The Value of Simplicity
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
Episode 38
The Value of Simplicity
Take a good look at your lifestyle. I think it is safe to say that most of us live under such a cloud clutter that we have long forgotten what it is like to live a simple life, much less a sustainable one.
Yet there is a lot of value in having a simple life. In fact, simplicity tends to push us toward sustainability. And that is the point of this episode. First I want to prove to you how I was guilty of the same thing for many years. Then I want to tell you how I changed that. Then I will give you 10 valuable tips on how you can accomplish the same thing.
Welcome folks to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E38 titled The Value of Simplicity.
I can attest from personal experience that there are many things that clutter our lives and yet produce no value. Our homes are cluttered with possessions. Our business lives are cluttered with busy work and meetings. Our personal time is cluttered with endless emails, voicemails, text messages, and phone calls. Furthermore, our personal and family lives are cluttered with an endless list of obligations. To make matters even more stressful, our financial lives are buried under a crushing load of debt.
There are so many things in our lives that cost us money every month and yet do not truly enrich us. Most people never even realize how much this clutter and the long list of meaningless obligations eats away our time and our back accounts. We are so buried that simplicity and sustainability simply become a dream that is quickly fading on the horizon.
You must know at the outset that the value of having a simple life is different for each person. For me it means getting rid of the clutter so that I am left with only the things that bring me value. It means getting rid of the unnecessary so that I spend more time doing the things I love. But I have to tell you that achieving simplicity is more akin to a journey than a destination. Getting there is more difficult than you think.
How I Simplified My Life
There was a time in my life when I was neck deep in student loans, automobile loans, credit cards, and a mortgage. It was the result of nine years of school, purchasing a large tract of land one year out of school, followed by some unexpected moderate to severe financial difficulties.
Eventually, as if I needed another challenge, I paid off one property and bought another. I wanted a snow bird lifestyle. My work week averaged somewhere between 60 and 80 hours. I was living only to work and make as much money as I could. Like so many others, I thought this was the road to getting ahead. Consequently I kept working harder and harder and harder. All the while only wanting a simple life.
After a 14 month stint of working between 80 to 120 hours a week, I reached such a point of burnout that I literally walked away from everything I was doing. I took 9 weeks off. I returned to the cabin and spent much of my time hiking, sitting on the mountainside, and completely avoiding humanity. It was during this time that I realized if I ever wanted the simple life I longed for that I was going to have to make significant changes.
I systematically paid off one debt at a time. I first took all of the extra money I made over the previous year and a half and paid off the land mortgage. I then focused on my higher interest debt. When I got to the point that one debt was paid off, I took what I was paying on that debt and applied it to another debt on top of my normal payment. After about two years things began to snowball. I was paying enormous amounts of money on a single debt and digging out of my financial hole at an accelerated rate.
Since I had purchased the second home just before the big market crash in 2008, I had to hang onto that house for a few years. I spent that time doing some updating on the house that truly cost me very little money. In the end, those improvements made all the difference in selling the property.
Eventually I sold my second home at a $10,000 loss. However, the result of that decision was that I was finally debt free for the first time in my adult life. Since I was moving cross country and back into a much smaller place, I donated half of the contents of that home to a local charity. Because I was now debt free, I was able to recover the financial loss on the home in less than 6 months by working a little extra. I considered this a very small price to pay for downsizing my life and producing a huge increase in personal freedom.
After that I took my extra money, from working very part-time, and paid cash for massive improvements on the cabin property that was already paid off. My end goal was to make the off grid homestead much more functional and much more livable. My goal was be as self sufficient as possible, live as simple as possible, and be as sustainable as possible.
It took me about five years of hard work to accomplish that goal. In the process I got myself completely out of debt. I built a second cabin, a chicken barn, a 600 square foot earth sheltered green house, and installed a full solar array.
I will be the first to admit that accomplishing all fo this was not easy. All of these changes were a very difficult process for me, even painful at times. It took a tremendous amount of discipline, sacrifice, and commitment. It truly was a personal journey.
The End Result
The end result of 5 years of planning, scheming, and hard work is that I produced a lifestyle with increased personal time, increased financial freedom, and the assurance that everything in my life was there for a reason and everything in my life actually produced some sort of tangible benefit.
