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The Luxury of Less The Five Rings of Minimalism PDF
The Luxury of Less The Five Rings of Minimalism PDF
of
Less
The Five Rings of Minimalism
by
Karol Gajda
Less
The Luxury of Less – The 5 Rings of Minimalism
By Karol Gajda
Note on this PDF version of The Luxury of Less: You are reading a limited
edition available one-time only, through the 3 Day Minimalist Book Sale.
Future editions will only be available on Amazon’s Kindle and in print.
While many people believe a lot of words equals better content, I believe
that less words hold more power.
How eagerly and with how much fervor did you crack open the seal on the
box and begin using your new toy?
It wasn’t always like this, but nowadays I regularly find myself breaking
into a smile or laughter while walking down the street or just sitting and
thinking.
The feeling comes precisely from the fact that I have exactly what I want
and exactly what I need.
It’s a feeling I call the Luxury of Less, hence the title of this book.
It’s a feeling that is attainable for you if you’d like to open yourself to it.
It’s not an overnight process. It will take time and you might run into some
stumbling blocks along the way.
That’s okay.
I mean that if you own 3,000 things, the goal is not to get to 100 things
tomorrow.
Your goal may never be to get down to 100 things. The actual number of
things you own is not important.
I love the freedom of having almost nothing, although I’ve never actually
counted my items. It doesn’t matter to me.
If you’re not happy with what you already have, then you won’t be any
happier by buying something shiny and new.
My life over the past couple of years has been heavily influenced by an
ancient Samurai text which I rarely talk about, known as Go Rin No Sho.
Also known as The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi.
Musashi was a Samurai who never lost and he wrote this text at the age of
60 to pass on what he called The Way, his sword fighting strategy which
didn’t utilize any strict school, but could beat anybody trained in any one
school.
I believe the Luxury of Less is the best school of minimalism because it’s
pliable. It’s not an exact science, but a feeling you achieve by getting back
to basics. I also believe you have to study the other schools of minimalism,
because they all teach very important lessons.
The Luxury of Less is for the Samurai warrior within all of us. We’re
fighting for a good life, but we’re fighting ourselves as much as anybody
else. Our sword is our brain. Or enemy is consumerism.
Ring #1 is Health. Like the Ground, it must be stable for us to live well.
The first 4 Rings are the support system for life. The Fifth Ring
encompasses everything and is only available to you once you’ve
interlocked the first 4 Rings. No single Ring is more important than any
other. They are all intertwined. Without one Ring you may still have a
good life but it will be less stable. If you’re living without two Rings you
may well be deeply depressed.
I know many people who have their health, wealth, and relationships
handled, but their lives are still empty. Why? Lack of experiences.
I also know many people who have great health, awesome relationships,
and fascinating experiences. Their lives are also empty because they lack
wealth. (We’ll cover exactly what I mean by wealth when the time comes.)
It is impossible to live a happy, fulfilled life if you have two or less Rings
fulfilled.
Know that it’s okay if you don’t have a grasp on the Five Rings just yet.
We’re going to work on that together.
The goal with Luxury of Less is to make each Ring strong. With each Ring
strong, the whole structure (your life) will be balanced.
I don’t mean this in a work-life balance sort of way. We’ll cover this in
more detail, but there is no such thing as work-life balance. Your life
should be balanced and work is part of that.
I’m not a doctor. I’m not a financial guru. And I’m not perfect.
You wake up and wish you hadn’t. You wish someone would come along
and slit your throat. I used to have visions of somebody breaking into my
house and ending it all point-blank execution style. Morbid, but true. I had
those types of thoughts almost every waking moment of my life for years.
The rub? I was making well into six figures/year during these dark years.
I had a 2,500 square foot house and a BMW 530i that I paid for in cash.
I had a Gibson SG guitar, which was my dream guitar since before I even
started playing. One day I wanted a new watch, so I went online and
bought the first one I liked. $500 gone in the blink of an eye. Without
much thought. That was my life.
Problems are internal. External forces, situations, and people cannot help
you more than you can help yourself.
Health doesn’t include just physical health either. It includes mental and
emotional health. We live in a time when a very significant percentage of
the population is depressed or dealing with other mental issues.
I know what that’s like because I was there. As I’ve already stated, I spent
many days not wanting to wake up or live.
That’s why the first step to a strong Health Ring is to get rid of stuff.
Stuff has ruined our lives, whether you’re ready to admit it to yourself or
not.
