One of the heroes of Dovlatov, the speculator Fred, expressed the following thought: are we really here to eat a thousand meatballs, demolish a dozen suits and see all the editions of Full House? Isn't it better to commit feats or crimes while the human middle peasant pulls the hateful strap?
The monologue at the sticky table, in addition to petty romance, contains another, slightly obscured idea. Things don't make people happier, and hoarding anything is sheer stupidity. The thesis is simple, voiced repeatedly and variously. But, perhaps, we will still cling to it again: we will talk about the 100 things movement.
According to supporters, a person does not need so much for a happy full life - no more than a hundred material artifacts. Including sofas, toothbrushes and wrenches. Maybe even small collections of stamps or racing cars. Amazing, right? Let's continue.
"100 Things" is not a call to asceticism. Rather, it is a proposal to take a sober look at the contents of the home: which of your beloved ones should be sent to the landfill, and which should be given new functions. As a result of merciless cleaning, it will turn out that you really live at the expense of hundreds of necessary devices. Do not trust?
The advent of synthetics and cheap Chinese hands have allowed each of us to feel like a rich man. Our incomes have turned into unnecessary things from which there is no escape: it's a pity to throw it away, there is nowhere to store it. And it will only get worse: AliExpress is a worse thing than alcohol and drugs. At the same time, your day has not changed, and you still wear old jeans, cut meat with your favorite knife, and light the way with your phone. The rest is buried in countless boxes. Is not it?
Well, let's get down to business. You and I just found out that not everything we own is really needed. The main thing remains: to figure out why to give up the excess (especially if it has already been bought and does not ask for food) and how to do it correctly.
saving money
You probably still think you don't have the money to travel to South America. Or only five million is not enough to build a house. If so, forget it: you have that money. Only you spend them on clothes, devices and items of comfortable life.
A sober assessment of the contents of the basket will allow you to save significant amounts. Yes, yes, the very ones that you cannot find use for when you leave the accounting department with a fresh salary.
What to do: open a refillable bank account, and when there are three or four thousand dollars on it, go to Australia. Or South Africa.
Free space
You probably still think that moving to a 3-room apartment will solve all your housing problems. Trust me, it won't.
Junk has a wonderful ability to fill all available space. Whatever your apartment is, whatever your salary is - know that sooner or later all the shelves will be lined with jars, boxes, piles, folders and other crap that is extremely necessary in life.
What to do: throw away everything that you do not use for a year or more. Throw away everything that has a replacement. Throw away the "cool" ones that do not carry a payload. Buy no more. Never.
Mobility
You probably still think that moving to another city is something out of the realm of fantasy. So it is: a mercilessly valuable, but sagging sofa and two wardrobes of clothes will not let you go either to Amsterdam or to Paris. And so I wanted to.
The abundance of things does not make your life brighter, more convenient or more interesting. On the contrary: the fewer attachments, the freer you are in choosing a direction. The fewer Gazelles with belongings, the faster and easier it is to move to the ends of the world. At least tomorrow.
What to do: I won't recommend that you sleep on the floor or get IKEA furniture. Which, if anything, is not ashamed to leave to the enemy. It's up to you to choose: free flight with a backpack on your back, or some kind of roots - albeit slightly bulky, but familiar and cozy.
organization
You probably still think that life without a corkscrew and clothespins is impossible. Although it is not.
The line between austerity and comfort is thin and invisible. Therefore, it is so easy to slide from restrained organization into unrestrained gathering. Along the way, calling another pack of rubbish "a necessary thing in the household." Imperceptibly shifting the brain from the “necessary and sufficient” mode to the “need 3 more packages of goodness” mode.
What to do: include logic and imagination in the arrangement of living space. Weigh and imagine why you need a new device, where it will be stored and how soon you will get bored.
mental purity
You probably still think that the depletion of your vitality is due to poor ecology and a sedentary lifestyle. Although this is not entirely true.
Both the body, and the eyes, and the mind need space. It is for this reason that we are more comfortable on the top of a mountain or in a field than in a cramped elevator car. If the comparison is incorrect, I will explain directly: the more piled up in the corners of the room, the less space remains for you, your eyes and brain. Throw away a stack of magazines and a broken scooter and you will understand that I am right.
What to do: strive not for filling the dwelling, but for the spaciousness in it. The same, by the way, applies to the cleanliness of windows. Yes, just in case.
freedom
Finally, let me tell you an anecdote. Old and unfunny, but perfectly illustrating our conversation.
