Joshua Becker's Blog, page 110

Celebrating One Year of Clutterfree with Kids

One year ago, we released Clutterfree with Kids. Within hours, it was the #1 Parenting book in America and would stay there for over two weeks. Eventually, the book would sell 20,000 copies in its first year inspiring parents to balance life and handle clutter.

To celebrate its one-year anniversary, we have decided to offer the ebook version of Clutterfree with Kids for $2.99 for the next seven days.

The promise of living a clutterfree life sounds attractive to many: less cleaning, less organizing, less stress, less debt, more money, more freedom, and more energy for their greatest passions.

Unfortunately, with kids, discovering and maintaining a clutterfree home can be difficult. As a parent myself, I know this to be true. We consistently find more and more things entering our home. Holidays, birthdays, schoolwork, shopping, and passing fads all contribute to this reality.

As a result, the idea of living clutterfree sounds attractive, but appears impossible. Many parents begin to feel frustrated, overwhelmed, or defeated. But this does not need to be the case. Clutterfree with kids is entirely possible—and life-giving.

The book offers a new perspective and fresh approach to overcoming clutter. With helpful insights, inspirational stories, and practical application, the book serves as a valuable resource for parents. It offers hundreds of practical tips applicable to every family. It is a comprehensive how-to manual for handling kid clutter.

The $2.99 sale price is a win-win-win proposition. Parents who have been waiting to get the book can pick it up today. The book gets into the hands of more and more readers. And the life-giving message of owning less continues to expand.

Rest assured, this is a book about more than clutter. It is a book about discovering a new way to live.

Here is where you can find it:

Ebook ($2.99):  Kindle  |  Nook  |  Kobo  |  PDF

Paperback ($10.64):  Amazon. Unfortunately, because of costs, the paperback price remains the same.

But, for the next seven days, the digital edition is only $2.99. We encourage readers to pick it up right away. After the seven days, the ebook will return to its $5.99 selling price.

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If you have read the book and found it to be valuable, consider sharing this offer with others via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or e-mail. From the very beginning, the only promotion this book received has been word-of-mouth.


In Pursuit of More Lasting Success

“You can never get enough of what you don’t need to make you happy.” —Eric Hoffer

We live in a complicated world—one that has too often confused and misunderstood the entire notion of success. Along the way, we have championed, promoted, and dedicated ourselves to some unhealthy pursuits.

We have measured success in terms of financial gain. Money is a powerful motivator that controls the lives of many. It chooses occupations. It dictates how time, energy, and resources are spent. It influences relationships, schedules, and families. To some, it even becomes an all-consuming passion that leaves broken people and morality in its wake.

But financial gain is actually a poor measurement of success. Some are born into it with little personal involvement, while others are born into environments that provide little opportunity to ever achieve it. Financial gain ebbs and flows at the mercy of a global economy. And the payback from financial gain is relatively short-lived—it never satisfies our greatest desires. No matter the amount of financial success earned, it always leaves us wanting more.

Others measure and pursue success in the form of accolades or praise from others. They desire to be known, recognized, and respected. The glory of their name and how many people remember it become their greatest desire.

But the praise of men is a shockingly fickle thing upon which to measure our success. It is a foolish, ever-changing target. It often negatively impacts the decisions we make and the life we choose to live. But it never fully satisfies our hearts or our souls. Even those who have reached the pinnacle of fame and prestige in our society long for more.

One growing trend in our culture is to measure success on the basis of removing ourselves from work altogether. The 4-Hour Workweek remains one of the most successful business books of our decade. And CNN recently defined retiring before 65 as the “ultimate dream.” It seems the goal of work has become to simply earn enough reserve or residual income to remove ourselves from it entirely.

But this measure of success results in an unhealthy view of work altogether. Somewhere along the way, we lost our focus. We no longer work to benefit others, but ourselves. Work becomes selfish. Work becomes that thing through which we make enough money so that we can do the other things we really want to do instead. Work has become a four-letter word to be avoided. No wonder 70% of Americans either hate their jobs or are completely disengaged from them.

Is there a better way to measure success in our lives? I think so.

Possessing wealth does not lead to happiness, but giving it away does.

Study after study confirms this. Generous people consistently rank as happier, healthier, with higher levels of life satisfaction. When people are given a sum of money, they immediately gain more well-being if they spend it on others, rather than themselves. Generosity promotes social connection and improved relationships. When we give, we make others feel closer to us, but even more, we feel closer to them. We begin to discover significance, fulfillment, and increased passion for life.

