MINIMALISM 7 STEPS TO A SIMPLER LIFE

David Damron | LifeExcursion

Table of Content

• Introduction to a New Lifestyle - 3

• Step 1 – Defining and Understanding Minimalism - 4-6
• Step 2 – Moving Forward - 7-9
• Step 3 – Changing Perception - 10-12
• Step 4 – Understanding the Challenges Ahead - 13-14
• Step 5 – What to Minimalize - 15-20
• Step 6 – The Jumping Off Point - 21-24
• Step 7 – Not Giving Up - 25
• In Conclusion - 26
• Sources - 27
• Special Thanks - 28

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 Introduction to a New Lifestyle

Welcome and thank you for taking the time to read Minimalism: 7 Steps to
a Simpler Life! I am glad you have made the decision to enter the world of a
minimalist lifestyle. By doing so, you have chosen to make a positive difference,
not only in your life, but also in the lives of those around you. I cannot promise
that becoming a minimalist will not have a few downfalls. You probably will
become a person with a low need for stuff and a high need for happiness. You
might actually have to find activities to fill your new vast amount of free time. You
may even decide to share your story and experience with others. But I promise,
those ‘downfalls’ will certainly open your world to endless opportunities.

If you are still wavering on whether or not you should implement a minimalist
lifestyle, I suggest you read the following articles:

• Life as a Minimalist
• Why DON’T You Want to Be a Minimalist?
• Attempting Minimalism

Becoming a minimalist has been one of my best decisions and I know, in

some minor or major form, it will positively affect you as well. Now, on to your
new lifestyle…

David Damron

LifeExcursion

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 Step 1 – Defining & Understanding Minimalism
My definition of minimalism is the act of simplifying one’s life so that
only the essentials are present and absolute focus on the solely important
attributes in my life is possible. This definition literally changes weekly for
me. So there is definitely no right answer to defining minimalism. However,
the core principles of minimalism are extremely necessary when defining
your minimalist lifestyle.

The following are 3 core principles to minimalism that, when

implemented, highly improve your success at becoming more of a
minimalist.

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 3 Core Principles to Minimalism

• Limit Excess – Do all that you can to limit the stuff in your life
that takes up unnecessary time and/or space.
• Limit Clutter – Manage the few items you have by keeping
them orderly.
• Minimalist Thinking – With whatever aspect of your life, ask
yourself what action a minimalist would take. (LifeExcursion
Post: Minimalist Thinking)

These core principles will not give you detail into each and every decision
you make while becoming a minimalist. What they will do though is create
a base from which to branch your minimalist actions out from.

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 What needs to be understood about minimalism is that each
individual approaching such lifestyle molds this aspect into their life. For
some, there are extreme actions taken while others integrate smaller
aspects of minimalism. Once you understand your goals for implementing
minimalist ideals, you will be able to act successfully towards achieving
those goals.

Step 1 – ACTION STEPS:

• Write down what minimalism is to you

• Write a list of areas of your home that need are not in line with the
minimalist lifestyle

Now that you have completed Step 1, it is time to focus on

Moving Forward in Step 2.

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 Step 2 - Moving Forward
Have you ever felt like you are just running in circles around a
problem or situation? Sometimes, our chosen paths have led us into a
never ending circle, or so it seems. With any choice or decision we make,
whether right or wrong, there is a way to change our circumstance and get
out of the endless circular rut. The first step is making the decision to
move forward.

Moving forward is not as easy as it sounds or as easy as you may

hope. Comfort and anxiety have kept us in a stand-still. Our current
circumstance may be so comfortable that we choose not to improve our
situation for fear that the comfort would be lost or impeded upon for
however short or long it may take to change. Also, the anxiety that comes
with changing the behavior we have molded in our lives is usually tough to

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change. We have become so familiar with the same day-to-day actions that
altering major parts of our life can cause a lot of stress.

Despite the tough road blocks that we have set up for ourselves, life
always allows us to move forward. Reading this eBook is just one of the
many actions you have been and will be taking to achieve moving forward.
Starting that progression in the right direction is a major step towards
achieving success. Everyone can say they could change if they wanted to,
but you have actually started that metaphorical ball rolling.

Step 2 - ACTION STEPS:

• Reflect and decide on what path you want in life

• Write down a list of goals and dreams
• Make the conscious decision to change habits

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 With that, you now have completed Step 2 on your path to a minimalist
lifestyle.

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 Step 3 – Changing Perception
Your perception of life may be of many things. For some, it may be of
the need to accessorize their lives with stuff. For others, it may be the
desire to please everyone they encounter. Your perception of what life has
to be, changes right now. You must change your perception of ideals to
become a successful minimalist. This does not mean you must be
minimalist in every aspect of life (more to come on the definition of
minimalism), but you do need to understand and accept the principles
behind minimalism. I cannot state strongly enough the importance of
changing your mindset to accept such a radical lifestyle modification.