Once a young Jew came to the rabbi. He said:
Rebbe, help me. I do not know what to do.
“What happened, my son? the rabbi asked.
— I have two geese. Gray and white. I need to kill one of them, but I don't know which one.
“Kill the gray one,” the Rebbe replied.
- I can’t: the white one will be sad.
- Well, slaughter the white.
- I can’t: gray will be sad.
"Then kill them both!"
- Can't: I'll upload...
The rabbi scratched the back of his head and said:
— Opposite the Orthodox Church. Come to the priest, tell him what and how, he will help you.
The Jew did just that.
- Father, I have two geese. I need to kill one.
“Cut the white man,” answered the father.
“But then the gray one will be sad!”
- Well, to hell with him.
To hell with them. A minimum of things, the absence of habits and attachments - the main and only key to absolute freedom. Remember this. Although there is no such thing as absolute freedom...
It's easy to acquire good habits and change your life - just carry the right things in your bag! Here is a list of my daily helpers who help me be healthy and take care of the planet:
Bottle for water
All doctors say that you should drink 1.5-2 liters of water every day. But many people simply forget about it in the everyday bustle! A special bottle that is always with me reminds me of this. I fill it with drinking water at home (at a party / at work) and drink it during the day. Additional bonuses: no need to spend money on purchased water, and also think about recycling disposable bottles. The less garbage, the better my mood)) With the birth of a child, I also began to carry a drinking bowl for him.
Thermo glass
Must-have for coffee lovers like me! Whenever I order coffee to go, I ask you to pour it into it: it is much more convenient than disposable cups, from which coffee is spilled and in which it cools quickly. You can drink, put in a bag, then drink again. You can't do that with disposable utensils. Benefits for nature, again, in reducing the amount of garbage. If you think that paper cups for drinks will quickly rot, then I must disappoint you: this is not at all the case! They contain not only paper, but also plastic (it is in the form of a layer between paper layers), which, as you know, does not decompose for centuries. By the way, you can pour puree soup, tea, just hot water into a thermo glass (for example, to dilute porridge for a child on a walk). And save a bunch of resources on disposable tableware, as well as money on store-bought food!
Eco bag
Plastic bags are one of the main pollutants of the planet. An excellent alternative to plastic is fabric eco-bags and string bags. They don't take up much space when folded, so I always carry one or two in my women's purse. This good habit allows you to reduce the number of landfills on the planet, which means making the environment more favorable for our health.
Dried fruits and nuts bar
An emergency snack when there is no time to eat properly. And instead of buying a pie / fried pancake / chocolate and other unhealthy products, it is better to eat a bar that consists only of healthy ingredients. True, not everything that is sold under their guise is absolutely natural: flavors, preservatives and trans fats are added to some cheap bars. In order not to be deceived, it is better to buy products not cheaper than 80 rubles and read the composition.
A spoon
When you can’t get enough of a bar, and you want to eat something else, but at the same time it’s fast, healthy and inexpensive. You can buy a jar of cottage cheese or yogurt and eat it with your spoon. Also, when I go to a fast food restaurant that sells plastic utensils, I prefer to eat with my reusable utensils - it's much greener and healthier. After all, most often disposable spoons are made of polystyrene - this type of plastic is considered one of the most harmful to humans and nature. Once again, healthy habits like these help you not only take care of your health, but also reduce waste.
Natural lip balm
It is 100% natural and eco-friendly balm - a universal remedy that can replace half a cosmetic bag and a little first aid kit. In addition to moisturizing the lips, they can smear hands and nails, skin irritations, diaper rash in children and other problem areas.
Reusable shoe covers
They settled in my purse recently, from the moment of pregnancy, when there was a need to regularly visit clinics and other medical institutions. Before, my heart bled when I saw mountains of discarded plastic shoe covers. Now I’m also drenched, but at least I don’t have anything to do with it: I put on my cute fabric shoe covers, and when I get home, I wash them and put them back in my bag so that they are always at hand. You can buy these or make your own.
All these items help to easily form good habits and not only change your life, but the life of the entire planet. After all, what more people lives ecologically, the cleaner environment and healthier nature!
culture
Some people become heroes of gossip columns and news releases, thanks to luxury, excesses, etc., but the young American Andrew Hyde became famous not at all for this reason. On the contrary, he does not observe excesses in anything. The American has nothing ... except 15 things that are also of little value. They are simply necessary for normal life. An American minimalist lives with just 15 items.
