As discussed in my earlier posts, the Monkey Mind loves coming up with quick solutions and the Rational Mind is too lazy to bother unless we take charge of the situation. The reason the human brain loves to fall back on default habit patterns is that it is extremely energy efficient. Decision Fatigue Too many choices makes us a Tyrant to OurselvesÄecision-making requires a lot of energy. Tolerating things that seem harmless will actually drain you and leave you from doing something more meaningful and fulfilling. In the end, it is simply a matter of being efficient with the limited amount of energy we all have. It is okay to find ourselves in situations, we inadvertently signed up for but it is very much in our power to decide whether to continue. The point is, as we move through life, we gather stuff, we gather commitments and we never revisit them and question them. If the list above doesn't describe your life, I am very happy for you because it does describe my life (pathetically accurately) not so long ago. Even within a (large) city, your commute times might be significant with traffic, etc if moving closer to the office is not an easy option. e.g: moving to a new city for a new job opportunity might require more considerations if you own a house in the current city. Reduced maneuverability in terms of career changes.Inadequate savings even with increased earnings a.k.a Lifestyle Inflation.Not getting quality work done leading to long term dissatisfaction and loss of productivity.Inability to Focus or sustain Deep Work.Lack of lasting satisfaction even after purchasing the things we thought would make us happy.Some items might be imposed onto us but oftentimes, a lot of items are self-imposed Feeling exhausted with the never-ending (and ever-inflating) to-do lists at work and at home.Non-stop emails where you are really not needed. Feeling exhausted with constant notifications/updates.Subscribing to mailers and never reading any one of them.Installing apps and not using them ever.Buying things and never using them much.Holding things we haven't used for ages.Most people have experienced the following things in their everyday life at some point or another. It is best to take examples in an attempt to understand what we are up against here. I will not bore you with explaining why Essentialism is so attractive as a practice. ![]() As the Author, Greg Mckeown puts it, "If it is not clear Yes, it is a clear No" It is not about having the Least number of things but to have the Optimal number of things, chosen Intentionally. Practicing delayed gratification principles to re-evaluate our choices more deliberately and ensuring that we (increasingly) invest only in things that are essential for our well-being. So, instead of thinking of getting rid of everything and stop buying anything, it is useful to start practicing being "Intentional" about our choices. When I mean affording something, it involves financial considerations but more importantly, it involves energy (and time) considerations and commitments. I don't think there is anything wrong with procuring things, which can add value to our lives, as long as we can afford them comfortably. If I had to nitpick over jargon, I would prefer Essentialism or Intentionalism over Minimalism to describe the topic. I think it is worthwhile to consider why developing the skill (everything is a skill) of active decluttering is so important in every facet of our lives and why being very deliberate about the things we choose to "add" and to "retain" can elevate our level of general well being and satisfaction. In this post, I wish to introduce the concepts of Essentialism and in the following posts, we can get into more practical details. I have to admit that I have a footprint way larger than optimal but I feel that I have always been an essentialist and more recently, I have started being more deliberate about it. I recently read the book "Essentialism" and it got me thinking.
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