Science and experience remind us over and over again: Success is not found in material accumulation, personal accolades, or removal from work altogether. (tweet that)

Happiness, fulfillment, and lasting success is found in our commitment to generosity—in viewing that our role in the world is to make it better for someone else.

There is no shortage of people in this world who need our help. The problem is we are often too busy to notice because we have defined success in all the wrong places.

But once we stop chasing bigger houses, faster cars, and cooler toys, we begin to notice again the needs around us.

Generous people dream big dreams for their money, time, talents, and experience. They realize that once our most basic needs are met, increased accumulation offers very little happiness. Instead, our resources can be used to make our communities safer, smarter, and more responsible. They can be used to make this world a little more pleasant for everyone.

And in this pursuit, they find true, lasting, immeasurable success.

***

Redefining success is a common topic for Becoming Minimalist. Thanks to the creativity of Jeff Goins, I am pleased to include this chapter in a free ebook on success and work called The Surprises of Success: 15 Tips on Living the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of. The book contains other contributions from Michael Hyatt, Bob Goff, Pat Flynn, Allison Vesterfelt, and other influential leaders today. I have posted my chapter above, but you can download the entire book for free.

The Emptiness of Sports is Most Felt in Victory

I just finished watching the New England Patriots defeat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. I lived in New England for six years and began cheering for the Patriots then. And the Super Bowl was played in Phoenix just down the street from where I live now, so that was kinda fun.

I guess you could say my team won. Or, at least, the team I cheer for won.

An interesting thing happens to me when a team that I cheer for wins a major sporting championship—this year is no different. I am instantly taken back to a conversation with a friend that occured almost 20 years ago.

Specifically, it was the mid-1990’s and the Nebraska Cornhuskers had just won the NCAA College Football Championship. After celebrating with our friends a short while after the final whistle, we got ready to leave while the party ended.

I recall vividly sitting in the passenger seat of my friend’s Honda Accord remarking how fun it was to win, but not sure knowing what to do next. I suggested that maybe we each head home to bed because we needed to get up early the next day for school. He agreed. And made this passing remark:

The emptiness of sports is most felt in victory.

I knew immediately what he meant. We were huge Nebraska Cornhusker fans—even though neither of us played on the team or even attended the school. But that didn’t matter. We invested a lot of resources into the season. The team’s schedule dictated ours. We spent money on t-shirts and hats and even some tickets during the year. We tied our emotions to the outcome of the games. And we argued relentlessly with anyone who disagreed with the superiority of our team.

We were highly invested in them and their success. Then, they won the big game and were crowned champion. We were excited for them and for us. But then, we returned home to go to bed. Life doesn’t stop for a national championship.

Up until this particular year, I had never personally experienced a championship. For one reason or another, we had always fallen short. In defeat, the emptiness is rarely felt because there is always next year, the thrill of the pursuit still remains. You can look back and debate what went wrong or what referee cost you a chance at the title. You can talk about the next season and what changes need to be made and how things will turn out better. You are left hoping and striving to defeat those that defeated you.

But when you win, the pursuit of the goal is removed. There is no one left to defeat. There is no obstacle left to overcome. Your team has reached the pinnacle of its sport. But it doesn’t change your life in any way. In fact, work begins again in the morning.

The emptiness of sports, you see, is most felt in victory.

But this is not a negative post to disparage athletics. I have competed in both individual and team sports my entire life. Through athletics, I have learned (and continue to learn) important life lessons about teamwork, discipline, strategy, perseverance, and the role that competition plays in our lives.

Also, this is not a post to disparage those who play sports or those who coach them—professional, collegiate, varsity, or younger. The goal of sports is to become the best all-around athlete or team that you can possibly become—and that progress is displayed on the field of play.

Congratulations to the New England Patriots. They have given their life and skill to the pursuit of a championship. And their hard work has paid off. No doubt, their accomplishment results in great satisfaction for them and everyone involved in the organization.

Instead, this is a post about the things we decide to pursue with our lives.

Because sometimes, it is difficult to notice the emptiness of these pursuits until we actually obtain them.

While we are striving, before we reach the top, the reward appears to be worth the effort and the investment. But this is not always the case.