Main field of activity
If you think that Andrew is homeless or a beggar, you are deeply mistaken. With housing and work, the American is in perfect order. The thing is, Hyde is a so-called tech tycoon. He is engaged in consulting in one of the large American companies and concurrently is the founder of the international movement for the development of new web projects "Startup Weekend". Hyde successfully organizes various conferences and events dedicated to the search for new ideas in the field of high technology, in the field of art and design.
The young American lives in 2 houses: he is constantly "torn" between work in New York and Silicon Valley. Hyde has no permanent residence. If the active Andrew has at least some free time, he prefers to spend it on travel, while he takes with him only the 15 most necessary things.
It is they, according to the American, that are necessary for the life of a modern person. All other items are excesses that should be excluded from daily use.
Essential items for survival
The young innovator says he has always liked minimalism in everything. Andrew was also attracted to the idea of using a minimum of things in everyday life. A couple of years ago, he decided to see if he could get by with just a hundred household items. And it looks like he's had a great life using a limited amount of stuff.
After some time, Hyde decided to go even further. He sold all his possessions, including wardrobe, appliances and dishes. The American left himself only 15 of the most necessary, in his opinion, things:
1. Backpack with a total capacity of 30 kg
4. T-shirt
5. Lightweight shorts
6. Towel
7. Warm jacket
8. A set of toiletries, including a razor and soap
9. Sunglasses
10. Wallet
11. MacBook Air computer
13. Long sleeve shirt
14. Jeans
15. Sneakers
Surely, each of you noted that this list does not include socks and underwear. Hyde has enough of these little things in store. The American left himself a minimum of clothing. According to him, now he does not need to waste time thinking about what to wear to work, what to wear to a party, and what to wear for a walk. Waking up every morning, he simply takes out of the closet that shirt or T-shirt that he did not wear yesterday. Having no choice makes life easier. The American was convinced of this from his own experience.
Minimum of things
However, according to Hyde, it was very difficult and problematic to reduce his property to a minimum. As Andrew himself recalls, he began to cut his wardrobe gradually. First he took two shirts, one pair of jeans and one pair of shorts. He also brought one pair of sandals, sunglasses, and, of course, underwear.
An iPad and a camera also became mandatory items that the American took with him. In the list of necessary things, he added a backpack, some toiletries, a towel. Andrew also needed some small items such as a pen, connector cable and iPad chargers.
After all the things were packed into a backpack, an enterprising American went on a trip to try to live with this set of things. As a result, during a trip that lasted almost 5 weeks, the experimental traveler needed even fewer things than he took with him.
Modern man wants everything at once. These days, the average woman alone has about 20 pairs of shoes, a wardrobe of hundreds of outfits. And some people live all alone in huge mansions. The young rich man Andrew Hyde, by his example, demonstrates to society that you can get by with little, and it is not at all necessary to have millions in order to be happy.
15 useful skills to learn at a young age
Founder and director of Youth Consulting, who has worked with Coca-Cola, Pepsico and Microsoft, and editor-in-chief of the personal growth blog Zero To Skill, Zdravko Cvijetic wrote an article about what useful skills each of us should acquire the sooner the better. better. We have translated the material and selected key points, preserving the unusual author's style.
Super Mario. A little mustachioed plumber, without whom my childhood would not have been so happy. I was ready to spend hours helping this good fellow save the princess from the company of bad guys. If you also played Mario, then, of course, you could not help but notice how difficult it was to move from level to level without a sufficient amount of mushrooms - those that helped to become bigger and endowed the hero with useful skills like throwing fireballs. So, our life is like a game. Playing Mario Plumber. In real life, you are Mario. And you need to find your "mushrooms" that will help you grow, improve, move from level to level, develop as a person and as a professional. When I ask my readers to name the reason that prevents them from learning new skills, I get a lot of different answers. One of them especially well shows what, perhaps, each of us goes through: “There are too many things around that can be studied. Too many choices… And time is limited.” This thought prompted me to create this article. Talking to people and analyzing my own experience, I did a little research, and this is what happened. 15 valuable skills that will help you become more successful and develop more dynamically. The sooner you get them, the better.
1. Finding your own philosophy
The internal compass tells us whether everything is going according to plan or if something has gone wrong. But it is not enough to feel it - you need to soberly assess the situation in accordance with your own system of values. To identify this value system, ask yourself, “What do I value about _______ (work, relationships, friendships, life, etc.)?” The listed set will be the system of your value coordinates. Then ask yourself, “What good and bad things do I see in this world?” Once you focus on the good, “Oh shit, it’s Monday again…” miraculously turns into “Oh yes, Monday! Let's start?" Feel the difference?
