Minimalist Adventures

The Ultimate Minimalist Resource Guide

Greetings everyone,

As I am making my exit from the world of minimalist writing, I thought it was best to leave you with a roadmap. From here on out, you are your own guide.

Here is your entire guide to everything minimalist. These link back to all of the best articles on the topics you’ve said you’re most concerned about.

Enjoy your minimalist adventure! Thank you for sharing it with me.

Download Conquer the Clutter for free here.
Get the worksheets here.

Steps to become a minimalist (in no particular order):

Figure out why you’re doing it.
Redefine your needs.
Get rid of your crap.
Sell your crap for money.
Take the easy way instead.
Get rid of more crap you keep avoiding getting rid of for sentimental reasons.
Revel in the joy of less.
Become indoctrinated into Leo’s fan club.
Follow your passion.
Love your life.
Live more mindfully.

Major areas to address when entering the minimalist ranks:

100 Thing Challenge – Are you game? If you are, snag his book here.

Housing

Create a minimalist home.
Live in a relatively normal house. (But do extraordinary things.)
Dream of tiny homes
Build a tiny home
Homestead it
Digital Nomad
Try location independence.
Stay in one place.
Go for less square footage.

Entertainment

Kill your television.
Really. Kill your television.
Watch sheep.
Have fun!
Do something impossible.
Run a triathlon.

Transportation

Explore your options.
Then explore more options.
Go car-lite.
Go carfree.

Finances

Make a budget.
Download some free books.
Have some free fun with your kids.
Be romantic without an expensive dinner.
Be a cheapskate.
Set smart goals.
Get out of debt.

Clothing

Try Project 333
Realize how little you really need.
Quality versus quantity.
Reduce your fashion footprint.
Remember, clothes are not who you are.

Food

Learn some food rules.
Save money.
Try Paleo.
Try Vegetarian.
Try Vegan.
Eat like Leo.

Children

Be radical.
Or don’t.
Don’t make excuses.
Get tips from the guy with six kids.
Pride yourself on being The Minimalist Mom
Realize minimalist living and kids is counterintuitive – but still doable and wonderful
Ignore your mom.
Realize they won’t die without a house full of crap.
Don’t feel guilty.

Non-Minimalist Family

Get rid of stuff, not your family.
Reboot your family!
Lead by example.
Let it go.
Focus on you.
Explain what you’re doing. Ignore their negativity.

You know you’re a minimalist when:

You could walk away from everything you own – and know you’ll be okay.
You can’t walk through a big box store without a little disgust.
You really appreciate how little you own.
You tell your secrets freely.

Beyond the basics and what to do now – (Once you’re over decluttering, there is more.)

Know this is just the beginning.
Go on digital sabbaticals.
Reclaim your mornings.
Watch Fight Club. Rejoice.
Uh, what you love, maybe?
Close the damn laptop.
Induce creative flow.
Stay motivated. Chase your dreams.
Minimalism: Decluttering or deeper meaning?
Become a happiness ninja.
Create change.
Read more.
Quit your job.
Live on the edge of your reality.
Do something you’ve always wanted to – and ignore the price tag on it.
Get inspired.
Conquer fear.
Write an ebook. (Make sure it doesn’t suck.)
Stomp on a white picket fence just because you can.
Inspire others.

“You haven’t changed a bit!”

I’d argue this is the single, most offensive thing you can say to another person.

If someone said that to me right now, they’d probably have their face on the ground, and I’d make them eat dirt.

Telling someone they haven’t changed is tantamount to flipping them the bird and ignoring everything they have been striving towards. You work so hard to improve the person you are today that being informed you haven’t changed can only mean one of two things.

a. You talk the talk and don’t walk the walk.

b. They don’t like the change they see in you.

If you really are just talking about maybe making changes and refusing to commit to them for whatever reason – which probably just boils down to a big, fat insecurity anyway – then you deserve what you get. They can’t see change because none is happening. That’s your fault. Own it.

Only by owning it can you begin to figure out why exactly the things you’ve been claiming to want have been exactly the things you’re probably running from.

On the other hand, if you are without a doubt a different person than you were the last time they saw you, you are privy to an interesting situation.

You are no longer simply a friend they haven’t seen recently. Suddenly, you are more. Much more.

You become the enemy, because you are facing your fears.

Instead of acknowledging your progress, you become the embodiment of everything they are holding themselves back from because they are so terrified they can’t move forward. Your dreams may be different, but the fears all have the same names.

Instability. Risk. Change.

Change scares most people, but you’re not most people if you’re here. I don’t write for most people; I write for my people.