I’d like you to take a minute and rephrase that in a way that resonates with
you. It must be succinct and direct. No wishy-washiness allowed here.
The truth is it doesn’t matter so much where you start and it depends on
your situation. If you own a 4-bedroom home, your current reality is far
different from someone who rents a 1-bedroom apartment.
Your end goals towards simplicity may be similar, but your starting point
is far apart.
If you have a large home, start with one room. And get rid of everything.
You pick something up and either put it in the trash, put it in a donation
bag, or put it in a “to sell” box/bag.
The easiest way I’ve found to think about what to keep is this: if my
home burned to the ground, what would I miss?
Go past your gut reaction and really feel it. You lost everything. What are
the things you need to start living life again?
A couch? Even when I was in the midst of consumerism, I lived for a year
without a couch. It was never necessary.
A TV? No way. I got rid of cable in 2006 and haven’t missed it. It’s not that
I’ve never watched TV since then, but it’s impossible for it to consume my
life if I have no easy way to watch.
A bed? Yes. And even more than that, get the best mattress you can. It’s
worth it. (The Luxury of Less in practice.) While traveling, a quality bed is
something I don’t get. It’s a trade-off I’m willing to make. When I lived in
one place, my $1,000+ mattress was the one luxurious expense I never felt
Clothes? Yes, you obviously need clothes. But do you need multiple pairs
of shoes and a different outfit for every day of the month? No.
I’ve been living for more than a year with three T-shirts, three pairs of
socks, three pairs of underwear, and one pair of pants. You will probably
never go that minimalist, but that’s okay. Extreme minimalism is for the
select few. Minimalism, the movement, is for the masses.
Here is what the average person’s minimalist wardrobe should look like:
I don’t need a pair of nice shoes because I don’t work in an office. If you
don’t work in an office, you probably don’t need them either.
If you aren’t athletic then you don’t need athletic shoes. Although we’ll
cover this later and you actually will need athletic shoes. ;)
You’ll need casual shoes for every day living. Something black and
unassuming, so it fits with almost anything you wear.
That way you have something clean to wear every day, you only need to do
laundry once per week, your clothes don’t take up a lot of space, and you
still have lots of options.
Think about this—do you wash your coat or jacket every time you wear it?
How about your winter hat? Or your gloves? Or your pants?
The answer is probably no. So why do you need to wash your T-shirt every
time you wear it? If it smells or you sweat in it or spilled something on it,
then I can understand. But otherwise, there’s no problem wearing it again.
Nobody will notice; I guarantee it.
That covers wardrobe. What about everything else that burned in our fire?
You’ll need to replace a computer. A 13” laptop that you can also travel
with will work perfectly for 99.9% of the people reading this book. I won’t
get into the Mac vs PC debate. It’s all good. Get something small and
portable.
Unless you’re into heavy video production or something of that sort, you
do not need anything else.
And if you’re thinking, “Well, I need a big screen!”—o, you don’t. I work for
myself from anywhere in the world, and I’ve used netbooks for months on
end. I’ve used both 7” and 10” netbooks, ut neither of them are ideal unless
you only use them for e-mail and Web browsing. That’s why I recommend
a 13” laptop. They’re the perfect size for the majority of people.
The kitchen is a place where lots of us seem to go mad with buying too
much stuff. What do you need to make a kitchen work? A set of dishes, a
set of cutlery, a pot or two, one skillet, a wooden spoon, and a good knife.
Because I drink lots of tea, I’ll also throw in a mug and an infuser (for
loose tea).
If cooking is your passion, The Simple Dollar has a great article about The
Minimalist Kitchen here.
Car or no car?
I’m not going to make the claim that to be a minimalist you can’t have a
car. Unfortunately, for much of the world it’s just not doable.
A trip to the corner store? Not absolutely necessary to use a car. Ride a
bike or walk.
Pouring rain and you need to make a trip to the corner store? Understood.
:)
Personally, selling my car was one of my favorite feelings in the world. And
I will never live in a place where I need a car again. Will I use or drive cars?
Yes. I’m not saying I’ll never need to use a car. I’m saying that, for 99% of
my life, I can get by without a car. In the majority of life situations you can
do the same.
For the times you absolutely need a car there are services such as ZipCar
and other car-sharing services (Car2Go in Austin, TX and Germany) that
will allow you to rent a car by the minute, hour or day. And, of course, if
you need longer term rental, you can rent cheaply using Expedia.com.
There are dozens (maybe hundreds) of books and blogs about uncluttering
and getting rid of junk and they can teach you the details. I needed to
cover some basics and I won’t delve much deeper into the logistics.
