Thinking Out Loud

I recently watched a documentary (shocking) on Netflix called "Minimalism". It follows two former finance guys who after many years of climbing the corporate ladder and yet to feel fulfilled, decided to drastically change the way they lived their lives by removing anything excessive. Others gave up six figure salaries and their huge houses but the most shocking part of the whole thing was learning about the multi-million dollar storage unit industry (to which I currently contribute).

I started thinking about all of the excessive stuff in my life (mostly clothes I don't wear and things filling up the storage unit I share with my family). Most of the items I have in there I've completely forgotten about. I realized that I wanted to take the challenge and live 2017 with less. Here are a few things I took away from the piece and perhaps some things to think about:

1) Review

Try to review the essential priorities in your life and filter out what is not necessary. Perhaps focus on what is more sensible and adds real value.

"If men could regard the events of their own lives with more open minds, they would frequently discover that they did not really desire the things they failed to obtain" - Andre Maurois

2) Remove

Try and remove the unnecessary distractions in your life. If it doesn't aid in your happiness or offer valuable function maybe consider removing it.

3) Reflect

Take the time to reflect on your life and the lessons you've learned (or should have learned). Think about the people in your life and how they affect you. Some people we can't just simply remove obviously and there are always challenges within our personal and public relationships yet we do have a choice when it comes to many of the people we allow into our lives.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." -Ferris Bueller

2017 will undoubtedly be full of challenges. Removing unnecessary stress in our lives can only make things better, right? Live healthy and live happy friends.