Simplifying Requires a Lifestyle Change

Simplifying one’s life requires a lifestyle change if you want to make it last. Lifestyle changes are often the hardest to make when you do not have social support. It can be difficult to say to friends who know you as someone who does one thing and tell them that you are trying to change your life to another.

Without trying to trivialize things, I liken the process of trying simplify one’s life to that of a substance abuser trying to stay on the straight and narrow. She has made up her mind that she will no longer resort to substances and old ways of thinking to solve her problems or find emotional or physical relief. So, instead, she works hard to set up her life for success: putting in place mechanisms that she can default to in times where she feels like she wants to go back to the old way of doing things.

Having social supports like friends who do not use substances and family members who will encourage her to stay on track are critical. The same is true for someone trying to make any other sort of lifestyle change.

Part of developing a simple lifestyle requires thinking about things in a different way. If a simplified life is to include elements of financial discipline, then one must begin to think differently about money. If it includes elements of reducing clutter, one must think differently about “things,” all the stuff surrounding a person that when left unchecked becomes a massive stagnating pile. If it includes being better about one’s impact on the environment, one must think differently about waste.

Having supportive friends and family can help you make the transition to a simple lifestyle. What makes things most difficult is when you have well-intentioned folks in your life who have not made the same commitment change as you have. These are the people who, for example, remember you as someone who did not recycle. They now think you are being a fanatic when you refuse buy yet another bottle of water and choose instead to refill old bottles and carry them with you everywhere.

“Stop being cheap and just buy another bottle,” some will say. “Look, I’ll even buy a bottle for you if you can’t afford it today.”

While well intentioned, these people, who may well be or have been your friends, fail to realize that it is the principle of not buying another bottle of water that helps you stick to your commitment. It will not always be easy to say no to friends and other acquaintances, but it will be worthwhile in the end.

There is also something else to remember. Like-minded people tend to find each other in a crowd. So, while for a season or two, it may seem that you are the only person in the world who wants to live a simplified life, the truth is that there are thousands, if not millions, of others who are living that life successfully. Just live the simplified life—shop where they shop, eat what they eat, do what they do—and soon you will find more than enough kindred folk who are equally as passionate about simplifying their lives as you are.

One major tenet of having a simplified life is having a supportive network of others who also share your goals and philosophy.