What The Hell Is The Minimalism Game?

Since quitting my last real job almost 3 years ago, I’ve tried several different ways to make money.

I’ve been a green building professional, personal trainer, health coach, blogger, social media manager, model, admin assistant, promoter and probably a bunch more things I can’t even remember.

But despite experimenting with all these different jobs that interested me in some small way, I still wasn’t really getting ahead in my personal financial situation.

In fact, I was falling further into debt, unable to pay my rent some months. This was as recent as mid-2016, while I was hosting my podcast inspiring others to live awesome lives.

I felt like a bit of a fraud.

This led me to start looking a little further beyond the options I had considered, and I decided to go overseas to teach English in South Korea.

I spent a couple months getting my certification, preparing my documents and even secured a job after interviews with several recruiters.

And, I’d started selling all my stuff.

After signing my contract (but not yet sending it), I suddenly realised that I was just going to be settling for another 9-5 (or, more accurately, a 9-7) in a different country. It would have been a decision for the money, which has never been a primary motivator for me.

What’s more, I felt that leaving would have compromised the momentum I had started building with The Quarter Life Comeback, with the new time zones making interviews a bit of a challenge.

And so I informed the recruiter that I would not be taking the job. 

It was tough, as the position would have promised more money than I’d made in the previous two years, but looking back, I think that was one of the best decisions I’ve made.I think the defining factor between people who achieve massive results from those who don’t is the ability to stick with it, even when temptations appear.

I think the defining factor between people who achieve massive results and those who don’t is the ability to stick with it, even when temptations appear.

 

“The defining factor between people who achieve massive results and those who don’t is the ability to stick with it.” (Tweet this)

 

Now you might be wondering, “What the hell did I do now that I’d gotten rid of all my stuff?

Good question, especially since I’d actually gone as far as to be able to fit all my belongings in a carry-on bag!

But I don’t regret that decluttering for a second. I’ve always been a bit of a minimalism nerd, and the process of simplifying my environment brings me a lot of nerdy joy (not to mention the clean space afterwards… so much room for extra activities).

However, I recently started feeling like I’ve been accumulating things again, and so I decided to take on a little challenge this month.

It’s called The Minimalism Game.

Basically, you find a friend or family member who’s willing to get rid of his/her stuff. Over the course of a month, you each get rid of one more item each day. For example, on day one you get rid of one item; on day two, two new items, etc. If you’re curious like I was, I did the math. By day 31, you would have removed (wait for it) 496 things!

Now I’m not sure I have that many things to still get rid of, but it’ll be a fun challenge! The average family owns something like 300 000 items, so I should be okay.

Anything counts; clothes, furniture, gadgets, books, etc. Rather than simply throwing things away, I encourage you to try donate, gift or sell them whenever possible. Extra pocket money, baby!

Whoever can keep going the longest wins.

I’m going to be playing The Minimalism Game with my girlfriend, but I’d love for you to join us. You can capture your progress each day by using the hashtag #MinsGame and tag me @BryanTeare in your pics 🙂

After the game, I might experiment with a digital version, doing the same thing with old emails and docs on my laptop, but we’ll see 🙂

OVER TO YOU…

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Will you be joining me in The Minimalism Game? Shoot me a tweet @BryanTeare and lemme know! Alternatively, hit reply on my email newsletter.