For example, consider the pursuit of riches. When we don’t have them, but choose to pursue them, we do so because we think the solutions to many of our problems lie there. In money, we believe, we will find contentment, security, respect, confidence, or importance.

But the emptiness of riches is most felt in victory. Only when we obtain them, do we discover money does not bring nearly as much security and happiness as we expected.

Zig Ziglar said it this way, “Money won’t bring happiness, but everyone wants to find out for themselves.”

The same argument, I believe, could be made of material possessions, public accolades, fame, or early retirement. When we do not possess these, we desire them and faithfully invest our time and talent into them.

I often wonder if these pursuits also fall short of our greatest potential and greatest fulfillment. But maybe it is not until we finally achieve them that we recognize the emptiness of them.

What is the solution to this dilemma? To be honest, I’m not entirely sure.

But whenever I discover a pursuit that brings fulfillment upon its accomplishment, I feel called to invest more and more resources into it.

When I give my full attention to parenting well and feel the satisfaction that comes from it, I desire more of it. When I reach the end of a hard day at work knowing my focus was on other people, I feel fulfilled, and I desire more of it. When I generously invest money into causes I believe in and feel a sense of accomplishment, I desire to invest more money in that direction.

Ultimately, this is not a post about sports. This is a post about identifying which pursuits bring the greatest fulfillment in life. And finding the strength to invest our resources in them.

Image: Photo Credit: Cheryl Evans/azcentral sports

Inspiring Simplicity. Weekend Reads.

Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it. It requires a conscious decision because it is a countercultural lifestyle that stands against the culture of overconsumption that surrounds us.

The world we live in is not friendly to the pursuit of minimalism. Its tendencies and relentless advertising campaigns call us to acquire more, better, faster, and newer. The journey of finding simplicity requires consistent inspiration.

For that reason, I hope you will make an effort this weekend to find a quiet moment with a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy some of these hand-picked articles to encourage more simplicity in your life.

When Bread Bags Weren’t Funny | Bloomberg View by Megan McArdle. Perspective.

My Low-Income Lifestyle | Frugaling by Sam Lustgarten. I wanted to show people that I could “afford” to treat, spend, and enjoy. Unfortunately, it was all a mirage.

Why the Modern World is Bad for your Brain | The Guardian by Daniel J. Levitin. A neuroscientist explains how our addiction to technology is making us less efficient

The Minimalism Effect: Three Noticeable Results While Getting Rid of Stuff | Break the Twitch by Anthony Ongaro. The process of minimizing our things is best described as ‘being relieved of a tension we didn’t know we had.’

Why a Messy Workspace Undermines Your Persistence | Harvard Business Review by Boyoun Chae and Rui Zhu. Measuring the impact of mess.

No Sidebar: A New Approach to Life

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Brian Gardner of No Sidebar.

I used to think that minimalism was limited to an overabundance of tangible goods and removing unnecessary things from our lives. There was a part of me that thought getting rid of everything you don’t need or use inside your home was the definition of being a minimalist.

But then I started to challenge that line of thinking, and came to the conclusion that while it’s partly that, it’s also more than that.

I began to do a lot of reading on the subject, from Zen Habits to Be More With Less, to The Minimalists and Rowdy Kittens. Most of what I read I agreed with, but not in the obvious context.

What I found myself saying “Yes, THIS!” to were decisions made by others, but to me they resonated on an intellectual level. In other words, I found myself agreeing to the “why” behind the choices, and not so much the “how.”

Around this same period of my life, I was doing a lot of web design, which meant I was spending (and still am) a tremendous amount of time online. I started to notice websites that were filled with clutter, which looked a number of different ways.

Some websites had too many distractions and some offered too many options for places to go. Click here, follow me, share this. Stuff like that.

What I really wanted to do is read their content. I was more interested in the words on the page and what they were saying, but I was constantly bombarded with things that took me off course.

As I continued my way through this journey, I began to make choices to eliminate some of these symptoms on my own website. I removed a few things that I thought took people away from the primary goal.

And this included no sidebars.

When I was finished doing that on my own website, I slowly incorporated these types of choices into the themes I designed for my company. I felt as though I could make a difference on the web, and this was my way of suggesting that others follow suit.

If you have a blog or website, I highly encourage you to take a long hard look at what’s on your page. Is it there because it should be there? Or is it there because you’re told it should be, or simple want to fill up space? Do you really need that widget in your sidebar? Is it really an effective use of your online real estate?

