The Top 10 Links of the Week

10) Remove Your Seasonal Items to Make More Space | The Everyday Minimalist

If you don’t have a closet of a movie star or celebrity, but a small, perhaps oddly shaped on, the best thing to do is remove your seasonal items.

9) I’m Never Using the Five Letter “b” Word Again | thesimplerlife.net

The next time you find yourself being bored, try one of the following activities or make up one of your own.

8) Tapping into the Power of Values to Simplify Your Life | Becoming Minimalist

There is no ultimate and ideal Simple Life that exists as some perfect standard. There is only The Simpler Life that we make for ourselves — one decision at a time.

7) The Lost Art of Quitting | the middle finger project

Integrity will be capped off at some point, if we aren’t living an honest version of the life we aspire to have.  Hypocrites don’t make the best integritists.

6) The No. 1 Habit of Highly Creative People | ZenHabits

I picked a handful of creatives, almost at random — there are so many that picking the best would be impossible, so I just picked some that I admire, who came to mind when I thought of the word “creative”.

5) How to Save $100 in 30 Minutes and Be Happier | The Minimalist Path

This week is RUNNING WEEK at TMP to celebrate the launch of RunningSomewhere, my new running site to help you to…GET UP…GET OUT…RUN SOME.

4) 5 Lies You Tell Yourself That Keep You Spending | The Everyday Minimalist

It is when you are in the store, buying on impulse and trying to justify it with your spaving logic, that is the problem.

3) How to Stock a Minimalist Pantry | Stone Soup

I thought I’d have a crack at pulling together a list of the essentials and the nice-to-haves for stocking a minimalist pantry.

2) Motivation Tips for Slackers | Unclutterer

As a former procrastinator who has undergone a transformation into a tidy minimalist, I’d like to offer some compassionate, but straightforward, advice:

1) 7 Ways to Unload the Unnecessary | Sanity in Simplicity

We sold the house and are moving into a one bedroom apartment…So in honor of getting rid of stuff, here’s a list of my favorite ways to pare down.

Love What You Do

“If you’re so excited about the weekend and you’re dreading Monday morning, you better start rethinking your life cuz it doesn’t have to be that way. I love every day of the week. Life can be that good.”

For most people, their job is what everything revolves around (including emotions).  If I suggest you find something else to do, you’d probably freak.  So, I’ll let someone else suggest and let you freak at them.

Sleep Is Overrated: Time for an Upgrade

I’ll be honest, the past three weeks have been pretty rough as far as getting the rest I’ve needed.  Granted, this past week I was pretty sick, but still…

I don’t think it’s been a lack of sleep as much as it’s been my own laziness and lack of planning.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m up at 6 am, but my mornings could be more productive.  So, I plan to upgrade my morning.

I want to be more productive for myself and for you.  I’m not all talk, I want to actually do; and in so doing, set the example.

Society Wants Opinions They Don’t Want

I’m in the car last week with my siblings and we all decided that we wanted Taco Bell.  So, we pulled off at the nearest exit that had one.  After getting back on the road, a few miles later my sister recognized an exit and said, “We should’ve stopped here. There’s more options at this exit.”

There could’ve been 100 options or just 1, it didn’t matter as long as it had a Taco Bell.

That kind of thinking, though, is so typical of our American culture.

We instinctively want more without realizing all we really want is 1 “thing”.

3 Benefits to Driving Slow

Everyone has always said I have a lead foot.  What can I say?  It’s been natural for me, I live in a fast-paced world.

So, when I started reading posts by guys like Leo Babauta, I wasn’t so sure how well I’d adjust.  I’m proud to say it’s been a few months things are great.

Here’s the benefits I’ve found to driving slower (aka “speed limit”):

  1. Stress level goes down and you feel relaxed
  2. No worries about cops
  3. Great on the gas mileage

Try it for a week and let me know if I’m right or if I’m right.

How to Prepare for Minimalist Travel

I’m here in Florida spending some time on the beach with my siblings.  We’re having a great time, and it’s been a great opportunity to implement minimalist travel.

A couple principles to keep in mind.