I’ll never forget when I first started discussing minimalism and how much I loved the concept, because several people I called friends were so brutal.

Every new post, I would post a link on Facebook and wait with a delicious impatience to see which new country I was being read in. It was an incredible rush to think my words could effect so far and wide. I relished these little changes and intrigues that had become a part of every single day.

Instead of wishing me well or even ignoring it if they thought it was dull, they thought it’d be fun to poke and prod by ridiculing this new lifestyle I’d chosen. I chose to make a major change in my life, and they couldn’t handle it.

They couldn’t handle being stuck in their stagnant lives, too afraid to make the choice to do something different, while I reached out to a new life, a new way of being, a new group of friends.

If they couldn’t be happy, I certainly couldn’t be. The fact that I was brave enough to want to change was enough for me to be ostracized, privately and publicly.

I’m sure these same people will jump on the chance to chastise me for leaving college behind without my fancy piece of paper.

One of them will undoubtedly see this, and I’ll be the source of much gossip all over again.

That is, until they hear I’m pitching a print book, running my own businesses – rather successfully I may add, and bought my plane ticket to Buenos Aires.

Getting the last laugh here is a side benefit, by the way. By no means is it the only point here. Following through with my dreams is simply one of the beautiful moments of the journey, the cherry blossoms blooming amidst the rest of spring’s glory.

The real lesson here is in knowing the path you carve for yourself is the right one, and if you hear interference, tune it out. The noise will fade eventually, because it’s your life, not a competition.

Having to keep up with the Jones’ has spread so much further than having to have all of the latest gadgets and toys. It permeates our entire existence and infects every relationship we have like a disease, if we allow it to.

Choosing the unconventional will gain you notice, perhaps even notoriety, but more than that, it will make you the target of those who have worked so hard to hit those milestones, those rights of passage our culture tells us are requirements of being a good, normal citizen.

Wait. What?

Yeah, that’s bullshit and you know it. Don’t make me get out my flag.

You know better, and if the people around you don’t, it’s their problem and their loss. Your choices now mean you will be happier in the long run, and probably the short run, too.

My life isn’t easy, but it’s on my terms. Can you say the same?

Keep changing it up, baby. It’s totally hot, and we’re not afraid.

Stress sucks.

Big time. Not that you all don’t already know that, but I thought it would a good idea to talk about it.

You see, January seems to have been pretty rough for everyone, and I am no exception.

Between meeting new people in Seattle, hanging out with some awesome movers and shakers, and going to karaoke bars with some dude my friend and I had never met after too much wine, some killer stories have been generated.

But, those aren’t the things I’ve been thinking about.

I’ve been thinking about the direction my life is taking, if I’m happy, who I want to spend my time with.

I’ve been worried about the future, being only 30 credits from graduating college. Wow. I had done what I set out to do, and now I can graduate college in three years. Go me!

Suddenly, in struts my lizard brain with arms crossed, giving me that look.

Oh yeah. I finally had that “Ohmigod, I’m graduating. What am I going to do? What do I want to be? SHIT!” moment.

Do I get a job? Do I go to grad school? Aren’t there more options than that?

After freaking out for 20 minutes, I realized, “Oh, wait. Duh. I already know what I want to do.”

Working from an online base to start businesses and meet amazing people and travel with no one to limit my creativity? Pshaw! Easy answer there.

But, the fact is, I still freaked out. My lizard brain started going into that loop that wants me to live and work traditionally because it is safe, and it went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds.

How did it happen?

The investigation began. Something triggered that reaction, some fear that makes me revert back to attempting to fool myself into a life I already know I don’t want, and I had to figure out what it was.

As I began to dig through the piles of rubble sitting around in my brain, some of it fresh and some reeking from ages ago, chairs, boxes, and stones were all overturned. (You see, my brain isn’t very good at minimizing. It’s kind of a pack rat, really. Never know when you need to know some art history, wilderness survival skills, or how to speak pig latin.) Finally, in one faded pink, floral-print hat box, I found it. Blowing the dust off of the top of the lid, scrawled in Sharpie across the top were the words “false gods.”

False gods?

What the hell does that mean? My fingers gingerly pulled the lid off, revealing old papers, letters, and a multitude of other items I wasn’t sure I remembered accumulating.

The letter on top of the stack was a memory of my days of going to church. Well, that’s old news, I thought to myself. These days, middle aged women look at me on Sunday and mutter about going to church dressed like a hussy, and I have to coyly remind them through my devilish smile I’m not attending.