The truth is, it’s very simple: we need a lot less than we think we need.
But, and this is maybe what sets me apart from lots of other minimalists, I
believe whatever you do have should be the best you can afford. (Meaning,
the best you can pay for in cash.)
For example, getting the cheapest knife from Walmart will result in
frustrating experience after frustrating experience. One good chef’s knife
I own at least one thing most people might not consider minimalist—a
guitar. To be completely truthful, I own a few. The others have been living in
my parents’ basement for years. Since they’re not worth much, I won’t sell
them. And I won’t trash them because that’s wasteful. Ideally, I’d like to give
each guitar away to someone who wants to learn to play. If I hadn’t been
able to leave my guitars at my parents’ house for the past 10 years, what
would I do with them? I’d get rid of them. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
Except one. I built a guitar in India. We’ll cover that later when we talk
about Ring #4: Experiences.
I love playing guitar. I need to play guitar. And this is where minimalism
has leniency. The Luxury of Less is not luxurious if you don’t have hobbies
and interests that help you grow and engage the mind. (That doesn’t
include watching TV.)
Physical Health
The fact that you purchased this book proves to me at least 3 things.
2) You have a little bit of extra spending cash. Otherwise you would not
have spent it on this book. (Thank you for that!)
3) You have the ability to be at peak health. By this, I mean your peak.
We’re not comparing ourselves to superstar athletes or Jack LaLanne.
We’re comparing ourselves to ourselves (Life Lesson #99).
No matter where you are right now. No matter how unfit you are. No
matter how many prescription medications you take right now. If you fit
into #1 and #2 you can attain #3, peak health.
Let’s talk about the current state of Western health, which is quickly
become First World health.
In no way, shape, or form, is any of this good for you. One day of junk
and no exercise? Yeah, whatever, no big deal. A lifetime of junk and no
exercise? Slow, painful death.
Food and drink should be used as nourishment for our incredible bodies.
If you use food for pleasure, it’s because there’s something missing in your
life. Your 5 Rings are not holding strong and you are compensating and
rationalizing by using “I love food!” as an excuse.
Loving food does not make you special. (You’re special for a host of other
reasons, of course!) Everybody loves food.
The problem stems from the fact that we confuse “I love food” with “I love
junk food.” That one extra word makes a big difference.
What I propose is that we need to move from “I love junk food” to “I love
food that gives my body natural energy, nourishes me, and allows me to
live an exceptional life.”
Going back to that example, loving coffee is perfectly fine. I’m not asking
you to give up coffee. I’m asking you to give up the need for coffee. The
addiction. When you don’t need something, you will enjoy it considerably
more.
As for me? I grew up on tea. Outside of the U.S., tea is a much more
popular drink. My mom used to drink tea regularly, so I drank it regularly
as well.
As I got older and began learning about the health benefits of tea, I became
even more intrigued. “Wow, I can drink this stuff that I love, and it’s good
for me as well? Sign me up.”
But I don’t need tea. It doesn’t help me get through the day. It provides a
soothing, tasty, anti-oxidant-rich beverage when I want it. Nothing more,
nothing less.
The mounting evidence of its health benefits does spur me to seek it out
more often that not, but sometimes I go days without drinking tea. It
doesn’t run my life.
I mean that both figuratively and literally because the caffeine in coffee
literally runs many people’s lives.
Water should be your go-to beverage of choice. Cool, clean, tap water.
Revel in the fact that wherever you live, you have access to this fantastic
natural resource. Not everybody on Earth is so fortunate.
First step to making Ring #1 Strong: Quit drinking anything except water
for 30 days. If it becomes unbearable, drink freshly squeezed (not store
bought) juice when you want some flavor.
I used to be addicted to soda. And when I say addicted, I mean that I used
to drink it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and throughout the whole day.
Pepsi and Dr Pepper were my drinks of choice and I guzzled them to the
tune of at least two liters a day.
Today? When I feel like it, I’ll have a soda and sometimes I’ll go through a
“soda phase”. It’s not often. On average, I probably don’t even drink soda
once a month. And you know what? When I do have a soda (preferably
something unique to the country or regions I’m visiting), usually it’s fairly
enjoyable. That said, if you’re the type of addictive personality that can
never “go back”, then don’t. You know yourself better than I know you.
No joke. My brother used to tease me about how frail I was. I can recall at
least two times while in junior high and high school where I missed two to
three weeks of school. Not over time, but two to three weeks straight.