One of the things I hear most frequently, in fact one of the excuses I hear most frequently, when it comes to making sustainable choices, is people make some statement that starts with “I don’t have the time…..… “ I don’t have the time to make my own bread. I don’t have the time to make my own laundry detergent. I don’t have the time to make my own soap. I don’t have the time to shop the internet for sustainable companies. I would rather do one stop shopping such as on Amazon. I don’t have the time to plant a garden. I don’t have the time or skills to raise my own chickens.
Well I will have to say that one of the biggest and most evident changes to my lifestyle by simplifying my existence, getting out of debt, and getting rid of many unnecessary and meaningless obligations is that I now have so much more time on my hands. Instead of working 6 to 7 days a week I am now working 3 days a week. I spend the rest of my time working on the homestead, focusing on the blog and podcast, hiking, relaxing, and do so many other healthy things to reduce my stress.
One of the most important steps you can take toward simplifying your life is getting rid of debt. Being debt free is a necessity in order to relieve the economic pressure that most people live with everyday.
The average person spends the best years of their life paying off a huge debt load. Then they try to have some reasonable lifestyle in their retirement. You do not have to do this. With a little forethought and planning, the debt that you have can be easily managed. It does not have to be a deciding factor in how you live.
There was a time in my life when I was neck deep in student loans, automobile loans, credit cards, and a mortgage. As if I needed another challenge, I paid off one property and bought another. My work week averaged somewhere between 80 and 120 hours. I was living only to work and make as much money as I could. So what this means is that I was guilty of doing the very thing I am telling you not to do. But as they say, hind sight is 20/20. And I now know from personal experience that you have to focus and stay committed to your goal of simplicity and sustainability. It truly is a journey, not a destination.
How to Get There
There are many resources available to help you reach your goal of a simple sustainable life. I reviewed a lot of articles and even read several books in order to find the best ways to make my life as simple and sustainable as possible. And I will refer to some of those resources in the transcript for this episode.
But, here is the short version. If you truly want to distill this process down to something that is as simple as possible, then do the following two things:
- Identify what is truly important to you, the things that bring you value, give you happiness, and produce the kind of life you really want.
- Eliminate everything else.
Further Tips for Achieving Simplicity
Beyond that, I do want to give you some further tips. However, there will be much more information in the transcript of this episode. So, if you have some further tips, then download that transcript. Furthermore, you can rest assured that I have followed and performed each and every one of the suggestions that I am about to give you.
- Make a list of the things that are most important to you.
First and foremost, make a short list of the things that are important to you. It only needs to be a list of the top 4-5 things. Simplicity and sustainability begins with determining your priorities. Once you have done so, you then have to make room in your life for these 4-5 things.
2) Evaluate your possessions and de-clutter your life.
As you can see from my personal example above, too many material possessions complicate your life far more than you think. They drain your energy, time, attention, and money. If it does not bring you value, get rid of it. A great technique for decluttering your life is to pack things away in a box and tape it closed. Store it away for a year. If you have not needed it for that amount of time, get rid of it.
3) Limit your spending
Learn when enough is enough. Our present economy is built on consumerism, constant spending, and constant growth. No one, not even our government, accepts the fact that this is not sustainable.
Get off the spending treadmill and stop trying to keep up with everyone else. Limit what you purchase to things that you will have and use on a long-term basis. Learn to fix things instead of buying something new. In fact, spend a little more money up front and purchase better quality products that will last you much longer. For example, I purchased stainless steel and cast iron cookware over 20 years ago and I still have the same cookware.
Believe me, if you get in the habit of living like this, it is much easier on the environment, is much more sustainable and your bank account will be much better off in the end.
4) Limit your personal commitments
Your first priority should be to set up a life that is in line with your personal values. If you find that your days are filled with various activities from beginning to end, it is time to reassess your situation. If your time commitments to work, home, community events, religious endeavors, neighbors, friends, etc, are not in line with what you truly value, you obviously need to make some changes.
Spend some time thinking about all of the commitments you have in your life. How many of those commitments actually bring you value? How many of those things are actually in line with your list of the top 4 to 5 things that are most important?
