This is optimal living daily episode 289 excerpts from the book essential by Joshua Fields millburn and Ryan Nicodemus of the minimalist.com and I'm just a maulic. Welcome back or if you're new here, this is going to sound a little different because I'm under the weather and recording this just a couple hours before this episode goes live. Normally I read to you from some of the best blogs on personal development, but when I'm sick, I like to use previously recorded material that I have from the minimalist book essential. So that's what I'll be playing for you today.
And if you'd like to show some support for this podcast, just listen through to the end, please. But for now, let's hear some more of the book as we optimize your life. You are not impressing me. Our please like me culture has transformed into something hideous.
We've been enveloped by an epidemic of pointless attention-grabbing solipsism. Look around, the world is attempting to impress you. We needn't impress anyone and yet we all try. Relentlessly, we try doing the strangest things to get the attention and ultimately the approval of others.
Oh, you purchased a brand new Lexus, you're a published author, your job title is X and you earned six figures? So what? Take it from two guys who had it all, who had to get everything we ever wanted to realize that everything we ever wanted wasn't what we wanted at all. It was empty, meaningless, depressing.
Your material possessions, your social status and even your so-called accomplishments don't impress anyone. They certainly don't impress us. You impress us, not the things around you. We are impressed by your commitment to change, by your ability to grow, by your desire to contribute beyond yourself.
Everything else is just a social construct, devoid of meaning. There's nothing inherently wrong with owning possessions, accomplishing goals or earning money. Just don't think those things impress anyone. They don't.
At least not in a meaningful way. I counted all my stuff. The most unfortunate misconception we encounter about minimalism has to do with the act of counting your possessions. I could never be a minimalist because I don't want to live with less than a hundred things.
We hear that a lot. Even while regarded internet stars inadvertently promulgated this misconception, saying odd things like, I'm not a minimalist, I have no desire to move to a 300-square-foot apartment and religiously track the number of socks I own. Yeah, neither do we. Seeing people propagate such misconceptions is unfortunate because it gives an important movement to black eye and scares people away from something greater.
Often the people promoting such ideas do so without malice, but they do so because they are afraid of labels. But some labels are helpful. Minimalism has helped thousands of people discover meaning in their lives. It has never been about counting stuff.
Even our friend Dave Bruno, the author of the Hundred Thing Challenge, would be the first person to attest to this. Dave lived for a long time with only a hundred things as a personal challenge. But the reason he did so was to prove our constant consumption is void of meaning. But the number of possessions is arbitrary.
As a product take on why counting isn't necessary, Joshua counted his stuff last year. That essay, Everything I Own, my 288 Things, TheMinimalist.com 4.288 is ironically one of the most popular essays on our site. The ostensible subject to counting your possessions was not the true subject, it was not the point. The point was that taking a physical inventory of your life is eye-opening and it helps you get rid of unnecessary items so you can appreciate what you have.
You don't have to count your stuff, although you can if you want. Either way, minimalism can help you live more and need less irrespective of how many pairs of socks you own. Start with the easy stuff. Baffled by life's excess, we often look around at our piles of miscellaneous and throw our hands in the air.
There's so much emotion, so many memories wrapped up in our possessions. Although, of course, the memories aren't in the possessions, they're inside us, and that's where they'll always be. But still, letting go is difficult, difficult, but not impossible. Want to start simplifying?
First, avoid sentimental items in difficult part with objects. You'll never get started if you're faced with all that heavy lifting. And stay away from the most onerous rooms, basements, garages, and attic, they will only overwhelm you. Instead, start with the easy things, the superfluous clothes jammed in the closet, the junk drawer is teeming with junk, the unused kitchenware taking up space, just in case.
If you begin with the things that are painless, then, as inertia takes over, simplifying gets easier by the day. Moreover, the journey towards simpler life is more enjoyable with an accountability partner. A new month is always pinging its head around the corner, which means it's the perfect time to play the 30-day minimalism game, the Minimalist.com forward slash game. So grab a friend, clear the clutter, and have some fun together.
Photo Scanning Party by Joshua Fields Millburn. If you're going to ask for one fiscal gift this year for the holidays, consider a good photo scanner. If you're like me, then you've probably let the overstuffed boxes and photo albums go and check over the years, and now they're collecting dust in your basement or closet, unused, just sitting there waiting for one day to come. One day, two of the most dangerous words in the English language, I too held onto heaps of meaningful photos added no value to my life because they were hidden away, and the prospect of dealing with them seemed daunting, overwhelming, not worth a hassle.
So I let them sit in the attic, the cupboard, the garage, then inspired by Ryan's packing party, I decided to throw a photo scanning party. It turns out that if you put a party at the end of anything, Ryan will show up. First, I found a high-quality scanner, the Minimalist.com forward slash scanning, that allows me to rapidly feed photos and immediately save them to a memory card, which I could then use in a couple of high-res digital picture frames. What a novel idea, actually display my treasured photos.
Plus, if anything were to happen to my home, flood, fire, or robbery, all my photos are backed up online. That's why I'll never worry about losing those memories. Of course, the memories aren't in our material possessions, but I found that a well-curated photo collection can help trigger all the wonderful memories of yesteryear without all the physical baggage. Next, to make my party a little more fun, and less lonely, I invited a few friends over, ordered food and drinks, and together we thumbed through the photographs of my childhood and all of its double-chinged grandeur, scanning my favorites to display.
I've won remaining box of photos and I'm going to scan this month. I think another scanning party is in order. Feel free to join me, scan your own photos, and share some of your favorites on Twitter or Instagram using our scanning party hashtag. You just listened to an excerpt from the book, Essential, by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus of TheMinimalist.com.
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Maybe not. We'll see how I'm feeling, but in either case, I will see you there, where your optimal life awaits. Hey, this is Dan from the Optimal Finance Daily Podcast, which is a lot like this show, except more focused on personal finance. Justin handpicks the best posts he can find from blogs and authors like Remete Sadie, Mr.
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