This blog is a constant source of self-doubt and pride for me at the same time. I’m proud of it because I have proven to myself that I can stay with one topic long enough to write 2-3 articles a week for over four months. I have been able to think about one topic in multiple ways and I haven’t bored myself with it yet. On the other hand, I am filled with self-doubt because I feel like I’m over complicating something that should be very simple. Simplicity should be simple, right!? If something is simple how do you write over fifty articles on it and have ideas for over 100 more?

In the end, I think the fact that the simplicity movement has become so popular over the past few years is a critique of where modern society is and where it is going. People are realizing that the complexity that is being added to their lives has a certain limit and needs a counterpoint. I think the reason that people are finding so much content to write about is that adding simplicity (or removing complexity) allows for an examination of related topics like personal development. Simplicity, minimalism and personal development are all separate ideas that play off of each other very well. My hope is that I am providing some sort of synthesis between the three of them in an interesting and logical manner.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t worry about making something that shouldn’t be too difficult unnecessarily complex. If I have, let me give you the gist of this entire blog and the entire simplicity movement in one sentence:

Get rid of everything that doesn’t matter so you can focus on what does.

That’s it. That’s all there is to it. That’s what I try to write about every day and that is what this whole movement is about. The way you take that sentence and apply it to your own life will be different than the way I do– and that’s where this and every other simplicity blog comes in.

Good luck.

Photo by Gianni-Jetzer

Sorry about the delay on the Simple Saturday Links. It has been a crazy weekend that has seen me coach three hockey games in approximately 24 hours. Needless to say, it’s been a busy week and weekend as I prepared my team for this tournament.

However, hockey season is essentially over now so I should have some more time to concentrate on writing. This week’s links are a little bit old but I wanted to give them the credit they are due anyway.

As always, I’d love to get to know you via Twitter, Google Buzz, or even samspurlin AT gmail DOT com. Also, please consider getting automatic updates via RSS or email. Thanks!

becoming minimalist: find a rational minimalism that works for you-- “Rational minimalism” is the principle idea behind the ebook that Joshua wrote (and I reviewed here) called Simplify. I really love the idea that minimalism will not look the same for everybody. It all depends on the reasons you are living a more minimalist lifestyle and it is something I’ve written about several times here.

far beyond the stars: the secret to focusing your digital attention– Focus is vital to nearly everything worth doing while at the same time is incredibly elusive and difficult to train. There are some good tips here written by Everett.

you, simplifed: refocus of the site and upcoming plans– Charley writes about how he is going to treat the ebooks he is sent to review. This strikes a chord with me because I’m in a similar boat. I’ve had several excellent ebooks sent to me in hopes that I will read them and review them on my site. On the one hand I want to help out those writers that I’ve met by promoting their books while at the same time I don’t want to turn thesimplerlife.net into a book review site. As a compromise, I think I will start doing short reviews during my Simple Saturday Links posts. That way I don’t use one of my normally scheduled posts for review while still promoting those books I think are helpful.

The past two weeks have been very busy with guest posts and I always feel self-conscious linking to my own writing across the web. However, I want to make sure all of these blogs get the attention they deserve for allowing me to write for them. If you don’t follow any of these guys (or gals!) I highly recommend you add them to your RSS reader of choice.

If you enjoy the writing I do here at thesimplerlife.net I hope you will also enjoy the articles I’ve written for each of these blogs as well.

Also, I don’t normally post on Fridays but I wanted to share these links with you while not cannibalizing my normal Simple Saturday Links post, again. Check back tomorrow for excellent links to writing that isn’t my own!

you, simplified: the number one argument for not simplifying– Many people think that a life of simplicity is synonymous with boring. I tackle that assumption with three great reasons to consider simplifying your life.

the minimalist path: let’s get personal; simplicity and personal growth– Simplicity is not a one size fit all proposition. Each person will simplify in a different way and there is very little universal simplification advice. In this article I talk about my experience with joining a gym and accepting the fact that paying the money for a membership even though I have equipment available for free at home was actually a case of simplifying my life.

life excursion: motivation vs. discipline– Motivation and discipline are both very important aspects to getting things done. In this article I come down on the side of discipline as being the most important skill to cultivate.

the art of great things: your personal teachable point of view– I write about a concept I learned in a book I recently read about the importance of leaders having teachable points of view for their organizations. I take this concept and apply it to personal development with a personal teachable point of view.

rowdy kittens: trick your mind to declutter– In this short and sweet article I write about the awesome power of Centers of Ambiguity in decluttering. Being able to remove items from your environment without the psychological trauma of truly throwing things away can be a great first step toward decluttering those hard to let go of items.

It’s not enough to just have values, they must become the cornerstones of your decision making process. Anybody can say they have values, but that’s not the point. In fact, you shouldn’t even have to articulate them in order for the people you interact with most to be able to describe them; if you actually live your values on a day-to-day basis, it becomes obvious what they are.

I’ve written about my values in the past and I want to make sure that I don’t fall into the trap of making a list that sounds good but isn’t actually practiced. I think the best way to prevent this from happening is to actually make a list of value next-actions that will help you live a life that is aligned with your values. This is sort of taking a page out of Getting Things Done and the importance of having truly actionable “next actions” for every project. By making sure that your next action is something that can truly be accomplished even the largest of projects can keep moving forward.

For example, one of my stated values is “growth.” Some of my next actions to further this value are, “Watch a TED talk,” “Finish reading current book,” and “Begin researching ebook project.” Another one of my values is “family” so some possible actions I can take to further this is, “call cousin in Florida,” “email my grandparents,” and “go to brother’s hockey game on Wednesday.”

Values can be very amorphous things when you don’t take the time to actually figure out what it looks like to live with them guiding your actions. I recommend sitting down and giving yourself 2-3 actions for each of your main values at the beginning of every week. You don’t necessarily have to do it for every single value that adhere to. In fact, I think it’s probably a better idea to focus on only one or two values a week in order to make the biggest impact.

The bottom line is that your values mean nothing if your actions don’t align with them. Give yourself some next-actions ahead of time and the rest takes care of itself.

Photo by mintlips