Let’s Get Personal: Simplicity & Personal Growth

This is a special guest post from Sam Spurlin of thesimplerlife. Make sure to check it out….or else…

Spurlin’s outlook on personal growth and living a simpler life are what I strive to do. I hope this article helps you simplify your life in whatever direction you are headed.

PLUS A SPECIAL OFFER….I am in a giving mood so if you use either the code SPURLIN or the code TMP at checkout with your purchase of 7 Steps to a Simpler Life , you will get it for only $2.50 (First 15 only)

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I firmly believe that simplifying is an intensely personal experience. There might be some principles of simplification that apply to everybody, but there is much more that is unique to each individual. I was reminded about this over the past couple weeks as I decided whether or not to buy a gym membership. The minimalist inside me was screaming that paying $37 a month to go somewhere to workout was insane when I could run outside and actually had access to a garage full of equipment for free. I listened to that voice for a couple weeks as I worked out sporadically and distractedly. Finally, I realized that I am the type of person who is very reliant on his surroundings. I go to a certain place to write. I go somewhere else to read. I needed somewhere to go to get in the correct mindset to workout. So, for me, it actually simplified my life to spend that money on a gym membership. Now, I am working out consistently and with better results than I ever was at home.

Before you start simplifying your life, you need to know yourself. I could have saved weeks of frustration if I had realized that I required the physical space of a gym to workout effectively. You need to figure out what your requirements are, what your quirks are, and what advice speaks to you and your situation. Once you have those figured out, simplifying is suddenly much easier.

Action step: Find a piece of simplicity/minimalism/personal development advice somewhere on the internet that you think is complete baloney (or at least doesn’t apply to you). At the end of this article post the link along with why this advice doesn’t help you in the comment field. Bonus points if you link to something on my blog; I promise I can take it

Be skeptical of anyone who claims to have any universal rules or laws about simplicity. I don’t dispute that there are some very basic principles that can be applied across the board, but they are few and far between. Figure out what works for you, ignore the rest, and go do something amazing.

Thanks so much for reading and I look forward to your comments.