But, near the bottom of the letter, the words began to appear more familiar. It started to talk about standards and norms. What right and wrong look like. How you went to college, graduate, get married, have kids. This was the standard game plan.

Was this what I wanted? Could I be that person who fit that perfect mold of the educated wife, mother, and churchgoer?

It would be a lie to say I never miss church. The community you get there is hard to replace in other ways, because you share such a fundamental part of who you are with so many other people. The binding principles of love and kindness are addictive, and the bonds they create between you and those around you are irreplaceable. It’s a place I could find other mothers to share with, to find common ground in multiple areas of life where I otherwise had no one.

That is, until doubt and fear and real life kick in. People turn on each other, get jealous, cheat, lose faith in some mythical being in the sky who is allegedly supposed to love you unconditionally even while it chastises you and punishes you for your humanity because it is a jealous god of war who hates women.

You know, that old nutshell.

My personal feelings about our country’s folklore aside, the standards set by that pervading belief system are stitched into the fabric of our everyday life, even when it makes absolutely no sense in our current day and age.

That standard game plan sounds more like a life sentence to me than a way to live well, and yet whenever I’m losing faith in myself and what it is I most love to do, that is what I turn to. If the path I’m blazing fails, I can always do this.

How do you react when everything seems to be falling through? Does your brain backtrack to that “safe” plan?

It doesn’t matter how many times you read posts about how having one day job, all your eggs in one basket, one income source is really the worst decision you can make, sometimes it sounds so much easier to take the path most traveled. Even when most of the people you see stumbling down that path are miserable.

No matter what the norm is, you still have a choice. The standard path works great for some people, and when things are hard it can look pretty cushy, but when it comes right down to it, do you really want 2.5 kids and a picket fence?

I didn’t think so.

Chicago was a pretty amazing experience for me. Basically, I got an amazing business crash course in the two days I spent following Everett and Colin around, and it has helped me decide where to take this blog in the coming months.

This means I need to level with you.

Something pretty incredible has happened on this blog for me. I found out people out there, somewhere on the other end of a computer, are drawn in by my personal narrative. It’s raw, it’s genuine, it’s authentic, and for many of you, it’s inspiring.

Not going to lie, that’s pretty weird for me. To me, it’s just my life. It hasn’t been easy, but it keeps moving. However, the sheer number of emails I receive showing support had been life changing for me. People want me to succeed.

But, this isn’t about me. It’s about you. It’s about how I want to help you succeed. How did it all get so intertwined?

I’m still not 100% sure, which is something I hope we can unravel together in the coming months.

Thus, I’m not going to keep telling you to get rid of your television and your stuff. That’s old news. If you haven’t yet, you’re not going to. That’s fine. It’s your choice.

Minimalism was a great doorway into a world of people who believe, like me, that we should always be improving ourselves and our lives, and a great way to do that is to shed material garbage.

However, how much can you really write about that? Well, about as much as I have. If you’ll notice, I haven’t hardly touched the topic of minimalism in a month. It’s not that the topic is dead. It’s just if you aren’t living with less already, one of two things is happening. Either you just like reading about getting rid of your crap and you’re not actually going to do it, or you’re catching the tail end of a movement spurred by the Great Recession.

If the second is true, and you just haven’t had time to jump onboard, get on my email list to get a free guide to help you get rid of your crap. Conquer the Clutter. All you need to know is there. Welcome to the revolution.

And, hey, if you like that, consider getting The Minimalist Mom. Even though it is primarily targeted at parents, there is something in there for everyone. For instance, are you overwhelmed by all of your commitments and the many roles you play?

There’s an app for that. (You get the idea.)

Anyway, it doesn’t make sense to talk about getting rid of your crap when that’s not what you’re doing anymore.

I’m growing a small business on the internet and getting involved in a complex social network that is driving the future of the ways we connect. I’m trying to figure out how relationships work once you get your digital self involved. I’m toying with the idea of what it means to not be chained to any one place and what that means for my daughter and I. I’m potty training a two year old.

These are the things that are on my mind right now.

What’s in it for you?

Connection. Passion. Adventure.

More to the point, you’ll be hearing about the way we connect to one another, in person and on the web, because the implications of that are far reaching and important to consider in how we live daily.

You will see what happens when you follow your intuition. Being able to trust yourself is an incredibly difficult skill to cultivate but by far one of the most valuable.

You’ll probably still hear about passion quite a bit. It’s a pretty important idea. Also, passion is my drug, and I love to share.

From time to time, you might get free business advice. Probably not often, but it is floating around somewhere in my brain.