Those around you may have no idea why you are taking the
unnecessary out of your life. They perceive your actions as illogical, but this
is because they are not grasping the concept. Changing the perception of

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minimalism within yourself first, will allow you to adapt to a world where
minimalism is not widely appreciated or accepted.

Perception is only that which you make of any action, situation, or

object. You are the controller of what the meaning of everything around
you is. Unfortunately, through subliminal messages and a highly influential
society, we have become accustomed to molding ourselves with the norm
lifestyle. Uniqueness is something that may be spoken a lot about, but is
rarely, truly, lived out. Minimalism is rare. Minimalism has not become a
major part of society because of two things, consumerism and materialism.
Consumerism has led to an onslaught of advertising being pushed on us at a
constant rate. Materialism has developed from the idea that we need
STUFF to feel satisfied with our lives. Both of these have led to a society
that tends to reject such a drastic, difficult lifestyle change like minimalism.
Through your control, you can change that perception today.

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 Now that you have thought through the action of changing your
perception on lifestyle design and minimalism itself, you should be able to
successfully navigate the sometimes difficult undertakings of creating a
new lifestyle.

Step 3 – ACTION STEPS:

• Simply sit in a quiet place, close your eyes, and think of what a
minimalist lifestyle is going to be for you.
• Focus on the path ahead thinking about each level of lifestyle
change you want to build upon.

Now that you have a better understanding of what minimalism is, we can
move forward to Step 4 – Understanding the Challenges Ahead

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 Step 4 – Understanding the Challenges Ahead
It wouldn’t be very fair of me not to give you a head’s up. So here I
go. A minimalist lifestyle can be difficult to grasp and control at the
beginning. There will be many people against your positive actions and
going against that social norm of consumerism is tough. I had my own
difficulties focusing at times. However, I continued to jump back on the
minimalist horse. All that really matters is that you learn from your
missteps and move forward. There is never going to be a perfect day in a
minimalist lifestyle. But when you think about it, there is never going to be
a perfect day in any lifestyle. By choosing this path, you can focus on the
important aspects of life while other lifestyles may be wandering through a
lifestyle that is cluttered and unproductive.

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 Always remember that there will be challenges with any aspect of life
you take on. The challenge of becoming a minimalist is just another one
you can be proud of beating.

Step 4 - ACTION STEPS:

• Practice patience. This major lifestyle change can be shocking. Take

your time and keep moving forward at whatever pace you choose.
• If you happen to lose focus, jump back on track without worrying
about your mistakes.

Enough of the downside, let’s move forward to Step 5 – What to

Minimalize?

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 Step 5 – What to Minimalize?
“What to minimalize?” is probably one of the first questions you
asked yourself when approaching the idea of a minimalist lifestyle. The
important question to really ask is, “What aspect of my life is cluttered?”
This question will show you what facet of your life to tackle first.

Here is a list of some general areas you may want to address first:

• Finances • Most Frequented Space

• Clothing • Car
• Schedule • Bedroom(s)
• Living or Family Room • Kitchen
• Desk • Garage

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 These are just a few of the hundred areas of your life you can address
first or later down the minimalist road.

Let’s tackle a few of these areas together. Hopefully, this act

will help motivate you once you focus on areas you are not as thrilled
to minimalize.

• Finances: Do you have a million receipts, tax papers, pay

stubs, bills, checks, and so on and so forth lying around
unorganized? Well, knowing where and how your
money is flowing is a great motivator to minimalize your
financial section. You need to first obtain a few manila
folders, designate for each financial aspect (such as car
loan, mortgage, etc.), and start filing your jumbled

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 paperwork. Eliminate any and all paperwork that has no
use in the future. An even better way to approach this is
to try and scan and organize all important documents on
your computer. It can be timely, but well worth having
no paper filing to be done. Along with focusing on the
physical paperwork clutter, you should try and work on
reducing the financial liabilities that you have. This stress
can lead to a disorganized lifestyle in which re-focusing
on minimalism is extremely difficult. For more help on
budgeting and debt reduction, check out EnemyofDebt ,
ManvsDebt and BudgetsareSexy
• Schedule: If your schedule has 10 To-do’s, eliminate half
of them right away. I bet half of those were not going to
improve your life anyways. Now, with your new list,

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 spend quality time accomplishing your goals. By
minimalizing your schedule, you will free up more time
for what is important which is why you are probably
becoming a minimalist in the first place.
• Most Frequented Space: Attack the area you spend
most of your time. This may be your desk or it may be
your lounge chair or some other area. Either way,
minimalize that entire section. Take everything away
from the section and only put back what is absolutely
necessary.