The simple fact is that most of us feel a lot of social pressure to “get involved”. To help do something about all the things that are wrong in the world. But, the bottom line is that you are only responsible for you!!! You are only responsible for your own happiness. You are only responsible for your own life.
I spent about 15 years traveling to various countries doing volunteer work in medical clinics. I truly feel that I made a difference for literally hundreds of lives during that time. But, I realized one day that I was growing tired of always doing things for other people. I stopped doing volunteer work and started doing things for myself instead. I started traveling for fun instead of work. I enjoyed hiking in different countries. I also became a certified scuba diving and started making numerous new friends.
My point being, think carefully about your commitments. Be certain those commitments are in line with what brings you value and the things that are actually sustainable.
5) Limit your screen time and media consumption
Too much media has a profound affect on your values, as well as your attitude and outlook on life. The constant barrage of advertising convinces you to spend money on things that you really don’t need and things that eventually end up in the landfill.
The constant negative news coverage of various events convinces you that the entire world is a bad, dangerous place. Do you really need to know about some horrible disaster that happened on the other side of the planet 30 minutes ago? Do you really think the constant exposure to crime and violence adds value to your life?
When you are exposed to such things repeatedly it affects you more than you think. For a number of reasons I stopped watching television over 25 years ago. For the first 10 years of that time I actually did not even use the internet regularly. Needless to say, I was oblivious to so many things that went on in the world.
These days, I use the internet regularly and try to be a bit more aware of world events. I will cruise through news pages a couple of times a week to get some idea of major world events. The main reason for this is that I like to travel and want to keep a big picture of what’s going on.
These days most of my pleasure reading via the internet focusing on travel, science, National Geographic, outdoor activities, and of course sustainable and off grid living. In other words, I get to learn about some really interesting things.
To this day, I feel my quality of life is greatly improved by eliminating the constant barrage of crime, violence, bad news, gloom and doom. I am not constantly harassed with phone calls, messages, or other distractions that interrupt my peace and quiet when I am not working.
I HIGHLY recommend giving it a try.
6) Learn to live frugally
Most of us can live on far less than what we do. This goes back to decluttering your life. Take a good look at the things in your life that produce value. Excessive materialism not only makes you a slave to your possessions but it also keeps you in debt. When you reach to purchase something, ask yourself if it produces any real value in your life. If it does not, reevaluate. Wait two weeks, or even a month, to make that purchase and then decide if you really need it.
And of course if you do purchase something make sure it is a good quality product that is going to last and something you will use over and over again.
Mt cabin is really not that big. It is 14 foot by 20 foot with a 3/4 loft area for a bedroom. But, I am adding on a 14 foot by 14 foot sun room this year. But, that is not a lot of living space for 2 people and two dogs. Consequently, if something in the cabin does not have at least 2 to 3 different uses, I get rid of it because it is in the way.
7) Downsize your life and become a minimalist
If you clean up your life and rid yourself of all unnecessary possessions and clutter you will quickly find that you need a lot less living space. Move into a smaller residence. It will be much less expensive and time consuming to maintain. Being a minimalist means you only have what you need.
There are two cabins on my homestead. The original log cabin is about 350 square feet. The second I built is about 600 square feet. Everything in these cabins have more than one function. If not, it is in my way and I get rid of it. When you live in such a small space it quickly becomes very evident what is valuable and what needs to go.
8) Create a simply meal plan and cook at home
Eating meals at home prepared from fresh ingredients is by far one of the most sustainable things you can do. Better yet, eating meals prepared from ingredients you have grown yourself. Meals at home do not need to be complicated. Plan ahead, get organized and make you meals simple and basic. For that matter, cook several large meals per week and eat left overs. This eliminates the necessity to cook every day.
I cannot say enough about the amount of food waste in our culture. I cannot say enough about the unhealthy American diet. But if you want more information, go back and listen to E13 Fast and Fatal, E23 Waste Not, Want Not, Pollute Not
9) Stop eating out
Between 2016 and 2017 Americans spent more money on restaurant food and take out than they actually spent on groceries. The average American spends roughly 45% of their monthly food budget on restaurant food. This means that eating out is becoming the norm, not eating at home. Eating at home can literally save you thousands of dollars per year.
