Let’s look in the mirror and be honest with ourselves. Is there something meaningful you’ve been putting off? Is it something you’ve intended to do for a while?

Maybe you want to learn how to play guitar or start your own business or write a book. Or maybe you’ve thought about starting a blog or taking a yoga class or starting to exercise daily.

If so, what are you waiting for? If you continue to put it off until tomorrow, tomorrow will never come.

So, instead, when would today be a good day to get started?

No one likes to talk about death. And yet we’re all going to die. Obviously. Which makes for a strange paradox.

What’s worse is that we often refuse to discuss important topics surrounding death, like burial plans, cremation, living wills, and the like. The younger we are, the more we pretend that the inevitable isn’t inevitable.

And so we go about our day-to-day lives with these small little worries in the back of our minds, unsure what would happen if we got sick, if we died unexpectedly, if we became unconscious and could no longer make decisions for ourselves.

But that could never happen to me! we think, knowing full well that it could, and it might. Young or old, we’re all one instant away from a disaster.

That doesn’t mean we need to be afraid, though. We just need to be prepared.

Personally, I was unprepared for many, many years. But recently, I took worry by the hand and faced the fact that, at any time, I’m a moment away from death. So I decided to plan accordingly by obtaining or updating the following…

Living will. A living will, also known as an Advance Health Care Directive or Advance Medical Directive, is a legal document that provides your family, doctors, and caregivers with information about what life saving measures you wish to be taken should there come a time when you are unable to communicate your wishes.

Last will and testament. A last will and testament is a legal document that dictates what happens to your estate once you pass away. If you have a complicated estate, it’s best to have an attorney help you write your last will and testament, so you can be sure that your estate is handled properly. If your situation is relatively straightforward, you can draft your own last will and testament and avoid attorney fees. It’s best to learn about the components of a last will and testament and how to make sure yours is legally viable.

Power of attorney. As an independent adult, it’s important for you to have a will. But something else that you need to consider is a power of attorney. This document legally allows a chosen person to be in charge of your financial matters (such as conducting bank transactions and investing money), property matters (such as management of property), and other legal situations (such as operating a small business). In addition, a power of attorney is not only used in cases of disability and illness, but also in cases where you can’t be somewhere to sign a legal document.

Organ donor. See my article about the importance of becoming an organ donor: Here, Have an Organ.

Although I intend to live for a long time, my deathbed ducks are now in a row. Even better, the worry has disappeared from the back of my mind. There are other documents and considerations you might want to consider, but the above four routes are a great start toward a more sound piece of mind.

I used LegalZoom for the above documents, as well as for other basic legal documentation needs. There are also free online resources like wikiHow that can point you in the right direction. For more complex taxation or legal matters, I seek my CPA’s or lawyer’s council.

Food is not entertainment. These four words helped change my dietary mindset. Which helped me change my eating habits. Which allowed me to drop from 240 pounds to 160 pounds in two-and-a-half years. Fat to thin. Unhealthy to healthy. Flabby to fit.

Accordingly, I no longer treat food as entertainment. Rather, food is meant to nourish. Food is fuel. Plain and simple.

That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy food, though. I enjoy it immensely. I eat with friends. I share meals with loved ones. I drink tea with strangers.

The difference, then, is that I don’t turn to food to entertain me, or to comfort me, or to “get me through tough times.”

Instead, I turn to food to power my body, to make me feel great, to keep me healthy (I haven’t been sick in years, not even a common cold). These things must come first; then I’m free to enjoy the meal in front of me.

Expanded thoughts: A Minimalist’s Thoughts on Diet

When you call yourselves The Minimalists, people love to give you shit. They find it necessary to point out every irony, every seeming incongruity, every gotcha moment—everything they think makes our way of living wrong, in an effort unnecessarily justifying their lifestyle.

For example…

When our article, “The New Minimalism: Less Is Definitely More,” made the cover of Elle Canada next to a picture of Victoria Beckham, people asked why we would agree to an interview with an organ whose same issue featured an article titled “Shop Now!”

A woman at a meetup last December asked us about a newspaper interview in which we discussed minimalism, even though next to our two-page spread was a Mercedes Benz advertisement.

And now, as we prepare for our June Alberta Mini-Tour, people want to know why our Edmonton event’ll be held at a bookstore that happens to be in one of the world’s largest shopping malls.