No, usually it was just a nasty common cold or flu that would not go away.
I’d get drugged up by the doctor and feel a little bit better. But as we know,
doctors don’t cure patients, they just make symptoms easier to deal with.
So I downed cough medicine, I took pain medicine, and I got shots of who-
knows-what in my bum.
By that time I stopped going to the doctor. I just buckled down and dealt
with the symptoms. No sense in masking them.
But I didn’t find “the cure” until I was about 27 years old.
• Pizza
• Tacos
• Frozen dinners
• Bananas (the only fruit I ever used to buy consistently)
• Burritos
• French fries
It was the Standard American Diet (known as SAD) and exactly what I was
referring to earlier.
Since embracing the diet I explain soon, I have been sick far less. I actually
went two years before getting a cold again. There aren’t many perfect
immune systems, and considering mine used to be exceptionally weak, this
is fantastic.
The beauty of being human is that we can change. And when we make
small changes, such as to our diet, they make a big difference.
• A diet that gives you energy. In other words, a diet that doesn’t put
you in a food coma, but actually makes you want to get active.
• Whole grains
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Legumes (beans)
• Nuts
• Water and tea
I use very little salt in my cooking, but I do love spicy cayenne pepper on
almost everything. :)
Not only is this diet incredibly healthy, but being seemingly confined to
these categories of foods has opened a world of new tastes to me. That is
the Luxury of Less in action. The most common phrase in Musashi’s Go
Rin No Sho is variations of “you must study this well.”
You must study this well. (I will pepper this phrase throughout this book,
although not nearly as much as Musashi.) I don’t want you to blindly
believe anything I write. Find out for yourself. Experiment. Feel. The proof
will present itself to you without my help.
Your natural weight is the weight at which you are neither overweight, nor
underweight. Many people look at me and tell me I’m skinny. While that is
true, I’m well within the confines of healthy weight. I’m essentially right in
the middle using the Body Mass Index (BMI) scale.
But weight loss itself is not the point. Throw away your scale. How much
you weigh does not matter. Know that if you’re eating a diet rich in
products that nourish you, you’ll reach your ideal, natural weight and stay
that way without trying.
Besides that, tossing your scale means one less thing to take up space in
your house and in your mind.
Strength?
Me: “Hey, do you all want to do this other loop? It looks like it’s only about
an hour to the bridge and then we can turn around and come back.”
Everyone had some excuse that was ultimately: “I’m tired, I’m heading
back to the hostel.”
Sustainable?
Not only is this diet possible for the long haul, it’s possible almost
anywhere in the world. I know because I’ve been traveling on this diet
since September 1, 2009.
There are no excuses. If you do your research into this diet you’ll see that it
is the most beneficial to your present and your future.
Instead of trying to convince you, I’m going to ask you a few questions:
If the answer is yes to even one of those questions then let’s do this...
Snacks (to be eaten regularly throughout the day at any time when you’re
hungry): apples, oranges, nuts, celery sticks, tomatoes... you get the idea.
You can eat anything you’d like on this diet as long as it’s plant-based and
grown naturally.
Seriously. Let me repeat that, because unhealthy diets are restrictive and
go against this rule: eat as much as you want.
You will probably be hungry more often than when your digestive system
was being overworked with your normal diet. That’s okay. Eat.
This 30 day challenge is to be done after Challenge #1. That means you’re
no longer dependent on coffee. If you’re the type of addictive personality
that can’t go back even a little, then don’t drink coffee. If you can handle it,
you should be able to drink a cup a day (or whenever) without it running
your life again.
Exercise
You know how people say you should do what you love and it won’t feel
like work? The same holds true for exercise.
Simple!
The trick is you may have to try a lot of things before you find something
you love.
If you need help, read this article: Get Fit In Just 1 Minute (or How I
Almost Died From Heat Exhaustion)
Be careful that you don’t have to buy new gear for each thing you try.
You can usually find whatever you need secondhand and then sell it for the
same price you bought it for if you don’t want to continue using it. (Or if
you’re moving.)
If you learn to love running all you need is shoes. Or, like Leo Babauta,
maybe you’ll go barefoot.
This, of course, depends on what you do. I do a lot of walking and hiking
and riding my bike. I’ve been using my casual everyday shoes for athletics
for over a year and they are utterly ruined. I won’t change that while I’m
traveling, but if I stay put for more than three to four months in one place
again, I will get a pair of athletic shoes that I don’t have to worry about
ruining.