There’s a chance that over time, you’ll continually pack on the pounds of excess “stuff” on your website, much the same way we gain weight during the holidays. But these items often stand in the way of accomplishing your goals. Taking the time for spring-cleaning is definitely well worth it.

I think it’s time we look inward and identify what’s really important online and deliberately invest our time there. Maybe it’s a community, or a blog that really tugs at your heart. Perhaps your efforts are better spent in one place, rather than many places.

Social media is another example of feasting. I try my best to limit my primary activity to just Facebook and Twitter, because that is where my audience resides and where I see the most benefit. Anything outside of that is potentially time wasted, which results in a lack of productivity.

The less time I spend on social media, the more time I have with my family or doing other things that I enjoy. This allows me the opportunity to pursue things I’m passionate about, and relationships that can make a difference.

I love how The Minimalists define minimalism:

Minimalism is a tool that can assist you in finding freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from worry. Freedom from overwhelm. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from depression. Freedom from the trappings of the consumer culture we’ve built our lives around. Real freedom.

I’m a firm believer that far too often we overproduce and overindulge — and this includes the life we lead online. I think our productivity is stifled by the “too many-ness” we encounter on the web, which results deep down in a lack of satisfaction.

In my opinion, minimalism isn’t just limited to the consumption of goods and thoughts.

Minimalism is a mentality of being intentional with our everyday actions, and removing the noise that gets in the way. (tweet that)

For some that means getting rid of personal belongings, for others it’s the removal of a sidebar on their website. Either way, we are all on a similar journey — one of intentionality and a search for happiness.

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No Sidebar is a weekly email newsletter from Brian Gardner that helps people identify the things that stand in the way of building their business.

6 Lies that Keep Our Homes and Lives Cluttered

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Rachel Jones of Nourishing Minimalism.

Whenever we decide to embrace a major change in life, we are forced to evaluate our thoughts and beliefs. Major changes—whether chosen or unchosen—compel us to pay attention to what is happening in our mind.

We look deep to determine truth from myth.

And let’s face it: all of us have lies that we tell ourselves—even without noticing. Most of these mistruths are unintentionally believed (rarely do we purposefully believe a lie). But regardless, these lies impact the way we live, the decisions we make, how we communicate with others, and yes, even the state of our home.

Six years ago, my family discovered the joy of owning less when we decided to remove 2008 items in 2008. We enjoyed it so much, we also removed 2009 items in 2009, 2010 items in 2010, and have continued every year including this one (with 8 people in the house, stuff seems to seep in through the cracks!). By the way, if you want to join the challenge for 2015, please do.

This change in our lives, eliminating the unnecessary so we can focus more on what really matters, has caused me to evaluate my own thoughts and beliefs. As I did, I began to recognize some of the specific lies that were keeping my home and life cluttered.

Surely, we each have our own versions, but I have found six that are particularly common. See if any of these are keeping you from experiencing greater simplicity in your life.

Lie #1: If I limit my wardrobe, my clothes will be boring.

Truth: Having a smaller amount of clothes allows us to invest in quality items that fit well and coordinate, so no matter what you pull out to wear, you look great. Your clothes do not have to be boring.

A capsule wardrobe can include any items you want! It doesn’t have to be neutral.

People will notice how great and “put together” you look all the time. You can spice up outfits with different accessories to add variety and include your own special touch. If you like hats, a few different hats can be your statement pieces. The same can go for belts, scarves, heels, or even boots.

Lie #2: If I leave the work for later, I will be more motivated to finish it.

Truth: Whenever we procrastinate little projects around our home, a running to-do list begins forming in the back of our mind. And this makes it difficult to truly enjoy other things. As a result, not only is the work not finished, it has also become an annoyance to us.

To alleviate this stress, get into the habit of putting something away when you are done using it. Most small jobs take less than 5 minutes. Finish them right away and then revel in your accomplishment. Put the baking supplies away when you are done. Do the dishes after you eat. Fold and put away the current load of laundry when the dryer is done. Sort the mail as soon as you bring it in the house. Or reset the living room before you even leave. Your home will stay uncluttered—and so will your mind.

If you accomplish little things throughout the day, you won’t need to set aside time to clean. You’re creating a habit of tidiness rather than using all your energy catching up on what you’ve been putting off.

Lie #3: If I get rid of something, I’ll regret it later.