And, you might have to deal with a potty training rant. Just one in the near future. I’ll try and relate it to training society into doing something that makes sense but they just aren’t sure how to do it or something. Oooh, great metaphor there.

At any rate, I thought it would be nice to know where this blog is heading. Have a great weekend!

I know why you clicked on the link to this post.

You want all of the juicy details of what actually happened during my trip to Chicago for the New Year.

You’ve heard the rumors. Now you want the truth. That is fair, since I promised a free ebook to you for helping me get there.

However, that’s not coming out to the end of the month, because I haven’t been able to put my feet back on the ground since I landed back in my beloved Portland. There is so much energy pulsating in my veins, I can hardly sit still, let alone unravel the truth from everything we all collectively experienced.

What is it exactly do you want to hear?

Is it how Everett is actually a really laidback, incredibly nice guy, who just wants everyone to realize their own potential and stop being so damn scared of it? How his energy rubs off on you and you can hardly handle it?

Or is it how Nina has been so repressed by her heritage, corporate job, and amazing discipline that letting go has resulted in her becoming this sexy, Asian enigma? How Taiwan is entirely unprepared for the whirlwind that is Nina?

Perhaps you want to know if Colin is the all-American boy he has branded himself as the internet over? Or is he as charming, brilliant, and entirely capable of sweeping any woman off her feet like you think he might be?

Don’t lie to yourself. You know it’s true.

But why do you care?

Why are you so curious about what happened in Chicago? No matter what happened, it won’t have a direct impact on your life. Nothing that happened will be changed now because of what you think about it.

I’d be willing to bet your reason for caring about it comes down to two basic thoughts.

You are living vicariously through one or more of us.

You want to find out if we are genuinely the people we present ourselves as online.

There is nothing inherently wrong in either of those behaviors. We all want to feel like we’re part of the “in crowd.” This is natural human behavior.

And what about honesty on the internet? We can present ourselves as anything we choose, be anyone we want to be. How can you be sure we are actually who we say we are?

But what happens when you are living through one of us? It means you’re probably on the internet not living the life you wish you were. I understand because I used to be guilty of this all the time. Those crazy technomads had such a killer lifestyle. How could you not want it?

It took encouragement from one my mentors to even be brave enough to get to Chicago. Even though I’d been playing with the idea of location independent living, it became clear the thought of it was nothing short of fear-inducing. If it wouldn’t have been for a couple of semi-random tweets, Chicago would have never happened for me. I had thought the will was there, but not a way. It only took a gentle push towards the edge to prove I was wrong.

There is always a way. You just can’t be afraid of it.

Honesty isn’t hard to find on the internet. You would be able to see right through me if I weren’t living the lifestyle I was discussing. That’s why my blog is growing, while others are being left behind. You can see through them, because they aren’t living amazing lives.

That’s really what this is about. Living an amazing life. That doesn’t mean you have to jump up and travel on a whim. Like I said in an earlier post, living an amazing life doesn’t mean you need to uproot your life to head out to the tropics – trust me, Chicago was freezing. However, the idea of location independence is fascinating to me. The relationships that result from such a lifestyle are far more interesting to me than staying in one place, doing the same thing or similar things every week.

The connections you make to those around you are vital to your happiness – this is part of why so many of us are so addicted to touching the cloud. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I have more close friends on the internet than I do where I live. But, the connection you have with another human can only go so far over a screen. The importance of being a whole person, which includes the digital self, is immeasurable! Without wholeness, we are unsatisfied. Until the digital and the physical self are entirely united through technology – which is coming faster than we think – we have to work to satisfy both of those needs, typically in different ways.

Sometimes, the only way to satisfy them is to end up in a place you’ve never been with people you’ve only seen through digital means. If this isn’t honesty, I don’t what is. Honesty comes from truth and truth is created through trust. Granted the fears that have been around since we could all connect so easily with the internet, is there a greater trust than that of meeting someone you’ve never actually met?

I would argue there is. A level of trust had been built through the digital means currently at my disposal, but to take the first step, that was not enough.

The greatest level of trust has to come from within you.

Until you can believe you will make the right decision, whether that decision is to travel across the country because of a tweet or to continue attending school to be on the cutting edge of a field, every step you take will be filled with doubt. We have to trust ourselves to be our best guide.

I’m not trying to discourage you from listening to mentors or others who have taken the path you find yourself on. Far from it. However, only you know what is truly right for you. Intuition, a gut feeling, whatever it is – listen to it.

Here is my last piece of advice for the truly lost, because I had to use it.

Take a walk outside. (Bonus points for rain.) See where you end up. I promise it’ll be the right place.