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TOO MUCH
SHIT
A SELF-HELP BOOK BY CHRIS THOMAS
DEFINING SHIT
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SHIT, MEET FAN
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A LIST OF THINGS YOU
PROBABLY DONT NEED
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obsolete gizmos you keep lying around in case theyre ever
worth something; the car sitting in a garage all day; DIY
materials, bought for an unfinished project several years
ago; pretty much anything being stored in a cardboard box
or bin liner...
And so on.
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WHY YOU?
When you have less things you create more space and
space is an increasingly valuable thing in this increasingly
cluttered world. It is possible to enjoy the absence of
things. Extra room to move, breathe, swing cats and all the
rest of it. Space is a thing, you just need to see it.
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So what the hell do you do with it? Well, when you are
less encumbered by your possessions, you can spend
more of your life experiencing things: going to new places,
educating yourself, exercising, meeting people, eating good
food, drinking good drink, finding love. You will feel lighter
and freer; it becomes easier to travel and move around
without so many possessions in tow.
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KEEPING UP WITH
THE JONESES
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it hard to think clearly. It exploits our deepest anxieties
to convince us that we need to buy something in order
to make ourselves happy, that this product or that is the
magic solution to our problems.
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MOTHER NATURE,
MEET YOUR MAKER
Given this, its easy to feel little or no hope for the future of
mankind. Thats normal. Its probably the correct response.
But begin to think about the ways you can improve your
own personal impact on the earth, and it becomes easier to
imagine that others might too.
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Think about the amount of stuff that goes into the
manufacture and usage of one of your possessions over its
lifetime. Compare it to some alternatives. A bicycle, made
of 10-20 kilos of various light metals, rubbers and so on, is
a far more materially efficient way of transporting a single
human being than 1 tonnes of steel, aluminium, glass,
leather, and thousands of gallons of fuel.
12
LIVING IN A
MATERIAL WORLD
Everyday things are the things that you use the most,
so theyre the things truly worth investing in. Have hard-
wearing shoes, comfortable chairs, knives and forks that
wont bend or rust. Have a computer that wont crash or
lose your work. Invest in your hobbies. Whatever it is you
spend most of your time doing, have things that assist in
making this better, all of the time.
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of these boxes are good things. Keep them and look
after them.
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NOW YOU KNOW
YOU HAVE TOO MUCH SHIT,
HERES HOW TO GET RID OF IT
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3. Share your shit.
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keeping, make it your mission to repair and hold onto it for
as long as possible.
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THANK YOU
Thank you for reading this book. I hope you didnt think it
was shit.
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Thank you to Harriet, Nieve, Sean, Ben and Genis for your
advice and support. Gems.