We hear all the time from since we were young toddlers at the neighborhood playground to the corporate boardroom that we must share, we should share, and sharing is good.
Are we listening to ourselves, though?
From the “this is mine!” mentality when fighting for the last available parking spot in an already overcrowded shopping mall, to the coworkers or roommates branding every condiment jar and bottle, bread package, and drinks in the fridge with their names, it hardly seems as if we’ve learned this fundamental lesson in human interaction.
Sharing is good. It’s not only good for the development of human relationships, it’s also extremely good for the world. This place we call home.
Are we about to destroy it and wreak havoc with our multiple SUVs per family, not just one home but two or three, a TV for every room in the house because family members can’t seem to share one set as it is, that we must have one for each member of the household, pets included? It sounds a little ridiculous, doesn’t it?
I love the idea of sharing with others, not just sharing my thoughts, viewpoints, and philosophies in life, but also the tangible goods. For not only does it reduce our clutter and stuff we own, but it also allows one to reach out to another by means of connecting with someone else over a shared place, shared item, or shared furniture. For instance, ever since I adopted a minimalist lifestyle by ways of reducing all my possessions until I own far less than 100 things in the whole world, sharing has become a bigger part of my minimalist lifestyle. I can’t be a minimalist and hoard everything at the same time; it just doesn’t work that way. So I share my Chicago apartment with a roommate. I take public transportation to get around the city. I swap clothes with other friends or relatives. I share my meals with others. I share my art by giving it away as gifts. I share my writing freely on my blog. I share … my life.
This is one of the best ways to live, I believe. We reduce our carbon footprint in this world but leave a bigger one instead: in the hearts of the lives we touch through sharing. If you are interested in a more minimalist lifestyle or would like to read up on some great minimalist e-books that provide solid and sound advice, I highly recommend the following, detailed in six specific categories:
Minimalism As A Way of Life
The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life by Leo Babauta is a very practical and helpful guide to a living minimally, from clearing clutter in the home, workspace, and computer, to minimalist traveling, food, fitness, and finances. You can’t go wrong with this guide since it provides concrete, all-around basic essentials to a minimalist life. A great starting point for all.
Everett Bogue, author of The Art of Being Minimalist, kicks minimalism into high gear by his bold and unapologetic ways of stating things about minimalism, such as “destroy your TV and burn your crap!” A no-nonsense and no-frills e-book on the art of being minimalist, this is definitely worth a read.
My new e-book The Radical Minimalist is about not only what it means to be radical or a minimalist, but what it means to be both: a radical minimalist. Not all radical thinkers will be minimalists, and not all minimalists will be radical thinkers. This e-book explains the powerful combination of radically taking your thinking and lifestyle to the extreme – and how ultimately, that can be the most rewarding.
Productivity
Leo Babauta earns his second appearance on this list with Zen to Done, one of the best productivity systems out there with the directive of simplicity. It’s also about forming the 10 key habits that is essential to a simple yet productive life. As Leo states, “It makes things as simple as possible, and no more.” The perfect tool in discovering the simplicity of productivity.
Food
Jules Clancy, author of 5 ingredients | 10 minutes, solves your dinner dilemma using fresh, real, and readily available ingredients found right in your pantry. In our fast-paced and hectic society we live in, eating healthfully and mindfully often can go by the wayside. Jules shows you how it’s possible to create simple, fast, and minimalist meals in her e-book, filled with magnificent, full color photographs of every recipe. A wonderful guide for the minimalist chef.
Jules Clancy, author of 5 ingredients | 10 minutes, solves your dinner dilemma using fresh, real, and readily available ingredients found right in your pantry. In our fast-paced and hectic society we live in, eating healthfully and mindfully often can go by the wayside. Jules shows you how it’s possible to create simple, fast, and minimalist meals in her e-book, filled with magnificent, full color photographs of every recipe. A wonderful guide for the minimalist chef.
Minimalist Business
With her new e-book Smalltopia, Tammy Strobel offers some sound advice and practical tips for anyone looking to leave their 9-to-5 day job, build a very small business online, and diversify their income stream. With her trademark “micro-actions,” Tammy helps you get started in the right direction, with strategies to help you earn $200 per month, at the very least. A wonderful e-book for those interested in working for themselves.
In The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself, Chris Guillebeau explains how to create personal freedom through a very small business. From how to get paid for things you currently do for free to the 6 top mistakes of entrepreneurship, this dynamite guide to working for yourself is loaded with the tools you need to start creating a very small business for yourself.
Everett Bogue shows up again with Minimalist Business. In his signature style of straight forwardness and very realistic viewpoints on starting a minimalist business online, Bogue details how to live and work anywhere in his e-book. He doesn’t just talk about it; he lives it. Solid advice and tips on getting a jump start to one’s minimalist business. And while you’re at it, read his free e-book Minimalist Workday, where he outlines 50 strategies for working less, by working just two hours a day. Many would like to know how one can work less without sacrificing productivity and good output. Using his work style preference, Everett shows you how it is very possible.
Car-Free Living and Minimalist Health
Tammy Strobel tackles auto-less life with Simply Car-free, where she dispels the myths that suggest people can’t just go car-free in this phenomenally simple e-book. From how to save $8,000 a year to going grocery shopping by bike, you too can pedal toward financial freedom and a healthier life. And with green initiatives and a more eco-conscious atmosphere, the world is already in position to reduce our carbon footprint and save our planet. Tammy will show you simple strategies on how you can get started today. She also wrote a free e-book called Minimalist Health, where she explains how to take care of our one body and mind in order to improve our health and change our world.
Travel
In his e-books Travel Ninja and Frequent Flyer Master, Chris Guillebeau is indeed a guru in his own right when it comes to mastering the art of travel. Want to learn how to travel anywhere (literally) in the world on a shoestring budget (or for free with Frequent Flyer miles)? These guides will tell you exactly how. Absolutely invaluable. Plus, anything with the word “ninja” or “master” just sounds pretty cool to me!
Karol Gajda, author of How to Live Anywhere, provides the official guide to ridiculously extraordinary freedom that can transform your life. Sounds powerful? Well, it is. Split into 3 modules covering philosophy, travel & living, and money, Karol uses his 10 years of living anywhere in the world and working online to the max. There’s a lot to this guide, more than I can mention here. You just have to see it for yourself.
With that, I hope you will take some time today to review some of the minimalist e-books mentioned above, for it can absolutely transform your life for the better. We’re here to help, sharing with you what makes a minimalist life more rewarding, a minimalist business possible, the ability to live and work anywhere, and much, much more.
Live simply. Be in tune with yourself. Share.
Awesome! I was just wondering about where I could get some tips on minimalism, simplicity andthe inherent sharing, gratitude and community that comes with it. My "to read soon" list just got at least 5 new titles!