  1. Don’t bring Justin Case (my flip-flops ended up breaking but I was able to borrow a friend’s, no worries)
  2. Be efficient in what and how you pack

My packing list:

  • 1 shirts
  • Swim trunks
  • Towel
  • Toiletries
  • Running shoes
  • Running shorts
  • T-shirt
  • MacBook
  • iPod Touch

What I wore were flip-flops, khaki pants, and a polo shirt.

Do you have any principles to add?

The Key to a Successful Life

“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.” – Buddah

What are your goals in life?  Can you list them right now?  More importantly, are you taking steps to achieve them?

My goals:
– Increase my faith
– Cultivate my relationship with family
– Work for myself
– Travel the world

To say I want to cultivate a relationship with my family and hope it grows isn’t enough.  I have to pull out the calendar and block out a family night.

Tell us your goals.  Let me know if I can help.

A Lesson From “Forest Gump”

I watched Forest Gump (all time favorite) this past weekend.  Not exactly about minimalism, but here’s some lessons I think every person should consider.

  • Integrity is above all else
  • Kindness generates loyalty
  • Your passion for something is what inspires the most (so don’t try to inspire, just LIVE)
  • Never moving up the ladder and enjoying work is better than becoming miserable as a CEO because in the end we all die and all that stuff we accumulated won’t matter.
  • Don’t be quick to let go of an old friendship
  • Be unassuming
  • Look outside yourself and serve others, it’s more rewarding

How to Help Others Make Minimalist-Friendly Choices

We can’t twist people’s arms to become minimalists, but we can help them make minimalist-friendly choices.  Here’s some examples:

Offer to carpool.  It saves gas, it’s green, and it’s a chance to build a friendship (and possibly have some minimalist influence)

Recycle your stuff.  Give your stuff to friends who are looking to get what you have.  You become more minimal while helping them keep from buying.

Host events.  Big events like a BBQ or small things like taking a hike.  After all, the purpose of minimalism is to enjoy life, so let others get a taste of that.

How To Be an Influential Minimalist

As minimalists, we’re passionate about why we do what we do.  It’s only natural that we want to see others incorporate some of our best practices.  Sometimes, though, that passion can come across as a bit over zealous.  But, if you don’t want others to become minimalist, here’s exactly what you should do.

Always talk about minimalism.  Every conversation you get into, make sure to always bring up minimalism, and what you’ve been doing to become more minimalistic.  Post 5 status updates a day on Facebook to let everyone follow your every footstep on your journey.  Overall, let it become an obsession that consume your thoughts, actions, and speech.

Break out the statistics.  If you really want to discourage people from living simply, always keep them up to date on how your blog stats and subscription numbers are doing.  Text your friends, letting them know you just got a whopping 5 more subscribers.  Ask people to refer you on Twitter so you can get more followers.  Oh, and don’t forget to remind your friends to read your new article and comment on it.

Spam websites and inboxes.  We all know how much people hate spam, so send out those mass emails.  Find all the websites out there on minimalism and even the ones that are somewhat remotely related to something about minimalism.  Post those shallow, unhelpful comments all over the web. That’ll surely do the trick.

Tell others how much they need to change the way they’re living.  Whenever you see those cars that are cluttered with trash; the closet full of clothes that could clothe 5 people; the desk spread with papers and all those useless gadgets; the person who pulls out their credit card 5x a day to pay for those non-essentials; all those types of people and more, confront them and let them know that they’re really not truly happy.  Tell them how they’re enslaved to materialism and that they need to become more minimal.  Oh, and volunteer to throw out all their stuff for them.

Spend time on the clock building your online social influence.  There’s nothing that says lack of integrity more than when you spend all your time at work on Twitter, Facebook, and your blog.  Your coworkers and bosses will see a direct correlation to your lack of work ethic and your minimalist lifestyle.  You’ll be looked down upon in no time, and you can bet people at work will steer clear of minimalism.

Make minimalism your priority and neglect friends and family.  You’re passionate about what you do and it’s important to you.  So, focus all your attention on minimalism, don’t answer your phone when friends call, don’t do those simple things like going on a walk with the family because you’re too busy trying to live simply.  When you end up spending time with those people, make sure the conversation is centered on you and your minimalistic lifestyle.

Hope that’s been helpful, let me know how it goes for you.  If you’re one of those people who actually wants to influence people….am I not right?