Truth: Most of the stuff we keep, we don’t actually need. And often times, when we do keep something around “just in case” and get to the point where we do need it, we can’t find it. So we end up borrowing one or purchasing a new one. So why keep it in the first place?

Or perhaps we keep things out of guilt—sentimental items where we feel like we’re betraying the person who gave it to us. We’re not getting rid of the people or the memory, we’re just getting rid of an item. If the item is sitting in storage, it’s not serving its useful purpose anyway. Allow yourself to find freedom by releasing it. Or allow the item to serve a purpose by giving it a new home.

Lie #4: If I throw out papers, I will toss something important.

Truth: We don’t need nearly as many physical records as we keep. Most likely, if you choose to tackle your pile of papers and sort it all over a trash can, a full 80% of it will be junk mail, receipts that you don’t need, bills that have already been paid, or other documents that are accessible online.  The remaining 20% or less can fit in a small filing box.

Exceptions: If you own a business, get legal advice from your accountant on what you need to keep and how to best organize papers and receipts. If you have settled a debt with a company, keep the statement saying that it was paid. If you file for any financial assistance, you may need a couple months worth of bills, bank statements, and pay stubs—though many of those are available to print online.

Lie #5: If it’s going to get done right, I need to do it myself.

Truth: When we fail to delegate, we harm ourselves with overwork and burnout. Even more, we steal the opportunity of growth from others. Requiring perfectionism is often just another form of procrastination. It really doesn’t matter how a job gets done, as long as it gets done.

Perhaps the work will not be done exactly as you would do it, but delegation is important, especially as we teach our children the value of hard work and how to be a contributing member of society.  Start with tasks that will bother you the least if they’re done ‘incorrectly’ and then work from there. Many children can break down boxes, take out the trash, and choose 20 items they want to donate from their toys.  Your spouse can tackle one room while you do another.

Lie #6: If my closet and drawers are cluttered, I need better organization tools.

Truth: We can’t organize excess. Maybe the solution isn’t that you need a better organization tool, maybe the problem is that you own too much stuff. Courtney Carver says it this way: “If you need to buy more stuff to organize all your stuff, maybe you own too much stuff.”

Purchasing organizational tools is just feeding into the consumer philosophy. To organize excess is to spend even more time sorting and taking care of stuff, when we could just be rid of it once and for all and spend more time doing the things that are truly important to us.

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Rachel Jones blogs at Nourishing Minimalism where she helps people clear the clutter, invite calmness into their homes, and enjoy the time they spend together. Also, you will enjoy her Facebook page.

The Possibility in Blank Spaces

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Cheryl Moreau of Revive.

I have a problem with blank spaces. Whether it is an empty shelf in my closet or a pause in my conversation, I desire it to be filled. Filled with what? I’m not entirely sure. But I know when I leave it vacant, it feels like something is missing.

Can you relate? Take a look around the room you are in right now. How many shelves or surfaces are free of objects? If you are in public, how many people around you are NOT listening to music or texting?

I have a problem.

You have a problem.

Society has a problem with empty spaces.

Lately, I’ve been eliminating unloved and unused possessions from my home. The resulting empty shelves make me uncomfortable. What I am trying to ask myself is: why? Why would it bother me to have a nice, open, empty space instead of what used to be cramped, cluttered, and chaotic?

I think I have discovered at least one reason why we struggle with our blank spaces.

We focus too much on what’s not there, instead of what is.

Think about it. If you previously had a closet overflowing to the brim with articles of clothing, regardless of whether you ever wore most of them, what you saw when you looked in the closet was likely a person who was doing pretty well for themselves, even if you only acknowledged this in your subconscious. You also likely saw the opportunity for many choices. We love having choices. Even though too many choices only produces stress and dissatisfaction. We don’t care. We only know that ten shirts are better than three; and there’s always room for one more.

So when that is all taken away, we are faced with what remains: emptiness, lack of choice, desire.

Is that really what the blank space means? I don’t think so. At least not entirely. It’s all about perspective. If we choose to look beyond the emptiness, we will find something else entirely.

Freedom.

Freedom from being a slave to our stuff through cleaning, organizing, and worry.

Freedom in our finances to give, travel, and experience life more spontaneously.

Freedom in our spaces and homes to entertain, play, and live.

What happens when we apply the same perspective shift to our relationships, our thoughts, and our physical bodies? We begin to see our lives and our choices not for what we’re giving up, but for what we are gaining.