It has been said that you only need to work out for 30 minutes a day and
just 3 times a week to get fit. I don’t know if that’s enough. When you lose
the TV, begin eating a healthy diet, and find an exercise you love—you’ll
want to exercise more often. When it’s sunny outside I ride my bike every
day. Sometimes for just an hour, sometimes for a few hours.
Exercise doesn’t only make you physically fit, but mentally fit as well. It
provides clarity and focus. You’ll find many good ideas come to you when
you’re in the midst of a tough workout.
Your challenge for the next 30 days is to find that exercise that you don’t
feel you have to do, you simply want to do it. It can be almost anything.
Running, biking, yoga, swimming, basketball (or any team sport), weight
training, body-weight training and so on.
If one Ring is weakening, you can use another Ring to build it back up.
Maybe you’ve become a bit sad or depressed. Use the Relationships Ring
to pick yourself up.
Maybe you’ve been eating poorly. Use the Wealth Ring to buy the freshest,
most healthful produce available to you. When your Wealth Ring is strong,
you don’t worry about how much nutrient rich foods cost.
What I mean is, I had the idea to learn how build a guitar, I researched
locations where I could do that, and I booked it.
That’s not the way most people do things because most people have a weak
or nonexistent Wealth Ring.
The Wealth Ring is not about excess. It’s about never worrying about basic
necessities. And then ...
What you have to know is that building a strong Wealth Ring, just like the
other Rings, takes time.
Sure you might come into an inheritance or win the lottery, but don’t
count on that.
Building your Wealth Ring will come from hard, smart work and
consistent, focused action.
While it is possible to build Wealth and get out of debt at the same time,
for most people getting out of debt first is easier. You know yourself better
than I do, so you will have to tackle this in whatever way works for you.
What I suggest is that you put a system in place to get out of debt. Once
you’ve focused on a system for debt relief, you can transfer focus to
building the rest of your Wealth Ring.
Adam Baker, from ManVsDebt.com, writes about what he calls The Debt
Tsunami.
It’s his strategy to get out of debt based on what debts take the most
emotional toll on you. The best way to deal with debt is to take emotions
out of it. If you’re emotionally affected by certain debts, then that’s
impossible.
I love this strategy, because it fits perfectly within the The Five Rings.
Debt is stressful. Certain debt is even more stressful. All debt is bad for
your Wealth. It weakens your Relationships and hinders your Experiences.
The most stressful debt is the worst for your Health, so it makes sense to
get rid of the most stressful debt first.
If you need additional help, Adam sells a very low cost guide called
Unautomate Your Finances that goes deeper into setting up a debt relief
system.
This is very important. If you’ve already got a debt relief system that is
working for you, then you obviously don’t have to complete this 30 Day
Challenge.
If however, you’re in any amount of debt, you must start now to delete the
debt.
The key is to do something that will help delete your debt, but doesn’t have
any (or many) startup costs. We’ll get into starting an actual business soon
enough. The startup costs won’t be huge, but there will be startup costs.
One of the quickest ways to crumble your Wealth Ring is to not have
enough money to handle an emergency.
How are you supposed to build a huge Emergency Fund if you’re in debt?
The simple answer is that you don’t. Once you’ve done 30 Day Challenge
#4 and established a system for debt relief, it’s time to start a small
Emergency Fund.
That means that while you’re paying off debt you should also force yourself
to find extra cash for an Emergency Fund. Again, that can be with a short-
term job or something like that.
But you first need to start with a If My Car Breaks Down And I Need A Tow
Truck Emergency Fund.
$100.
Your goal for the next 30 Days is to scrounge up $100 for an Emergency
Fund.
It’s important not to change anything from 30 Day Challenge #4. Meaning,
don’t take away from your debt relief to find this $100. Your debt relief
system is sacred and is not to be touched.
If you’re not in debt, then your goal is to build a 1-month living expenses
or $1,000 Emergency Fund. Whichever is greater.
It’s because minimalism to me is more than just about the things we own.
It encapsulates everything in our lives. What I mentioned earlier about
getting rid of stuff, I want to reiterate again: get rid of everything you don’t
need, which is almost everything. Use the “what if everything burned in a
fire” scenario to figure out what really matters to you.
Start A Business
This really is the only way to build a truly powerful Wealth Ring. I’m not
saying you can’t become filthy rich in a job. It’s true, you can. What I’m
saying is you will never be truly free in a job, and that is more important
than filthy rich.
