How Simplifying Your Life is the Key to Freedom
“True freedom begins when we let go of what we don’t need.”
If I told you these things are holding you back from making significant progress in your life, would you believe me?
Books
Clothes
Old photos
Furniture
Gaming consoles (games you don’t play anymore)
Outdated appliances
Camera gear you no longer use
Empty boxes (shoe boxes)
“Impossible. How can physical items keep me from making progress in life?”
In the book, “Goodbye Things: The New Japanese Minimalism,” by Fumio Sasaki, he talks about how physical things like his books, camera collection, and other physical items took up so much space and caused disorganization in his life.
He didn’t realize these physical items were holding him back from happiness, joy, and living a more fulfilled life.
Like you and me, he was tricked into thinking that consuming, owning, and having more items (maximalist) meant he was more successful, happier, and fulfilled in life than others with less.
An image from the book, “Goodbye Things: The New Japanese Minimalist” showing the differences between a maximalist and minimalist.
When in reality, it was the complete opposite.
Fumio was depressed, felt lost, and became trapped in his own mess of consumption.
Living in a home surrounded by empty beer bottles, books he never finished reading, and junk that no longer served him or brought joy.
Chances are you also believe owning and having more things equals success or happiness.
From the outside, your friends and family might be impressed by all of the things you own.
On the flip side, the things you own are slowly creating a prison of junk boxing you in over time.
Before you continue reading, please know that I am not saying you have to become a minimalist and get rid of all of your belongings.
You don’t have to have 3 pairs of underwear, use a single wash rag or towel, or even get rid of your mattress for a Japanese futon to sleep on the floor.
I understand the thought of becoming a minimalist for some is a turnoff or not possible because of your current situation in life (e.g., family, children, etc.).
However, this message and the tips in this letter are inspired by the concepts and practices of minimalism.
With an open mind, you’ll be able to hear the message and tips to relate them back to your life and unique situations.
Also, I’m not a minimalist, but I do agree with the philosophy and practices of minimalism, and I try to implement them in my life.
I think implementing some elements of minimalism in one’s life is beneficial in many ways, which I’ll discuss shortly.
Since I’m finding my way back to minimalist practices, I think you will resonate with the strategies discussed in today’s letter.
If you keep reading, I hope to help you see the benefits of adopting a minimalist mindset in your life.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
One of the best ways to create change in one’s life from an environmental and behavior change is to use the strategy of out-of-sight, out-of-mind.
The strategy is, as it implies, moving something out-of-your sight, which also removes it from your mind.
Depending on what you are trying to accomplish using this strategy, it could be removing physical items from your apartment, as discussed when referencing minimalism earlier, like discarding old empty shoe boxes, clothing you no longer wear or downsizing furniture that is old, bulky, or no longer fits your style.
In other scenarios, out-of-sight and out-of-mind could also be people, like when you go through a break-up or move to a new neighborhood in your city to avoid seeing them.
For example, I used this strategy when I went through a break-up years ago by deleting all of the photos of my ex-girlfriend from my phone.
You might think that was immature or a bit extreme, but I needed to heal and stop being sad or thinking about her by looking at the photos of us together, which only caused more hurt and pain.
By deleting her photos, I no longer had to see her photos every time I was on my phone, and it didn’t bring up the sad reality that we were no longer together.
The out-of-sight, out-of-mind strategy worked for me in that situation.
In another situation, I used the out-of-sight, out-of-mind strategy to unplug my PlayStation 5 to place it in my closet for about two years.
At the time, I was spending about 10-20 hours per week playing video games, which was a huge time waste.
And if I wanted to make significant progress in reaching my goals, I had to take a drastic measure (sort of), which led me to putting my PlayStation 5 in the closet.
If I left the PlayStation 5 out on my desk where I would see it, I would be too tempted to play it daily.
But with the console hidden from view in my closet, I was able to hide the distraction and dedicate the time once spent playing video games towards training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and building my YouTube channel (and my website).
However, hiding things in your apartment doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a practice of minimalism because the item or thing is still taking up physical or digital space (e.g., photos on your phone).
However, you’re still able to be more productive with a distraction out-of-sight; therefore, also not being on your mind taking up mental energy thinking about it.
Make a list of items you can hide or get rid of today.
What would those items be, and how are they negatively affecting your life or goals?
Trust me.
Make a list of everything you can hide or get rid of, and you’ll be surprised how many things are distractions or holding you back without you even realizing it.
Declutter Your Life
The next strategy involves a bit more work than simply hiding things in cabinets or your closet.
It requires you to actually declutter your life, which is a fancy way of saying to get rid of a bunch of crap!
When Fumio Sasaki decluttered his junk in his apartment, he became a lot happier, having fewer things to clean, care for, or worry about organizing.
It caused him less worry, stress, and consumed far less of his time.
Have you ever been to a public laundromat and seen people come in with several large garbage bags of clothing using the 8 or 10-loader washing machines?
I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a 10-load washing machine.
Now imagine how much detergent, fabric softener, and fabric dryer sheets you need to purchase, plus the time to fold all of those clothes and then load them into the car.
Image of washing machines at a laundromat.
Then when you get home, you have to refold and put all of those clothes away.
The task of washing, drying, and folding all of those clothes can easily burn at least 3-4 hours each weekend alone!
What if you owned less clothes? How much more money you would save on washing detergent and time folding fewer clothes?
That’s why I am a fan of owning less clothing (I actually have to purge my closet as I write this letter - I am practicing the strategies, too!).
