Simple living - what's your incentive?

[p00c]

Thanks OP for his initial question. I hope I can bring something new in to the discussion.

For me, simple living means less choices, more freedom and a clearer mind.

Let me give you an example. Mark Zuckerberg - as controversial his personality and Facebook is - made a great statement why he is wearing the same grey t-shirt every day:

"I really want to clear my life so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community.
"I'm in this really lucky position where I get to wake up every day and help serve more than 1bn people, and I feel like I'm not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life, so that way I can dedicate all of my energy towards just building the best products and services."

- Source

I think if you have so many possibilities in front of you, the opportunity costs are so high that you feel stuck in a gridlock where you just can't get out of. This makes you unhappy, this makes you think about unnecessary decisions, you will loose a lot of time, and so on.

I think Zuckerberg's t-shirt - as trivial as it may sound - can be used as a metaphor, used in different aspects of live.

Therefore, reducing the amount of time I use for decisions which are unnecessary, have high opportunity costs and don't help me to become a happier person are the incentives for keeping the simple live.

[Teacher Terry]

I noticed that since retiring I rarely wear makeup anymore when I always wore it. One of my favorite daily activities is a long walk with the dogs. Have recently discovered a place right in town that takes you up a steep hill for an amazing view & a place you can let the dogs run free. It is great exercise for everyone & I run into like minded people but not too crowded.

[seedycharacter]

p00c: I like your statement: "For me, simple living means less choices, more freedom and a clearer mind." This is pretty much true for me, too. An additional motivator for me is "Live simply so others may simply live."

This reminds me of my Ugandan friend who said, after just arriving in the U.S. and spending several minutes struggling to order a meal (drink:6 types of tea, appetizer: a dozen to choose from, main dish: 6 kinds of meat cooked various ways, sides: half a dozen) . . . "Oh, America" shaking his head wearily "Too many choices."

[p00c]

"Oh, America" shaking his head wearily "Too many choices."

For this and what I have mentionend in my post, I have a fantastic TEDtalk for you (maybe you haven't seen it): Psychologist Barry Schwartz talks about the paradox of choice and says that more choice means less freedom and less happiness.



At the end I'd still say that choice is an integral part of Western culture and the key to our wealth and even happiness but I think when we use our intelligence to distinguish what is important and what is not then more choice does not consequentially lead to paralyzation.

[seedycharacter]

p00c: Thanks for sharing that TED Talk. I don't want to waste time making choices about the little things--I do get seduced by all them. I tend to not get paralyzed so much as distracted. I can spend an entire morning organizing my too-many objects.

[CP1970]

Interesting thread. My incentives are not to different from others. I am tired of being a wage slave. I've wasted enough of my life and money buying stuff. I am a little rebellious and contrary, and society telling me more and bigger is better make me want the opposite. I want more time to read and paint. I want to save money for retirement. I am tired of being anxious and running around all the time. Consumerism has only given me a fleeting pleasure, and I am tired of chasing that feeling. The pleasure I get from simplicity is longer lasting.

[Ultralight]

I am obviously late to the game but for me, simple living facilitates happiness in a way like nothing else has. This has been a sustained feeling since the beginning (two years ago, or so). While I still have funks and blue moods my general feeling each day is happier for having simplified. This is obviously a major motivating factor to further simplify and minimize.

[sylvia]

My simpler living was a result of penny pinching due to the debt I accumulated. Something I had to learn since my parents never taught me personal finance. Then came the stuff of having kids. Holding on to things I may use someday. Clutter almost killed me she I was cleaning out an overstuffed closet and the picture frame fell apart causing the glass to miss my crawling baby and slice my knee open resulting in stitches. Streamlining minimalism is next as even thought I decluttered I'm inefficient and still disorganized. Need to create an effective system of cleaning,budgeting etc. But life is better and I feel less attached to stuff.

[sylvia]

Great topic! Simple living was a result of uneducated, bad financial decisions, first led to cutting down on debt and eliminating it. Then it affected my lifestyle, too much clutter for my sake , family of 4 living on one income and trying to stay afloat. Then I really started grasping YMOYL and time and effort spent tobuy stuff we later toss. So I embrace simplicity becuase of less work and time wasted with stuff. Now Im slanting towards minimalism so I can streamline my home and have more time for self and family. Now we have a baby in the mix which came with the baby shower and stuff but Im minimalising this and its become a joy to be with our baby not a burden going through all the stuff.Now I have more joy and peace.

[Teacher Terry]

You can end up with a lot of crap when you have a baby that people think you need. Having moved alot forced me to downsize before moving. NOw I realize that having less makes me more comfortable which was not true in the past. Also easier to clean. However, I am not a minimalist. I do like to have some decorative items. I also have a lot less clothes then the average person & like having room in my closet. My hubby however is another matter so if I die before him his kids will be stuck cleaning out a huge shed, his office, garage & very small dirt basement. Actually the shed is only about a fourth full when a little fairy cleaned it when he was working out of town last summer