a chapter from my new ebook: living the simpler life

Instead of the usual Simple Saturday Links post I’m going to give you a chapter from the ebook I’m releasing Monday. It will be available for free for 24 hours but I’m hoping this chapter will help you make up your mind if you are on the fence as to whether or not you’re going to read it. The ebook is titled Living the Simpler Life: 8 Essentials to Practice Everyday and the chapter I’m going to share today is called, “Accurate Self Knowledge.” I hope you enjoy it!

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Accurate Self Knowledge

The decision to live a simpler life can be difficult at first. Many of the messages we are bombarded with everyday run exactly opposite the simplicity movement. We are told that physical possessions are a manifestation of our personal success; that bigger is better and that we are entitled to more. Eschewing this for a simpler life can be the beginning of a very personal and lonely road. Knowing yourself, or self-knowledge, is the simplicity essential that will guide you through this journey. It helps you develop your reasons for simplifying, the methods you utilize, and guides you on your unique voyage toward a simpler life.

What I am calling self-knowledge can be defined in many different ways. For my purposes I consider it in-depth knowledge and understanding of yourself. This includes knowing what does and doesn’t motivate you, what you are and aren’t good at, and what your passions are. Each of these categories is extremely personal and unique. What motivates me may not motivate you and I guarantee my passions are very different from yours. Our different approaches to the same problems are what colors our simplicity experiences very differently and makes writing simplicity advice a potentially risky endeavor (I’m willing to try though!).

Self-knowledge is one of the essentials of simplicity because it drives the underlying reason for simplifying. My reason for simplifying is to allow me to focus on living my life aligned with my values. My simplicity movement allows me to get rid of everything that distracts or works against my stated values and I require the self-knowledge of knowing what my values are before I can do anything that will supposedly simplify my life. It is the most basic and fundamental step.

Secondly, accurate self-knowledge allows you to choose actions and projects that truly benefit you. My simpler life will not look like your simpler life, and vice-versa. Joshua Becker, author of Simplify, calls this”rational minimalism.” You have to decide what actions will truly simplify your life and not worry about what others are doing. For me, getting rid of my car would drastically NOT simplify my life; I do not live in an area where it is feasible for me to do so. However, for Tammy Strobel, author of Simply Car Free, getting rid of her car is a key component toward her simpler life. Anything you do to remove distraction and refocus your attention and energy on your values will lead to a simpler life. Self-knowledge is the vital skill that will help you do that.

Hopefully I have convinced you by now that developing your self-knowledge is a worthwhile endeavor. Luckily, this is not an ability that you are or aren’t born with; it must be developed. The following is a brief list of ideas that have helped me develop my self-knowledge or are things that I am currently doing to clarify my understanding of myself.

1. Reflecting on passions: Your passions are going to be derived from your values. Taking the time to sit down and figure out what it is that you really and truly care about at the most basic level will go a long way toward developing your self-knowledge. What do you spend most of your time on? During what activities do you find yourself getting “lost”? If money was not a concern, what would you spend most of your time doing? These questions will help shed light on your passions. If you are honest with yourself you might be surprised with what you discover. I am a teacher by training, but once I allowed myself to define my passion as “helping people” and not “being a school teacher,” I became aware of a multitude of different ways to fulfill it, including this ebook.

2. Assessing your weaknesses/strengths and minimizing/maximizing their impact: There are two schools of thought when it comes to strengths and weaknesses. Some people say that you should focus your self-improvement efforts on your weaknesses so as to become more “well-rounded.” The other approach is to accept your weaknesses for what they are to minimize their impact while focusing on improving strengths. I am more inclined to take the latter approach. I believe in improving weaknesses enough that they do not completely handicap you but concentrating the majority of attention and focus on making your strengths truly world class. Focusing on weaknesses will make you mediocre at best. Focusing on strengths will make you stand out and be noticed.

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses will make everything you do much more effective. Do you have a group project that requires a leader and you happen to know that is a role you enjoy and in which you thrive? Step up and be that leader! Are you in the same situation but know that you are a much more effective worker if you don’t have to be the leader? Take that role and dominate in it! Putting more effort into situations where you are more likely to have success is the logical thing to do. Your self-knowledge will make those situations obvious.

3. Asking others: If you aren’t sure about your strengths and weaknesses, try asking other people. Starting with the people closest to you, ask them to help you figure out what you are and aren’t good at. If you interact with them on a regular basis I’m sure they have plenty of feedback. It won’t be hard to get them to talk about your strengths, however, the greatest possibility for true improvement in self-knowledge is by discussing weaknesses. It is your responsibility to approach the conversation in such a way as to make your conversation partner comfortable enough to share what they think your weaknesses are. How can you send your strengths into overdrive while minimizing the impact of your weaknesses?

Developing self-knowledge is a never ending process. You never stop growing so why would the quest to know yourself end? I firmly believe that learning about yourself is one of the most important processes to being living a simpler life. It will always happen to a certain extent regardless of your intentions. However, once you make up your mind to actively improve self-knowledge, the rate you start learning about yourself grows exponentially.

I want to leave you with the idea that the development of self-knowledge and the process toward living a simpler life are inseparable. As you improve self-knowledge it becomes easier to take action toward a simpler life. However, as your life becomes simpler and you spend more of your time and attention focused on your passions and values, your self-knowledge will grow at an even faster rate. The key is to open your mind to the possibility of understanding itself better and then taking steps to make it happen. A simpler life is passion and values laid bare. Figuring out through self-knowledge what you will be sharing with the world is the crucial first step.

MAKE PROGRESS NOW!

• Take an online personality test: I’m leery of online personality tests but I do think they can be potentially useful. If you answer the questions truthfully and don’t try to guide the test toward a particular outcome, I think interesting insights can be made. At the very least, it might open your eyes to where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
• Delegate something: I’m sure you have plenty of items that are on your to-do list that you aren’t particularly good at. Chances are, it might even be something that has been festering on your list for awhile because you are resistant to doing it. I’m a terrible editor so whenever I get a chance I try to delegate that to somebody else. My girlfriend is usually up to the challenge. Your job is to find one item on your to-do list that you aren’t very good at doing and delegate it to somebody else.

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If you enjoyed this chapter, be sure to check back on Monday to download the entire ebook for free!