These days, starting a small, profitable business does not have to cost a lot
of money. Back in 2002 I started my first 6 figure business for less than
$119.40.
The most important advice I have for starting a business is to find the
cross-section of what you love and what people will pay for.
The beauty is, due to the Internet, that audience is getting bigger and
bigger. You don’t have to reach people in your community, you can reach
people worldwide.
In the book Crush It!, Gary Vaynerchuk gives five interesting examples
of small niches (and not-so-small niches) that he thinks somebody with
passion can dominate over the coming years. I generally agree.
If you go into a large niche, it helps immensely if you’re unique like Matt
and Steve.
I have far too many examples of businesses and business ideas to list here,
but I want you to think about this when starting your business—can you
see yourself doing the same thing in five to ten years?
So take a minute and ask yourself: “Can I see myself doing X in five to ten
years?”
If the answer is no, then you will never give your idea the attention it
deserves. If the answer is yes, then your chances are good. Personally, I
can’t see myself not writing publicly and privately for the rest of my life. I
don’t think or dwell on a time that far ahead because I live in the present,
but I don’t see myself doing anything other than exactly what I’m doing.
Which means that today I’m working on exactly what I should be working
on. Every day I work towards improving what I’m doing and affecting
more people. Study this well.
If you’re like me or any other fairly normal person, you probably want to
help people who very clearly need help. Whether that’s helping them up off
the ground when they fall or giving someone in front of you at the grocery
store a dollar because they’re short on change, we all like to do good. But
that direct do-goodery is not what I’m talking about.
At one time or another, we’ve all had a friend who brings us down. We try
to help, giving our time and soul, but it’s to no avail. We think we’re “doing
good,” but we’re not. Not only does this friend not listen, they complain
that whatever you’re offering isn’t going to help.
It almost turns into a contest. How many shitty things can they be right
about?
You already know I don’t believe in luck. Life Lesson #94: There is no such
thing as luck. You either make good things happen or bad things happen.
If someone consistently tells themself something bad is going to happen,
then something bad is going to happen. And then they can be right! And
more bad stuff will happen, because they so, so, so want to be right they’ll
do everything they can to keep being right!
It’s almost fun for them to be right in the wrong way. “I’m right about how
much my life sucks and nothing ever goes the way I want it to. Yay!”
You start feeling like garbage. You begin to feel the same way your friend
feels. And when you start feeling worse, your friend goes even further into
the pits of despair. It’s a sick, sick cycle.
First, know this—it’s okay to not want to be friends with someone you’re
currently friends with.
If you’ve already broken the ties with someone before, you know exactly
how difficult it can be.
There are two approaches you can take to getting rid of friends who
are bringing you down. First, the direct approach. Second, the indirect
approach. Everything falls into one of these two camps.
The direct approach is tough. You basically state that you just don’t want
to be friends anymore. It’s just as awkward as breaking up any other
relationship. :)
Depending on how you do it, this approach may be too harsh. And if your
friend is mentally unstable it may result in dire consequences.
If you’re going to take the direct approach, don’t attack or accuse. Bring
the fault upon your shoulders.
This approach isn’t much easier, especially if it’s a friend you talk to hang
out with very regularly.
That said, this is the way more friendships end—naturally. They fade away
instead of burning out.
How?
When your toxic friend wants to hang out, have other plans. Ignoring
someone is weak, so don’t outright ignore them if they contact you. Just
don’t go out of your way to hang out with them, knowing they’ll make you
feel like shit in the end.
If you do hang out with said friend (considering you’re fading away,
instead of burning out, this may happen), don’t take the bait. Meaning,
when they complain or gossip or do anything to bring themselves and
you down, don’t react. Change the subject or state something positive in
response.
Your challenge over the next 30 days is to completely disassociate from the
most toxic person in your life by whatever means necessary. Of all the 30
day challenges, this is by far the most difficult.
What you’ll find is, after just 30 days, your life will progress by leaps and
bounds. Again, this is not an easy challenge (it is a challenge, after all), but
it is necessary.
I know very few men who aren’t married and believe in monogamy and a
mindful approach to relationships. The truth is, chasing multiple romantic
relationships is not healthy, any more than being an alcoholic is healthy.
I don’t believe in wasting time with women who are not right for
me. And so, I’ve been in exactly one relationship that has lasted a really
significant amount of time. (Four plus years.) What I realized after that
relationship is that most people are in relationships they shouldn’t be in.
And that’s why divorce rates and general unhappiness are both so high.