Because of what I do as a veterinarian, I work with multiple different hospitals. No matter where I go, I consistently see the entire staff eating at least 2 meals a day of restaurant food. I cannot imagine the amount of money they spend each month on food. Not to mention to amount of waste they produce. It literally drives me crazy sometimes.
A lifetime of sustainable habits.
10) Just say no
This is the final point I want to bring up but it is a valuable one indeed. Learn to say no.
-Say no to all the clutter in your life that produces absolutely no value.
-Say to to excessive spending on products and possessions that you simply do not need. Once again, those things in your life that bring no value to the table. Downsize how you live. Become a minimalist. Live frugally. It will reduce your responsibilities and free up a lot of your personal time.
-If you think you are so short on time, then take a good long look at all the personal commitments you have in your life. Learn to say no. Say no to those commitments that bring no joy, happiness, and produce no lasting personal benefit.
-Say no to social media and internet surfing. First of all you do not need to have an up-to-the-minute report of everything that goes on in everyone else’s life. I can count on one hand the number of times over the last 20 years that someone has needed to contact me immediately because of a pressing personal issue or an emergency. We have become convinced that we need to be in constant connection with everyone.
But what our social media and internet communication has done is that we are forgetting how to communicate with one another, face to face even. So, stop with the social media, put down the cell phone, look someone straight in the eye and have a personal conversation.
Otherwise you have no true personal connection. And it is this lack of connection that makes us ignore what is going on in the world and makes us ignore the fact that we are all responsible for the environment and for our own personal choices.
-Say no to eating all the processed foods and restaurant food. I can give you example after example of someones personal health making a complete turn around by simply eating all natural organic foods and getting completely off processed foods.
Now just for a quick summary here.
Take a good long look at your life and all the things you do and have. It is safe to say that most of us have a lot more personal possessions than what we truly need. Our possessions and financial commitments make us a slave to our jobs, perhaps a job that we do not even enjoy.
But as I related to you previously, I was guilty of the same thing. I decided to change all of that and it took me about 5 years to do so. And my life has been so much better for it.
Simplicity lends itself toward sustainability. Being a minimalist means you are purchasing less, consuming less, using fewer resources, and having less of an impact on the environment. There is not doubt that we are addicted to convenience and excess. But all that can change before you are actually forced to do it. As I tell my friends, you had better get busy learning how to live sustainably because at some point in time in the future, you may not have a choice.
The short version of achieving simplicity is this:
- Identify what is truly important to you, the things that bring you value, give you happiness, and produce the kind of life you really want.
- Eliminate everything else.
From the information above, I have given you 10 tips on how to achieve simplicity. In the transcript of this episode, I will include a link to a blog post that has a total of 20 tips on achieving simplicity.
Let me just wrap up here by saying that in the beginning of my process of simplification I did not have a specific plan. I did not have a list of things to follow that was going to get me where I wanted and needed to go. I just had a tendency to focus on one thing at a time. It was indeed difficult at first. But the rewards of what I did were amazing. I never regret any of my choices because I now have a much better quality of life.
Ultimately the ways in which you simplify your life is a matter of personal choice. The important thing is that you commit to some positive personal change and make it happen.
I spent a reasonable amount of time researching the topic of simplifying your life. The points I have made here are things that I distilled down into what I considered the most important. I also read a couple of books on the topic just for fun. The two books that I found the most enlightening for me are as follows:
How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World by Harry Browne
Simplify Your Life, 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter. by Elaine St. James.
You have to realize that positive change takes some time. The most important thing is to take it one step at a time. Little changes can make a difference. Consistently make little changes and you would be amazed how much different and better your life will be 5 years from now. Simplicity lends itself toward sustainability and helps us to focus on developing sustainable habits. A lifetime of sustainable habits helps us to build a better world.
This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. If you have enjoyed this episode then be sure to download the transcript and go through some of the additional resources I have provided. You will learn a lot.
Until next week, remember to always live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.
Patrick
Additional Resources
How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World by Harry Browne
Simplify Your Life, 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter by Elaine St. James
The Importance of Simplifying Your Life
Self Reliance is Your Best Security Blanket
