of it into their daily tasks, either as a motivator, or as actual action plans.  CS asks, "What did you do today that brought you closer to your goal? ..and what did you do that drove you away?"  The brilliance in this is in the knowing.  Without knowing, any habit, good or bad, could be acceptable in our little daily choices.  Our little daily choices add up in a big way over time.  In the reflection image I'm sharing this week, the dream is clear, but the reality is hazy.  This is true to live.  Our daily struggles fog up our path that sometimes we need to reflect on who we are and what we want to see where we are going.

With so many methods of minimalism, how do I begin to implement? 

To be honest, that's up to you.  Everyone has their reasons for wanting to cut waste in their life.  Me?  I want more mountaintops and lake overlooks.  I want oceans and trees and wildlife.  I want adventure and lots of it.  You've got to  have your own 'big why".  Living Minimalism is not the endgame, its procedural.  Its simply a method of making more room for what matters.  More freedom is something in this age of excess, that we all desire. 

Do you have a big why?  Do you 'know thyself'?   Would you be fulfilled with the status quo, or do you secretly long for something more? 

Because when you start Living Minimalism, less is more.   Something more, is the reason.  What that something is for you is going to become your own life adventure.  

Live it!