This might seem like I’m limiting myself or have a long laundry list of
“wants.” That’s not true. Like most people, I have a general type of person
I’m attracted to, but that is pliable.
I don’t necessarily believe there is one person for each of us. I think there
may be more. What I do know for sure is there are an incredible amount of
people we shouldn’t spend our time with no matter how good it feels in the
moment.
Spending your time with people (romantically and otherwise) who don’t
contribute to your growth contributes to stagnation and regression.
I’ve known many people who get into relationships just because. Yes, that’s
the reason. It’s not that the person is a good fit. It’s “he’s hot” or “she’s hot”
or something else equally superficial. Nothing wrong with somebody being
hot, of course! It’s just not a good basis for a sustained relationship.
I’ve also known many people who don’t leave relationships when they
should. A girl I used know who was dating a guy for over two years told
me, “I don’t love him, and we don’t really get along, but if we break up I’ll
be alone.”
You can tell yourself every excuse in the book. You can fight it. You can
put it off every which way. But the truth is, you know when you’re in a
relationship that is not beneficial. Free yourself.
Listen, if you don’t have any friends, I can understand that loneliness. And
so, if you don’t have any friends, yes you do need at least one. Fortunately,
that’s not so difficult.
I’ve never had a lot of friends, but I’ve always had friends. Instead of
nourishing and embracing those friendships, I probably did too much
thinking like, “Man, I need more.” As a result, I’ve ruined a lot of
friendships I shouldn’t have. I don’t feel bad or guilty about this, because
better I know it now than never.
Life Lesson #1: Friends really do come and go. Some come back. Some
don’t. That’s okay.
I have friends in almost every city in the world. I’m not saying that to
brag. I don’t even know most of them. :) It’s because I’m a member of
CouchSurfing.org. It’s not just about a play to stay. It’s a chance to meet
amazing people in other cities or your city. Every single person I have
introduced to CouchSurfing (and there have been many, especially through
my free CouchSurfing Black Book) has come back and told me about the
amazing people they have met.
As for close friendships, I don’t have too many. Know that you don’t need
a quantity of friendships. This goes for platonic and romantic. Quality is
far more important. But more than that, quality relationships feel better.
They’re not empty. That is the Luxury of Less.
When I’ve talked about this in person I’ve usually been met with
resistance. “It’s not that easy to not want more friends.”
Maxwell Maltz put it very well when he said, “If you make friends with
yourself, you will never be alone.”
• Travel
• Movies
• Dinner
• Sporting events
• Industry Events/Conferences
• Theme parks
The reason I get that reaction is because it’s from someone who isn’t
friends with themselves. Someone who doesn’t enjoy their own company.
That’s the ticket right there. Loneliness and being alone are not the same.
So how do you break that cycle? If you can’t find someone to go out with,
go to a social event alone and meet people. Even if you’re incredibly
introverted.
Yeah, you’ll have anxiety and you might sweat and you might want to
vomit. Don’t worry, I’ve been there. The first time you do this will be very
difficult, but it’s necessary. The other alternative is to wallow in your
loneliness. If you’re okay with that, then far be in from me to stop you. But
I really don’t think anybody is okay with that.
And of course, your regional magazine or newspaper will have a list of lots
of current events.
At least once over the next 30 days go to an event that is usually a group
event, but go there by yourself. Don’t invite anybody.
Friday night? Go to the movies. This one really freaks people out because
almost everybody at the movies on a Friday night is there in groups of 2 or
more. When you’re freaked out about doing something you know you’re
growing.
I’ve gone to the movies by myself at all times of the day and night in 5
different countries. I’ve also gone to the movies by myself at all times of
the day and night with other people in 4 different countries. (India was the
outlier, I went to the movies just once, solo.) The point is, if I want to see a
movie, it doesn’t matter what the situation is, I’ll go. Reaching that level of
comfort with yourself is the point of this challenge.
While it’s important to get rid of toxic people in our lives, it’s also
important to get rid of the toxic things in our lives as well.
We’ve been conditioned to believe we need lots of stuff to live happy lives.
Far be it from me to say you’re wrong if you believe that, but you’re wrong
if you believe that.
Think about one of your heroes right now. It can be anybody. Business
person, sports star, neighbor, whatever. Do you think any of them got to
where they are by watching TV?
Not a chance.
Even people who work in television don’t watch much TV. Why? They’re
too busy creating mindless programming for the sheep who do watch.