Blank space in our social activities means more time with family, more time to relax, and more time pursuing our passions.

Blank space in our thoughts means time to process what we’re doing, rather than just reacting to it. It means we can begin to develop opinions and values in regards to our choices, rather than just accepting what others tell us we should feel or do.

Blank space in regards to our bodies means being able to feel hunger again, and respond to our body’s cues, rather than assume we need to eat because we are bored. It also means not seeing what we miss out on when we make healthy choices, rather seeing what we gain: health, confidence, and a fitter body. Rest is also important, by not constantly putting strain on our bodies we are allowing ourselves time to recover and rejuvenate.

Each of us need to decide what we will focus on. Those blank spaces might feel awkward and uncomfortable at first, but just as a child requiring glasses needs to adapt to wearing them in order to have improved vision, we too will adapt, and then, will be able to see with more clarity than ever before.

Don’t see the emptiness in your blank spaces, see the possibilities.

***

Cheryl Moreau and her husband blog at Revive where they challenge and help others eliminate the excess to leave room for excellence. You can also follow her on Twitter.

Fewer Things. More Peace.

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Sarah Mae of SarahMae.com.

There he was, sitting on his bed with tears in his 7-year old eyes.

I had just got through yelling at him, again, to clean his bedroom. I was tired of the mess and I was tired of telling him to clean.

“Just do it!” I would shout. How quickly I forget how overwhelmed I feel when a mess is staring me in the face.

This was not the mother I wanted to be.

As I looked at my son and I looked at the mess, I realized we were both overwhelmed. It was too much—it felt like too high a mountain to climb.

It was then that I knew we needed a change. My sweet boy needed a mom who wasn’t so stressed, and I needed a boy who didn’t feel defeated before he began.

That was that day we decided on a very simple rule that would become the foundation for how we would live: Fewer things, more peace.

The less we have, the less overwhelmed we feel. And the less overwhelmed we feel, the happier we are. (tweet that)

It was with that philosophy in mind that I said, “Buddy, we are going to get rid of some things today. We can throw some things away and give some things away, but at the end of it all, you are only going to have 20 toys left.”

We called it The 20-Toy Rule.

20 toys sounds like a lot… or maybe it doesn’t. But you’d be surprised at how many things children can accumulate. I was shocked when we began moving towards 20 toys each. We don’t spoil our children and I already had been pretty strict about the toy situation. But when I sat with my son in his room that day, I had to face the fact that we had allowed in too much stuff.

At first, upon hearing my idea, his eyes got big and a look of worry came over his face. But once we started, he really got into it. He was sorting and getting excited about giving things away and even selling things in a future yard sale. He was, believe it or not, actually having fun with the challenge.

The more we got rid of, the lighter I felt. And the anger began to disappear. There we were, getting rid of stuff, and we were happier.

We don’t need stuff, we need peace. We need to feel loved and safe and okay with what we have.

I want my children to learn contentment and joy where they are and with what they have. I don’t want them falling into the trap of always needing more and better things. Learning to have less helps them to be free. And I want them to be free.

To be fair, keeping toys to a minimum has taken work. I have had to train my three children to be okay with not having something. And yes, it has been training. For example, every time we would go into Target we would immediately pass the dollar section of the store filled with bright and beckoning things that call to children (thanks for that Target). I used to think, “What’s a dollar? It’s no big deal.” So my kids would each get something nearly every time we entered that store. I decided that would be one of the changes I made right away, no more dollar toys. I told my children before we even went in the store what to expect, and they all nodded their little heads of understanding.

You can imagine the shock when I actually followed through. “But mom!” No buts, baby. We are doing this. We are learning to live content. After a few times of whining and crying and me not giving in, they stopped the fussing. Now we go into Target and they don’t even ask. They know it wouldn’t make a difference anyway.

The point is, we had to put rules in place, and we had to stick to them. It’s hard at first, but if you stick to it, it gets easier, I promise.

You can do it. You can help your children be free.

It’s worth it.

***

Sarah Mae blogs at SarahMae.com where she encourages and inspires moms in motherhood. Her best-selling book, 31 Days to Clean, has inspired tens of thousands of readers and is currently on sale for $0.99.

Inspiring Simplicity. Weekend Reads.

Never underestimate the importance of abandoning crap you don’t need.