2. Finding your calling
No, I do not believe that we all came to this earth with some great purpose. But I am sure that life gives us the opportunity to find out what we are strong in and what we like to do. Your calling is your talents (what are you especially good at?), your passion (what do you really love to do?), and the opportunities around you. Look around and you will definitely find what you are looking for.
3. Goal setting
In a 1979 Harvard MBA lecture, students were asked, "Do you have clear goals for the future and plans to achieve them?" Only 3% of students answered that they had written goals and plans. Another 13% admitted that they have goals, but not in writing. The vast majority, 84%, had no clear goals at all. Ten years later, the graduates were brought together again. They were asked how much they earn, and found the incredible. The 13% of graduates who had goals earned, on average, twice as much as the 84% who had no goals. And the 3% whose goals were clearly articulated ten years ago were earning ten times more than the other 97% combined! Targets work like a camera lens. If you focus correctly, you get a clear picture. If the focus is not set, the image will be blurry.
4. Visualization
Goal setting is something you can do consciously. Your brain is great at generating ideas and thinking about them, but it is powerless when it comes to putting them into action because it is constantly distracted by various external events. The subconscious mind works differently: it is able to see the whole picture. When the conscious and unconscious go hand in hand, they help you achieve your goals. Visualization works best right after waking up and a few minutes before bedtime. By imagining the smallest details, sensations and emotions as if you have already achieved your goal, you make yourself believe that it is possible in principle to achieve the goal. But be careful! This is not the law of attraction, which says that it is enough to imagine a Ferrari, and the next day a brand new car will be waiting for you under the window. It doesn't work like that. Visualization is only one side of the coin. Hard work and dedication is the other side of it.
5. Forming habits
By habits we often mean something negative, so I prefer to call good habits personal rituals. When I think that I MUST go to the gym, it's hard for me. But when I think about the fact that I am a healthy person, and going to the gym is an important part of the life of any healthy person, it becomes easier. Try it!
6. Healthy lifestyle
Everyone wants to be healthy. Correctly? For me, for example, the goal is not just to be healthy, but also to have enough energy. Plus look good.
Example. For 11 years I played football, and then I abandoned this business. My weight went from 65 to 86 kilos in less than 9 months. I became fat. For anyone who once boasted excellent abs, this is frustrating. So I decided to do two things:
- find a suitable diet that would help me return to normal weight, and stick to it;
- in addition to nutrition, exercise regularly.
It took me about a couple of years to find the right diet and sports activities to my liking. But now I am satisfied with my body, healthy and energetic during the day.
7. The art of learning
I'm sure it's one of the key skills on the list. Everything we are and everything we have achieved is made possible by our ability to learn. People who have reached the heights are just people who are able to quickly and effectively learn new skills and apply them where it is required.
8. Searching and filtering information
We are all overloaded with information. Wherever you go, you will stumble upon streams of information that will constantly distract you from your goals. Spend your time online wisely.
9. Time management and productivity
I constantly think about time, because this is the only resource that we will never renew. Where to get more time? Optimize your sleep time. Perhaps, instead of the standard nine hours, seven or eight is enough for you to feel healthy. Check it out! How to use time more efficiently?
- Use the so-called "dead" time (at the computer or in front of the TV) to good use.
- Focus on high-impact activities (remember the 80/20 rule: 20% of the tasks bring 80% of the result).
- Focus on what will help you grow (reading, connecting with inspiring people, working on goals).
10. The Art of Meditation
We are constantly working, interacting with people, spending a fair amount of time on the Internet. Sometimes you need to stop, relax and enjoy the time spent alone with yourself. There are no rules here. Meditate the way you feel comfortable. Two minutes, fifteen minutes, sitting, lying, thinking or, on the contrary, moving away from thoughts ... Find what is right for you and constantly practice it.
11. Recording with pleasure
You don't have to become a writer. Just make it a tradition to write down your thoughts on paper. Lots of incredible ideas are just waiting to be brought to life through ink.
12. Public speaking
This is perhaps one of the most useful skills that I have been able to acquire and develop. Again, you don't need to be a professional speaker. But it is worth learning how to express your ideas. There are a lot of techniques and advice, but there is a golden rule: "People don't know what you're talking about." So go ahead! Tell a story or share an idea. Both can change someone's life.