The answer to each little cavil is simple…

We believe in our message. So much so that we’ve dedicated our lives to sharing that message with the world. We know that other people believe, too. These people already understand the power of simple living. That’s great, but we don’t need to focus all our efforts to reach those folks. Doing so is tantamount to preaching to the choir.

While we’re jump-for-joy grateful for all attending choir members (y’all’re awesome!), we know they don’t need our message as much as new congregation members, first-timers with whom we want to share the happiness, contentment, and freedom that minimalism has brought to our lives.

And what better place to broadcast our message than in the belly of the beast? Why not let our message ring out among the masses—amid the shiny chattels, the chinging cash registers, the high-priced advertisements. Why not let people choose their own path once they’re presented two different POVs from two sides of the Consumption Continuum.

Which in fact means we’re not preaching at all. We know that everyone has different needs, and we’re simply presenting options and letting people decide for themselves. Besides, The Minimalists aren’t against ordinary consumption; that’d be silly. We’re at odds only with compulsory consumption and unintentional living.

Accordingly, we’re sometimes forced to take the war to the opposition’s doorstep. That opposition, however, isn’t the magazines or the advertisers or even the shopping malls. The opposition is us—who we are inside when we’re living without purpose, without deliberate thought, searching, unaware of life’s real potential once we get past our years of cultural programming.

Once we wake up, though—once we open our eyes and see the benefits of a more meaningful life—all the ads and glowing rectangles in the world won’t phase us.

The Minimalists: Free Essays via Email • Books • Writing Class • Mentoring

A lifetime ago, when I was 19 and starting to work my way up the corporate ladder, my boss gave me some valuable advice as I was reaching for the next rung far overhead: “Don’t ask a man who earns $20,000 a year how to make $100k.”

I agreed at the time, and still agree now, but I have better advice: Don’t ask an unhappy man how to become happy.

Too often we emulate someone without realizing that we don’t actually want to be like them. We look up to the person with the high-paying job or the prestigious career or the material possessions for which we yearn, and we believe we want what they have, all the while not realizing how unhappy many of those people really are.

Instead of emulating someone because of their accomplishments, then, it seems more prudent to emulate them for who they are—to learn from the person, not their facade of so-called achievements. There’s nothing wrong with earning a shedload of money. It’s just that the money doesn’t matter if you’re not happy with who you’ve become in the process.

I’d like to introduce you to one of my favorite songs of 2013: Peter Doran’s ‘Every Little Thing’…

I’m pleased to announce that this beautiful song, which is from Peter’s new album Overhead the Stars, is now the official song of my forthcoming memoir, Everything That Remains. The song itself fits our simple-living message perfectly, melding optimistic, decaffeinated chords with Zen-folksinger wisdom. Even the titles of the song and book sync harmoniously.

The only thing I enjoy more than supporting great music is supporting great indie music. As an indie author myself, I know the painstaking work that goes into handcrafting every aspect of a project, from writing to printing and the myriad steps in between. When done correctly, though, the result is truly special.

Indie art itself is special. It connects the creator with the audience without the unnecessary muck in the middle. In fact, that’s why Ryan, Colin, and I started Asymmetrical Press, a publishing house for the indie at heart. And it’s also why I jumped at a recent opportunity to partner with Peter Doran, a talented singer-songwriter from Ireland.

We’ll feature ‘Every Little Thing’ in at least one book trailer later this year. Visit Peter Doran’s website for more music. And find him on Twitter.

‘Every Little Thing’ Lyrics

Every little thing, you think that you need
Every little thing, you think that you need
Every little thing that’s just feeding your greed
Oh, I bet that you’d be fine without it

Every little thing that you’ve gotta have
Every little thing that you’ve gotta have
That you’ve got to reach for and you’ve got to grab
Oh, I bet that you’d be fine without it

So tear your eyes away, oh tear your eyes away

Every little thing that sparkles and shines
Every little thing that sparkles and shines
It’s driving you sweetly out of your mind
But I bet that you’d be fine without it

So tear your eyes away, oh tear your eyes away

Every little thing that you’re lusting for
Every little thing that you’re lusting for
How did you ever get along before
Oh, I bet that you were fine without it

So tear your eyes away, oh tear your eyes away

Before you’re tripping over junk that’s lying scattered on your floor
The dusty and discarded toys that don’t shine any more
Every one you had to have, every one you swore
Would satisfy your greedy heart for now and evermore

Every little thing that catches your eye
Every little thing that catches your eye
Gets under your skin and it won’t be denied
Oh, I bet that you’d be fine without it

Oh, I bet that you’d be fine without it

//

Share this song with a friend:

Whether we’re touring, speaking at colleges, or writing books, The Minimalists are always looking for new ways to spread our simple-living message—to introduce minimalism to the masses.

