There is no better advice than K.I.S.S.
Keep it Simple Stupid.
Simplicity works. Complexity is often a waste of time. The Deadlift, for example, is just about the simplest exercise in existence. Pick up a heavy weight from the ground. That’s it. But this simple exercise will produce more results that the most complex of exercises or any combination of complex exercises. The guy who deadlifts all the time is worlds apart in muscle mass and strength than the guy who stands one-legged on a bosu ball while curling and pressing kettlebells.
If it can be said effectively in one sentence there is no earthly reason to expand it to 4 or 5 sentences. Succinctness and brevity are always more effective than 13 pages of literary diarrhea. If it can be done in 5 minutes there is no reason to stretch it out to 30 minutes.
Simplicity makes things easier. Hard work is it’s own reward, but making things harder just because is flat out stupid. If it can be done one of two ways 1) the simple way and 2) the complex way only the idiot takes the complex way for the same (or often inferior) result.
Food cooked with 10 ingredients is always inferior in taste and nutrition to food cooked simply and with minimal ingredients. Steak and eggs cooked in butter and seasoned with salt and pepper tastes better than any restaurant meal with a list of fancy ingredients and a 30 minute prep time.
Paying $5,000 cash for a used pickup truck that you will own is always a better idea than leasing a brand new vehicle with a $2500 down payment, paying $487.92 every month for the next 48 months, limiting yourself to 12,000 miles per year and then giving the vehicle back to the dealership and starting the process over again. You could explain those options to the dimmest of dimwits and have him tell you which is the better choice.
Living simply allows you to live freer. You could buy yourself a bunch of fancy new dishes, eating from a weeks worth of dishes before you have to wash them or you could own 2 forks, 2 knives, 2 spoons, 2 bowls, 2 plates, 2 glasses and a spatula and be just as happy with less clutter.
You could have a collection of 1,000 DVD’s that take up a galactic amount of space or you could get rid of them and put all your media onto a computer or an external disk. You could buy new CD’s or you could simply put 5,000 songs onto an mp3 player and listen to anything you want at the drop of a hat. You could have a nice big book collection or you could get an e-book reader and have only one physical book and thousands to read. You could get yourself an expensive phone that will alert facebook if you’re stranded in the Australian Outback or you could get a cheap phone that makes phone calls and sends text messages. You could constantly buy new clothes and never be happy with what you have or you could buy a few items that you can wear for years.
You could strive to own more stuff and deal with the self-imposed imprisonment of you can strive to own less stuff and be free.
The choice is yours. I have already made mine.
This is definitely one of the most kick-ass posts, as far as I have read on internet!
There is such a satisfaction, sensibility, and logic in simplicity that it can be felt much more than explained in words!
I couldn’t agree more, After i went travelling for an extended period of time and living out of a 50 litre backpack i got the hook for living minimally. I have been minimising my life for the last year or so and love the challenge of it to be honest. You really do not need a lot in life. I would rather have experiences over materialistic things. Also my modest salary goes a lot further these days!
Keep up the good work
Keep up the good work, Victor. Your website kicks ass.
This seems to be one of the more underrated and under-read posts on B&D, but the info in here is solid truth.
I’ve been simplifying lately, following this advice, and the more I simplify, the more I am satisfied.
Truly multitasking/social media and similar shit hold back 90% of westerners. The more things you have to keep track of in a day, the less likely it is that you’ll get half of them done.
When you stop spending money on pointless things, you can watch that balance grow and grow…
2 things I would say; in regards to clothing, buying many clothes is pointless, but make sure that the ones you buy fit well and look good. It’s all very well to own 1 pair of cargo shorts and a shirt and wear them everyday, except that you will look like shit. Looking good is very important - so choose those few items of clothing wisely.
Second, I had an E-reader, but I sold it. For me, nothing replaces a real book. I like to read it over and over, write all over it, get it all dog-eared, take it with me places, highlight the shit out of it…
Trust me, I get the appeal of E-readers, but personally, I found it harder to read and missed the advantages of a paper book. Different strokes for different folks, but if you’re going to have any complexity in your life, make sure its the complexity of owning (and reading) many books.
Ideally though, pick your niche and stick to it. Its better to memorise and utilise the information in 10 books than it is to own and never read 100.
Thanks for a fucking great post Victor!
Absolutely spot on. But if I might add, I have a list of one or two items that i think EVERY real man should own - just because.
(1) A decent Swiss Army knife. Why? Because they solve 100 nagging little problems a day. And because we men invented them, and women would not have done in ten thousand years.
(2) A decent MECHANICAL watch. It says something about you. It says that you are not afraid to be different. It says once again, that the people who BUILT this fucking civilisation are MEN…don’t you fucking forget it.
(3) A good pair of shoes or boots…LEATHER shoes or boots. Because leather is THE material for footwear, nice shoes impress women, and a REAL man does not wear nancy boy sneakers, unless he is at the gym.
“The things you own end up owning you” - Tyler Durden
Nice expansion on this already well said phrase.