3459: Minimalism Is Not a Radical Lifestyle AND Ending the Tyranny of Cool by Joshua Fields Millburn

[00:00:00] Überlass deine gesunde Ernährung und die Gains nicht nur deinem Bauchgefühl. Denn bei der Ernährung gaukelt uns unser innerer Schweinehund manchmal ganz schön was vor. Sag stattdessen Hallo zu deinem neuen Coach, Yasio. Yasio ist die meistgenutzte Ernährungs-App Europas, made in Germany. Egal ob Massephase oder ein bisschen Abnehmen, tracke Kalorien, Proteine, Carbs, Fette, Bewegung und Intervallfasten. Und mit den Tasty-Rezepten bist du ready für deine Ziele. Let's go! Lade die Yasio-App jetzt herunter.

[00:00:30] It's a Minimalist Monday edition of Optimal Living Daily. Minimalism is not a radical lifestyle AND Ending the Tyranny of Cool. Both by Joshua Fields Millburn of TheMinimalists.com. And I'm Justin Malik, your narrator. I read to you from some of the best blogs in the world every day, covering personal development and growth, lifestyle, minimalism, and more. And I have two posts today, both from Joshua of The Minimalists. So let's get right to them and continue optimizing your life.

[00:01:03] Minimalism is not a radical lifestyle by Joshua Fields Millburn of TheMinimalists.com. When some people meet me and they feel compelled to talk about minimalism, they think I live a radical lifestyle. They say things like, I could never be a minimalist. But the truth is that my lifestyle is not radical and I'm not a radical person. If you met me today and we didn't talk about minimalism, which we probably wouldn't,

[00:01:30] you wouldn't think my lifestyle is much different than yours. I don't count my stuff, but I have hundreds of things, even after I got rid of 90% of my stuff.

[00:01:39] I own a car. I own pots and pans and kitchen utensils. I own a queen-size bed. I own a smartphone. I own a laptop. I own a desk. I own a guitar. I own some furniture. I own a shelf full of books. I own a dresser and a washer and a dryer and more than a few days worth of clothes.

[00:02:01] But there are three key distinctions. Number one, I don't own excess. I have only the things I use frequently, things that add value to my life, but I don't have extra stuff. I don't have just-in-case items. If I wanted to change my lifestyle, then my definition of excess would change as well. For example, if I wanted to become a peripatetic writer traveling the world like my friend Colin, then I would need to drastically reduce my possessions.

[00:02:31] But at this point in my life, I'm happy with where I live and I don't desire to travel extensively. If that changes, then I will change. Number two, I constantly question possessions. Do I still need this? When is the last time I used this? What would happen if I got rid of this? Could someone use this more than me?

[00:02:53] These are questions I consistently ask myself. Because I constantly question my possessions, I'm in a perpetual state of paring down, which feels good. There is no endgame. I will never arrive. I'll continue the journey for the rest of my life. And number three, I don't give meaning to possessions. Most important, I understand that my possessions can be replaced. Someone recently asked me what I would grab if my apartment caught fire.

[00:03:22] Nothing, I responded. Everything I own is replaceable. Minimalism is not a radical lifestyle. Minimalism is a tool I use to get rid of unnecessary stuff and live a meaningful life. My life filled with happiness, freedom, and conscious awareness. Because I strip away life's excess, I'm able to focus on the important parts of life. Health, relationships, passions, growth, and contribution.

[00:03:50] That's what living a meaningful life is about for me. How about you? What could you strip away that would allow you to focus on the important aspects of your life? Ending the tyranny of cool by Joshua Fields Milburn of TheMinimalist.com Not so long ago, I wanted to be cool. Steve McQueen cool. Coca-Cola advertisement cool. New car smell cool.

[00:04:19] Being cool was important to me. It mattered. I had to have the perfect clothes with the right logos. I had to have my shiny Lexus with the tan leather interior and in-dash navigation system. I had to have stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors, modern furniture, and all the trappings propagated by our media-soaked culture. I was trapped by the tyranny of cool. If I bought the perfect clothes, then everything would be right, right?

[00:04:48] If I drove the perfect car, then everyone would respect me, right? If I had the right furniture, then I would be happy, right? I laugh at myself now, but those things were so important to me once upon a time, not long ago. Those things forced me to continue to work a job and not pursue my passions, so I could buy more and more stuff. If I bought more stuff, I'd be more cool, right?

[00:05:13] Three separate things made me realize how ridiculous being cool really was, and these three realizations made me discover that being cool wasn't cool at all. Number one, coolness is perspectival. I discovered material items have no meaning, or rather, material items have only the meaning we give them. You can think buying a $40,000 car is cool, or you can believe riding public transportation is cool.

[00:05:43] Neither is right or wrong. It's all based on your perspective. It's up to you to decide what is cool. You don't have to let TV, radio, magazines, or people on the internet tell you what is cool. Number two, real friends don't care about cool. Why was I obsessed with fancy things? Was it going to make people respect me more, like me more, love me more? Of course not.

[00:06:11] Besides, anyone who respected me because of the car I drove didn't respect me anyway. They respected the idea of me, but not me, the me on the inside. Ryan will always be my friend, even if I wear a jockey t-shirt and ride the bus to his house. He doesn't care about that stuff. He cares about me. He's a true friend, and I'm thankful to have a lot of great people like him in my life.

[00:06:36] And number three, I've met truly cool people. My friends are atypically cool, though they vehemently deny it. They're acute listeners. They're honest, genuine, trusting, trustworthy. All virtues I consider to be tremendously cool. My friends have taught me that being cool has nothing to do with the stuff I own, and everything to do with the way I act, the way I treat other people, the way I contribute.

[00:07:05] Those are the attributes that make people cool. You just listened to the posts titled, Minimalism is not a radical lifestyle, and Ending the Tyranny of Cool, both by Joshua Fields Milburn of theminimalists.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. Look, meal planning takes a lot of energy. Every Sunday, I'd spend hours on it, all while trying to keep things healthy and interesting.

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[00:08:24] That's 50% off your first week by using code OLD or going to cookunity.com slash old. Thank you to Joshua. I think when I first started narrating minimalism content back in 2015, I had that same misconception that to be a minimalist, you have to live with very little, barely anything like Colin Wright did traveling the world and being able to keep all of his possessions in one backpack.

[00:08:53] But over the many years of Minimalist Mondays here on this show, I think for me it's become more about mindfulness and intentionality. And like he said, not assigning meaning to our items, which can be difficult, especially with sentimental items, typically the hardest kinds of items to declutter. We can feel a lot of meaning and memory with certain objects and even have guilt when it comes to getting rid of them.

[00:09:19] When the meaning itself isn't inside the object, it's in us. A picture of the object could suffice. And it's a bit tricky, takes practice. That's more of an expert level minimalism thing, but just understanding that could help us declutter day-to-day stuff that's just getting in the way. So something to think about today for Minimalist Monday. Hope you're able to declutter along with me. But that should do it for today. Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow for the Tuesday show, where your

[00:09:49] optimal life awaits.