We’ve discovered that one of the best introductions to our work is our ‘best of’ book, Simplicity: Essays, a collection of our most important writings all in one book—46 essays about living a meaningful life with less stuff.

Ergo, Simplicity is now $1 on Kindle.

Don’t own a Kindle? No problem! Kindle books can also be read using the Free Kindle Reader App for your web browser, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android.

Or you can of course pick up the Paperback or Audiobook versions, both of which have been reduced to $7 each.

If you enjoy the book, we’d love a review on Amazon or Goodreads.

“A life-changing book”

—Chris Brogan, New York Times bestselling author of Trust Agents

Everyone develops their own creative process over time.

Some sculptors, Bernini for instance, build sculptures with clay. Others, like Michelangelo, carve from marble. Though I’m no Michelangelo, my creative process tends to mimic the latter, building way too much and then removing massive amounts of excess until I uncover the beauty beneath the banality.

I call this process Subtractive Creation. Unlike most carving sculptors, though, I also have to quarry the marble from which I pitch, chisel, and polish.

The essays on this site are published with around 400 words, even though they often start with 2,000 or more. My novel was 950 pages before it entered the world with only 283. The current book I’m editing, a memoir called Everything That Remains, is 550 pages, though I hope to whittle it down to fewer than 200.

When I edit this way, the final result is far more meaningful—to me, to the reader. The care and handcraftedness shows in the final work. I teach my writing students how to edit this way, too; that is, how to spend 1/3 of their time writing effectively and 2/3 of their time editing, shaping their work into something more concise, more powerful, more beautiful.

Subtractive Creation seems to be an appropriate synecdoche for the rest of life, as well. There will always be life’s excess, always more, always too many inputs bombarding us from every direction. But instead of abhorrent multitasking, instead of trying to get things done, we can make life more beautiful via subtraction.

We can filter out the noise. We can remove superfluous material possessions. We can let go of sentimental items. We can get rid of shitty relationships. We can avoid the UnAmerican Dream. And when everyone is looking for more, we can focus on less.

Sure there’s an infinite amount of materials with which to build our lives, but sometimes the best way to build is to subtract. The best lives are often well-edited, carefully curated lives.

Speaking of my online writing class, the summer session doesn’t start for two months, but there are fewer than 10 seats remaining if you’re interested.

(N.B. Yes, I know that Bernini also sculpted with marble.)

I don’t own many things. But everything I own adds value to my life.

Each of my belongings—my kitchenware, furniture, clothes, car—functions either as a tool or gives some sort of positive aesthetic value to my life. That is, as a minimalist, every possession serves a purpose and/or brings me joy.

Over time, though, situations’ll change. They always do. And so I’m forced to ask the same important question over and over and over again: Does this thing add value to my life?

And but it’s not just material possessions at which I posit this query. I ask it, too, in regard to relationships, social media, and any other potentially superfluous matters in life.

I constantly ask this question because circumstances constantly change. Just because something adds value to my life today, that doesn’t mean it’ll necessarily add value to my life tomorrow. So I keep asking, and I adjust accordingly.

“Does This Thingy Add Value to My Life” is a small sliver of a passage from my forthcoming memoir, Everything That Remains, for which you can find updates on Twitter: @ETRbook. Ryan and I also elaborated on this topic during our live Seattle Meetup (link takes you directly to this specific portion of the talk).

The Missoula sun is working its way through the last bits of snow on the mountains. Puffer coats are being closeted for a few months. Snow tires are being removed from Subarus trepidatiously.

It’s almost summertime in Montana, and just to the north our neighbors in Alberta, Canada are about to receive a (not-so-) surprise June visit from The Minimalists: Calgary on 6/11 and Edmonton on 6/13.

Both meetups are minimally priced (FREE!). And Colin’ll be there too. You can find all the details and RSVP on our tour page.

If you’re waiting for us to come to your city, hold tight. Make sure you subscribe via email to keep updated on future tour stops.

(Big thanks to Matt Bailey from Live Limitless for organizing both events.)

#minstour