You can find out more on this process by checking this

past article – 5 Simple Ways to Minimalize TODAY

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 Once again, a key action to becoming a minimalist is minimalizing the
areas that are important and life changing for you. I cannot tell you
what areas are of extreme importance that you must minimalize
today. But, this may guide you. You need to sit down and think of the
important areas of your life that will be better once a minimalist
touch is added.

Step 5 – ACTION STEPS:

• Focus on the important aspects to your life.

• Always ask yourself honestly, “Do I really need this?”
• Implement household rules for areas of focus

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 Now that you have decided what could receive a minimalist
makeover, it’s time to move to Step 6 – The Jumping Off Point

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 Step 6 – The Jumping Off Point
So far we have addressed many aspects of minimalism. Now
it’s time to act. You have probably been antsy to get this process
going. Well, sometimes, especially in this minimalist lifestyle change,
jumping headfirst can be dangerous. That is why we have focused on
our approach before and now can take the leap of faith and start
acting.

This is the easy part in my eyes. I never mind seeing progress

and there is no better way to see minimalist progress than by
implementing what we have learned.

I have provided a checklist of steps that you can print and cross
off as you tackle each step of the minimalist process:

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 Minimalist Checklist
o Clean Slate – Remove everything from section
o Pick 2 Absolute Necessities – Place back
o Keep Between 0-10% of what is left – Place back
o Now take one more item out of section
o List What is Left on Craigslist or eBay
o Donate What is Left of That to Local Charity
o DO NOT Pull STUFF Back from Charity Pile

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 That checklist may look simple enough, but once you start to be
limited by it you will soon realize how powerful it is.

Use that checklist as a jumping off point for every area of your
minimalist makeover. Print one for each section and commit to staying
to the rules of the checklist.

From this point forward, you should have a general idea of your
goals, where to start and how to act.

Step 6 – ACTION STEPS:

• Set aside 30 minutes to an hour to focus on minimalizing an area

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 • MUST DO: -Print and Use checklist provided.
• Sell/Donate/Trash left over items ASAP

Our last step may be the toughest. So, with no further adieu, I
present Step 7 – Not Giving Up

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 Step 7 – Not Giving Up
Now that you have become a minimalist, don’t give up staying one.
This lifestyle is one that will bring about benefits for the rest of your life.
So when you slip here and there, don’t worry. Just pick yourself back up
and focus on the goal at hand. Approach a lifetime of being a minimalist
as you would anything else you want to succeed at. Don’t give in to the
temptations of society. Friends will question your lifestyle, but instead
of falling to their peer pressure, show them the benefits and help them
enjoy the same great lifestyle you now are.

Always remember, there is never a time you can’t get back to being a
minimalist.

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Step 7 – ACTION STEPS:

• Get your family and friends involved, so when you feel the urge to
give up, they can help you get back on the horse.
• Remember, it will never go perfectly as planned. Don’t let that sway
you from a great lifestyle decision.
• Be positive. Nothing good ever comes from being negative. Think of
any applied minimalist practice as a brighter side to your life.

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 In Conclusion
The path you have traveled to become a minimalist may have been
tough. You may not see right now that the effort poured into changing
your entire lifestyle to that of a minimalist was worth the sacrifice. But,
as time goes by, you will be thankful that your life is simpler and more
productive than ever before.

Thank You for Reading and I Hope This eBook Changes Your Life
Forever!

David Damron
The Minimalist Path

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 Sources:
In addition to the links provided throughout the 7 Steps to a Simpler Life in
7 Days, I have provided some incredible sources to help motivate, guide,
and inspire you down the minimalist path…
Mnmlist – An essential site to becoming a minimalist. Authored by Leo Babauta of
ZenHabits.net

Frugal Bachelor – A bachelor’s tale of living the simplistic lifestyle and its challenges.

Becoming Minimalist – The perspective of a suburban family making the change to a

minimalist lifestyle

The Minimalist – A look at the many factors of a minimalist lifestyle.

Simple. Organized. Life. – A great look at how to simplify, one step at a time.

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Special Thanks

I just wanted to send out a special thanks to the following people

who have helped guide me down a minimalist path as well as perfect this
eBook for my great audience.

Leo Babauta: ZenHabits

Brad Chaffee: Enemy of Debt

Karen Hill: Dreamin’ the Life

Ken Kurosawa: WasabiBurger

J.D. Bentley: WageSlaveRebel

Photo Credit: Arne Jacobsen

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