Encouragement is important in all areas of life, but especially when trying to live a life different than those around us.

Encouragement provides us with motivation to persevere. It invites us to dream dreams of significance for our lives. And it begs us to work diligently with optimism and promise.

Overcoming the pull of consumerism is a difficult challenge regardless of our stage in life. Simplicity requires encouragement. To that end, I hope you will find motivation in these articles below.

Each post was intentionality chosen to inspire simplicity in your life. For maximum effect, find a quiet moment this weekend and enjoy them with a fresh cup of coffee or tea.

Happiness Comes from Giving, Not Buying and Having | Psychology Today by Steve Taylor Ph.D. Materialism doesn’t lead to well-being, but generosity does.

10 Things I Learned by Downsizing My Life | Moms By Heart by Lori Loomis. If I could tell the naysayers what downsizing has done for me, what would I want them to know?

The Real Cost of Your Shopping Habits | Forbes by Emma Johnson. The road to bankruptcy is paved with good deals.

In Praise of Limits | Zen Habits by Leo Babauta. Limits can be powerful, because they force us to choose, to focus, to go from excess to healthy moderation.

Let Go of These 10 Items to Jumpstart Decluttering

Note: This is a guest post from Courtney Carver of Be More with Less.

Decluttering is usually the first step people take to simplify their lives. It is often the easiest and most effective place to begin. Removing the excess from our homes naturally encourages us to look at the more challenging, often hidden things that also complicate our lives: debt, busyness, mental clutter, just to name a few. But it often starts with physical possessions.

Decluttering teaches us how to let go and create space. Owning less helps us save time and feel lighter. And it often causes us to rediscover the joy of giving.

If you feel overwhelmed with stuff or struggle when it comes to letting go, start with some of the items that don’t come with major emotional attachment—or at least, the items without positive emotional attachment.

If you are looking for a good place to start, let go of these 10 items to jumpstart decluttering:

1. Clothes you don’t wear. Clothing is a great place to begin. Most of us have too much of it, but we still wear the same things over and over again. Donate the jeans that don’t zip. Toss the socks with holes. Remove the outdated fashion. And if you have an extra coat or hat, give it away. There are lots of people who could use it this time of year.

2. Unidentifiable items in your junk drawer. It might be too soon to jettison the entire junk drawer, but you can easily remove the items that have no name, no place, and no meaning instead of saving them just in case you remember why you put them there in the first place. If you don’t know today, you won’t know tomorrow.

3. Lotions and potions. Get all of your lotions, potions, makeup, shampoo, and other products into one place. Put the things you use every day back where they belong. Toss the rest.

4. Lonely items. If it can’t be used without a match, and the match is long gone, it’s time to let go. Think cassette tapes without a cassette player, Tupperware tops without containers, and lone socks.

5. Kid stuff. Instead of shaming your kids into decluttering, make it fun for them. Announce a prize for every 10 things they can collect for donation. The prize can be a family activity or your child’s favorite meal. If you have more than one child, offer a bonus if everyone hits their goal to encourage them to work together.

6. Stale food. Set a timer for 15 minutes and go through your pantry, freezer, or refrigerator. Dump anything out of date, or opened and stale. If you find things that are good but you’ll never eat, bag it up and drop it at a homeless shelter or church.

7. Extra dishes. If you have two sets of dishware, silverware, or glassware, one can go. If you love your good dishes, use those everyday. If they are stuck in a box somewhere and you never use them, give them to someone who will.

8. Other people’s stuff. If your home has become a storage facility for friends and family, make a few phone calls. Be kind, give notice, and politely ask them to remove their stuff or offer to help if they aren’t interested.

9. Things that bring you down. Sentimental items are usually saved for later on in the decluttering process, but letting go of things that remind you of people, places, and events that have hurt you in the past will make room for more joyful memories.

10. The guilt. This might not fall in the “easy” category, but if you let it go now, it will make the rest of the journey more meaningful. You paid enough already with time, money, and attention. Guilt is the worst payment of all. With guilt, you continue to pay with emotion, by holding onto the past and by punishing yourself for old habits. Say goodbye to guilt.

Letting go of these items will lighten things up and encourage more decluttering, more simplicity, and more freedom. Once they are gone, celebrate your progress and dig back in.

A simple life is waiting.

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Courtney Carver writes about simplicity in life and work at Be More with Less. You can also find her on Facebook.