People think decluttering is for “hippies” or those who are “spiritual.”
That’s not true at all.
Decluttering your life is necessary.
Just like the universe has four seasons (Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer), your life also has seasons.
There is a time and place to rid your life of things, including people and relationships that no longer serve you or bring you joy.
Start with the list you made earlier when you identified what things are holding you back; it can be hidden in your apartment (out-of-sight, out-of-mind) or marked to get rid of entirely.
Now, you want to add to the list by marking the items with the following labels.
Donate
Sell
Trash
Keep
After you identify the items, start the decluttering process.
Most people will need a few weekends to declutter larger items like donating or selling furniture or going through boxes in the garage or storage.
1. Donate
Label the items you no longer need and will donate to a local donation center (e.g., Goodwill). Box everything up and plan a day to drop off the boxes.
2. Sell
With options like Facebook Marketplace or apps like OfferUp to sell your old goods, you can make a good chunk of money selling things you no longer need.
My girlfriend’s mother said her old sectional couch for $300 and an old wooden dining room table with six chairs for $250. $550 in a weekend selling old furniture is not bad.
How much money can you make selling things you don’t use or need anymore?
3. Trash
Nothing feels better than getting rid of trash like empty shoe boxes, outdated appliances, or other things taking up space in your apartment.
The relief of having more space in your apartment and decluttering your life feels so good.
4. Keep
As you declutter your living space, you’ll also realize there are items worth keeping.
These items should be stored away in a safe place or displayed in your living space proudly (e.g., family photos, awards, etc.).
Note: If you can digitize items like photos or birthday cards, scan them and save them to your computer or the cloud and discard the physical versions (if possible).
With the recent fires in Los Angeles, it is a constant reminder that events outside of our control can happen at any moment.
The things sentimental and dear to us can be loss due to natural disasters or thief.
Saving digital copies of those items is always a great back alternative.
Purchase with Purpose
As you make purchases in the future, think about purchasing with a purpose.
How will you use the item you are purchasing?
Besides food or the obvious purchases (e.g., bills, gasoline for your car, internet, etc.), how will you use the item you purchased in your life?
For example, when I joined the Peace Corps to volunteer in Fiji in 2018, I made a list of items I already owned and a list of items I needed to purchase for the two-year commitment.
Each item purchased and brought with me served a purpose.
An image with several items (umbrella, backpack, fan, belt, flashlight, phone, Bluetooth speaker, journal, flushable wipes, eye contacts, book, etc.) on a white background.
So, if you decide to make a purchase, how will you use the items to hit your target goals?
Also, what are you willing to get rid of in the process?
If you purchase new clothes, are there clothes you no longer wear or need?
These aren’t questions we generally ask ourselves when we make purchases, but they are great way to help us consider purchasing with purpose.
When you purchase with a purpose, you can hold yourself accountable to follow through with carrying out the purpose of the purchase.
“If I buy this new camera lens, I will make better content for my YouTube channel.”
Purchasing with purchase also allows you to make informed decisions before purchasing items you don’t actually need.
When you approach future purchases with this mindset, you will appreciate the purchases you do make more because there is a purpose for it.
Use this approach for everything you purchase and link it back to goals or objectives you set for yourself.
If the purchase does not help you hit your goals, then don’t buy it or wait.
If the purchase helps you hit an immediate goal, buy it and use it for that purpose.
Hold yourself accountable! Don’t let a purchase go to waste.
The Key to Freedom
If you have made it this far, you are probably curious how everything discussed so far ties into the overall theme of my content (self-development and the creator economy).
If you study the image below, this is how I envision the creator economy from a holistic perspective.
An image of the creator economy ecosystem with nine nodes (self-development, content, audience, niche/topic, systems, skill development, technology, monetization, and community.
In order to be successful in all areas of the creator economy ecosystem, you have to have a solid foundation in self-development.
Without the foundation, nothing else is possible in the creator economy ecosystem, especially in life.
How does one become successful without first developing themselves?
The concept of decluttering your life is about self-development.
From behavior change, new perspectives, and a mindset from one way of living life to another.
There is no right or wrong way of living.
If you like to own things, then keep them.
No one says you have to downsize your belongings, especially if you worked hard to own them.
As I mentioned before, you don’t have to become a minimalist.
However, you can adopt a minimalist mindset to achieve more in life.
The key to freedom is learning to let go.
Let go of physical things taking up physical or mental space.
Let go of memories (the ones that cause hurt and pain).
Let go of people (toxic relationships).
Let go of beliefs (old ways of thinking).
Sure, getting rid of old furniture or clothes that you don’t wear anymore isn’t going to magically make you more money, help you lose belly fat, or put 10 lbs. of muscle on you.
However, it will help you develop a system for what you add to your life and what you discard.
Decluttering your living space, using the strategy of out of sight, out of mind, and purchasing with purpose will help you discover what is truly important in your life.
And when you realize what is important, everything that is not important doesn’t matter.
Those things cannot negatively affect your life, knock you off track, or hold you back because you either let them go or block them out of sight and out of your mind.
Discarding physical items is a practice.
It’s about priming yourself to make those behavior changes required to get unstuck, shake things up, and move toward progress.
If you can donate, sell, or throw away things that don’t bring you joy, happiness, or fulfillment, then you’ve built up the resistance to keep those things and people out of your life.
You’ll find greater clarity, focus, productivity, and overall fulfillment in your life.
Now go start decluttering your life. You’ll thank me later.
Thank you for reading.
- Jovon Torres