13. Ability to say NO
Sometimes we need to say NO. Look at this situation from an unusual angle: “You don't say NO to others. You say YES to yourself and to what is important to you.” Of the two options, always try to choose what you like.
14. How to create your own brand
Personal growth is one of the main goals in my life. It is curious: everything I did, one way or another, turned out to be connected with this topic. My degree in adult education, my work at the Mindvalley Academy as director of learning, my blog (Zero to Skill) is all about helping people learn faster and gain useful skills. People often talk about me like I'm a learning freak. This shows once again how values (in this case personal growth) can influence your life and point the way. It takes very little to create your brand: just focus on developing your strengths and let them go on a big swim.
15. How to manage personal finances
Everything is simple here. Rule #1: Spend less than you earn.
Rule #2: Find an additional source of income (passive if possible).
Rule #3: Invest in assets (things that generate income).
And finally
It turned out a lot. And if you're still reading this, congratulations! Growth is not empty words for you.
You must be wondering where to start?
Choose one of the items and get started. Some things take a few hours, others take much longer. But remember that mastering at least one of these skills will help you take a step to a new level and bring impressive results in every area of your life.
We recommend an excerpt from Lidia Ionova’s book “Healthy Habits”, about what a habit is and how to go from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence.
A habit is an automatic action that we do so often that we stop noticing it, a pattern of behavior that repeats itself over and over again.
More than 80% of the actions in our life we perform “out of habit”. Waking up in the morning, we go to the bathroom to brush our teeth, turn on the kettle and drink coffee or tea, go to work by the same route, communicate with the same people, say the same words ... From morning to evening we do thousands of small things . Over many years of repetition, a set of our individual habits emerges.
Depending on what habits we have, they lead us either to happiness, health and wealth, or to unhappiness, disease and poverty. As a result, habits make us happy or unhappy.
We form habits because they serve us and make our lives easier. From the point of view of science, habits are created and maintained under the influence of reinforcement. In other words, behaviors that have positive consequences are more likely to be repeated, while negative consequences make repetitions less likely.
For example, you are used to starting every morning with tea and a sausage sandwich, and often do it completely automatically, without even asking yourself the question: “What would I like for breakfast?” The positive consequences of this choice: you save time on cooking (ate - and ran to work!) And enjoy the taste of sausage (of course, there are also fats and monosodium glutamate!). The only trouble is that in a few years these short-term positive consequences will turn into nightmarish negative ones.
But the beauty of a habit is that it can be changed! Or create a new one! My book is dedicated to the formation of new eating habits.
The main task in developing a habit is to move from unconscious incompetence in the right way of life to unconscious competence (see figure). What does this mean?
Unconscious incompetence: we do not even know that we do not know something or do something wrong.
Conscious incompetence: We realize that we are doing something wrong, but we do not yet know how to act correctly.
Conscious competence: we know how to do the right thing, and (most importantly!) we do it that way.
If we repeat this again and again, there is a chance to move to the final stage - to form UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCE, when we don’t even think about how to do it right, but we always act absolutely right!
I will give a simple example.
Unconscious incompetence: You don't even know that drinking freshly squeezed juice while losing weight is bad - it has a very high glycemic index and does not contain dietary fiber (they remain in the juicer).
Conscious incompetence: learned that this is bad, but continue to act as before - drink juice.
Conscious competence - replaced freshly squeezed juice with natural fresh fruits or vegetables.
Unconscious competence - fruits and vegetables are present in your diet every day, you do it easily and without thinking, you forgot that you once only drank juice.
Good habits are developed in 66 days
Bad habits are formed unusually quickly - it is worth smoking a few cigarettes, and you can become addicted to tobacco forever. But to develop good habits, you need to work hard - at least 66 days. This figure was brought out by British scientists.
Dr Jane Wardle and her colleagues at the Healthy Living Center at University College London asked 96 volunteers to do one of three healthy activities every day for 12 weeks: eat fruit for dinner, drink a vitamin drink, or go for a 15-minute evening jog. A habit was considered acquired only if the performance of the action did not require special efforts and did not cause internal protest.
As the authors of the study expected, the first two habits formed rather quickly, but the last one had to work hard. On average, the participants began to perform the task “on the machine” 66 days after the start of the experiment. Moreover, not everyone managed to “get involved” in recreational activities: 14 volunteers left the race without overcoming their own resistance.