Minimalism is for Suckers: Be a Conscious Maximist Instead

Before we get to today’s post I just wanted to quickly announce that the sale I’m running on my ebook ends Friday night. If you’re interested in purchasing Living the Simpler Life: 8 Essentials to Practice Everyday for $7.95 instead of $9.95 your time is quickly running out. While you’re at it, if you’re interested in more future discounts on products I release, consider signing up for The Simpler Life Monthly Newsletter (it’s free, non-spammy, and may or may not contain videos of me dancing and/or singing*). Ok, I’m done bothering you. Enjoy the article.

* Probably not.

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I’m no longer a minimalist.

Minimalism is so 2009. Focusing on getting rid of stuff, not having things, and minimizing is so boring. Nope, no more minimalism for me. From now on, I’m what you might call a “conscious maximist.”

Minimalism focuses on removal, absence, and restriction. I’d much rather focus on the positive. Conscious maximists focus on having awesome and beautiful possessions, doing incredible and interesting things with their life, and having as much as possible of everything that is awesome.

The key, however, is that ever so important word, “conscious.” Consciousness is what separates a conscious maximist from your average mindless consumer. You must be aware of how you are acting, why you are acting that way, why you desire what you do, what your passions are and what actually matters to you. Without that component, you’re nothing more than one of those average shmucks that thinks shopping is something you do when you’re bored, that McMansions are the best thing since industrial sized fast food menus, and that the only metric that matters is quantity acquired. That’s not a conscious maximist.

How can you become a conscious maximist and begin living a life of abundance, like me? It’s pretty simple:

1. Figure out your values.

2. Figure out what is getting in the way of you living your values

3. Figure out what you need to live your values more fully

4. Minimize #2 and maximize #3:

5. Repeat

You may notice that this course of action will utilize some of the minimalism skills you have learned elsewhere. Leverage those skills but don’t forget about step #3. That’s where you get to add all the awesome stuff to your life that makes you a true conscious maximist. Interesting experiences, interesting people, chances to learn new things and expand your horizons; this is the stuff conscious maximist’s crave.

What do you want to have more of in your life? Why don’t you have it yet? What’s the first step to making it a reality?

Photo by h.koppdelaney