I got rid of TV in 2006. And by “got rid of” I mean I canceled cable. I still
had the TV and a DVD player and, eventually a Wii. (I did get rid of ALL of
this stuff in 2009.)
Here’s why: TV is toxic and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I’m sick
of people saying, “But I only watch Discovery Channel” or “I only watch
the History Channel.” “TV is educational.” Yeah, right. No you don’t. No
it’s not. Read a book.
Think about how much more fulfilled your life would be if you could spend
your time on hobbies that you love. Guitar, reading, and writing are mine.
What are yours?
By the way, limiting TV does not work. It’s all or nothing. Get rid of it.
There is not a single person I know who has achieved Five Ring Status and
gives a shit what happened on Lost or who won American Idol. It’s either
or. You can’t have it both ways. This is The Way.
T yler Tervooren figured out that you can add 8.2 years
and $133,369 to your life by getting rid of your TV.
You already know I don’t have many close friends, I don’t believe in one
night stands, and, in general, I don’t approach relationships with anybody
or any thing like most people.
After years of honing this approach, I know this is the best way to
experience relationships.
A lot of people confuse minimalism with being cheap. While being frugal is
awesome, being cheap creates a cycle of frustration and constantly buying
new stuff to replace the old stuff.
Guitar #1:
Person: “Oh hey, nice guitar, what kind is that?”
Me: “Oh, thanks, it’s a Martin.”
Person: “Nice!”
Guitar #2:
Person: “Oh hey, nice guitar, what kind is that?”
Me: “Oh, thanks, I built it in India with my bare hands and no power
tools.” ;)
Person: “WTF! Tell me about that!”
I’m not trying to make this seem like it’s about showing off or bragging.
That’s not it at all. It’s about the story, the experience. We get to write our
own story. It’s a blank canvas and we have control over most aspects of it.
Most people live a store bought reality. Force fed conformity. Made to
believe a University education and a good day job (an oxymoron if I’ve
ever heard one) are the ultimate goals in life.
So this is all well and good, right? “Yes, Karol, I understand we need good
experiences.”
Do them.
Go do epic shit.
Stop letting life live you and start living life. Maybe in theory it’s difficult,
but once you actually do, it it’s really easy.
You can start having amazing experiences while you’re in debt, while
you’re unhealthy, and while you’re working on wealth. Yes, that’s right.
Because it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, and many times will cost
nothing.
And the most beautiful part of living an amazing life is that you get to
define amazing. I can’t tell you how to live your life.
I can give you a general roadmap (this book, my How To Live Anywhere
course, and my blog), but you have figure out what’s right for you.
Most people have that one thing they’ve always wanted to do in their lives.
Maybe it’s a trip around the world. Maybe it’s something much logistically
easier, like a skydive.
Maybe logistics will prevent you from doing the experience within the next
30 days. In that case, put the wheels in motion.
For example when I decided I was going to sell all my stuff and travel, I
bought a plane ticket 6 months in advance of my departure date.
“It is about things outside man’s knowledge. Of course the void does not
exist. By knowing what exists, you can know that which does not exist.
That is the void.”
Heavy, right?
He goes on: “To attain the Way of strategy as a warrior you must study
fully other martial arts and not deviate even a little from the Way of the
warrior.”
If there’s anything you’ve ever studied hard, you know exactly what I
mean.
Maybe you play guitar and you naturally get in the pocket if you’re
jamming with friends. Nobody needs to tell you what key or chord
progression, you just know.
Only when you get in the trenches and get rid of most of your possessions
(yes, that is essential to minimalism) will you get a natural feeling for what
minimalism is to you. If you’re new or haven’t even gotten started yet it
may seem overwhelming. Study the various schools of minimalism, then
be a minimalist.
If you currently have a job that you dislike, my best advice is not to quit
today. But put the wheels in motion right now to quit what you don’t love.
That is the essence of the Luxury of Less. Less allows you the Luxury of
doing what you love.
It’s not the only path to freedom, but it is definitely the happiest, most
fulfilling way to Freedom.
Ring #1 is Health. Like the Ground, it must be stable for us to live well.
Ring #2 is Wealth. Wealth is like Water. It can rise and fall like the
tides. But if we harness its power, it will flow steadily like the Amazon.
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. This is the book that helped me with the
confidence to travel solo around the world with just a backpack.
Leo Babauta – His website ZenHabits.net and book The Power of Less
were the catalyst for my minimalism and to this day his writing inspires
me.
Twitter: @KarolGajda
If you’d like to get in touch via e-mail you can contact me here.
Thank you!