“Wanting less is a better blessing than having more.” —Mary Ellen Edmunds
Owning less brings great benefit to our lives: less stress, less debt, more time, more freedom.
But wanting less brings even more. Removing ourselves from the culture of consumption that surrounds us allows wonderful habits to emerge in our lives: contentment, gratitude, freedom from comparison, and the opportunity to pursue greater significance.
Breaking free from excessive consumerism is an essential step not just for a simplified life, but for any life that desires to be lived intentionally. How then we can realize this freedom? What steps can we take to break free?
A Simple, Helpful Guide to Overcome Consumerism
1. Admit it is possible. There are numerous persons throughout history and the present who have adopted a minimalist lifestyle that rejects and overcomes consumerism. Find motivation in their example. And admit you can join their ranks. Victory always begins there.
2. Adopt a traveler’s mentality. When we travel, we take only what we need for the journey. As a result, we feel lighter, freer, more flexible… we understand why there is a growing movement to stage our bedrooms like hotel rooms. Adopting a traveler’s mindset for life provides the same benefit—not just for a weeklong vacation, but in everything we do. Adopt a mindset that seeks to carry only what you need for the journey.
3. Embrace the life-giving benefits of owning less. Rarely are we invited to consider the benefits of owning less. But when the practical benefits are clearly articulated, they are quickly understood, easily recognized, and often desired. Of course, these benefits are only fully realized when we actually begin living with less. An important step to overcome consumerism is to embrace the reality that there is more life to be found in owning less than can be found in owning more.
4. Become acutely aware of the consumer-driven society in which we live. Our world will lead you to believe your greatest contribution to society is the money that you spend. We are faced with 5,000 advertisements every day calling us to buy more. As a result, average consumer debt equals $8,000/household, shopping malls outnumber high schools, Americans spend more on jewelry and shoes than higher education, and 93% of teenage girls rank shopping as their favorite past time. Recognizing the consumeristic mindset of our world will not immediately remove you from it, but it is an absolutely essential step in the journey.
5. Compare down. Theodore Roosevelt once remarked, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” He was, of course, absolutely right. As we begin comparing our lives and possessions to those around us who have more, we lose joy, contentment, and happiness. And we begin trying hard to close the gap. This is because we always compare upward—looking at those who have more. But we could begin breaking through the consumerism-trap if we began taking greater notice of those who need more and spending time with people who have less and remain joyful in their circumstances.
6. Realize your money is only as valuable as what you choose to spend it on. The financial resources we have earned or been given hold great potential. They can be used to provide for those without. They can be used to bring justice and hope to a world desperately searching for both. And we ought to dream bigger dreams for our money than the clearance rack at a department store.
7. Consider the full cost of your purchases. Usually when we purchase an item, we only look at the sticker price. But this is rarely the full cost. Our purchases always cost us additional time, energy, and focus (cleaning, organizing, maintaining, fixing, replacing, or removing). Making a habit of intentionally factoring those expenses into our purchases will allow our minds to make more competent and confident decisions about our consumption habits.
8. Turn off the television. Television glamorizes all that it needs to glamorize in order to continue in existence. Corporations don’t spend $50 billion every year on television advertisements because they think they can get you to buy their product, they spend that much money because they know they can get you to buy their product. Television is an industry built on the assumption that you can be convinced to spend (and overspend) your money. You are not immune.
9. Make gratitude a discipline in your life. Gratitude serves little purpose in us as merely a response to positive circumstances. Gratitude holds its greatest potential as an attitude in undesired circumstances. Embrace it as a discipline during seasons of plenty and seasons of want. And begin focusing more on your blessings than your troubles.
10. Practice generosity. The surest path to contentment is generosity. Giving forces us to recognize all we possess and all we have to offer. It allows us to find fulfillment and purpose in helping others. Remember, generosity always leads to contentment with far greater efficiency than contentment leads to generosity.
11. Renew your commitment daily. We are bombarded every single day with advertisements from nearly every flat surface we encounter. Rejecting and overcoming consumerism is a daily battle. Expect it to be such. And recommit every morning—or every hour if necessary.
To exist is to consume. But we were designed to accomplish things far greater.
The sooner we remove ourselves from overconsumption, the sooner we realize our truest potential. (tweet that)
May it be so in your life and in mine.
Frank Wm Carr says
I am practicing minimalism in a unique way by getting rid of a bunch of books, the contents of which are impeding my appreciation the beauty of the world around me. Namely, these are mostly scientific books, since in my opinion, this kind of knowledge kills the wonder of the natural order, instead of its claim to boost it. (Just my opinion, everyone approaches that idea differently.) And since knowledge is an intangible “possession” of sorts (namely it is often prized and can clutter the mind), to accumulate knowledge sparingly and not to dwell on it (since that is the chief way of forgetting it, the only way of discarding it) is one of my ways of being minimalist. In a way, ignorance can often certainly be bliss. That’s just my idea, you can digress. (By the way, there are plenty of posts you can read concerning that in the archives of the linked blog.)
BrownVagabonder says
Thenix and I are currently using the traveler’s mentality to use less and have less. We are traveling all the way down to the tip of South America in a hatchback 1998 Honda Civic (usually the smallest car on the road). Due to the limited amount of space and the need to have nothing showing to remove the temptations for thieves, we have very little in our car. Our backpacks are both small with a week’s worth of clothing. We have a tent, sleeping bags, and an air mattress for camping. We have a little bit of food and a gallon of water for those long road with nothing on them. That is all. Travelling really truly is minimalism.
Vivienne says
What a great list! I am just beginning to look for ways to become less of a consumer. Its going to be a challenge because my husband and kids are not on board but I am hoping to lead by example. I don’t know if you agree but I would add taking care of the natural environment as an example of being minimalist. Using home make safe cleaners, reducing waste and recycling are important. Just a thought. Have a wonderful day and thank you for sharing this list.
Elane says
You and I should start a support group, Vivian.
Viv says
Hi Elane, Apologies for the very late response, I didn’t know you had replied to my post. Are you in the same situation as I? My family won’t turn off the tv or stay out of the stores, drives me crazy. Meanwhile I am working more hours to pay down our debt. It’s not easy working on minimilizing on your own :(
Pa(tri)cia A says
“Live simple so that other [species] can simply live” – adapted from Mahatma Ghandi
Roger Wright says
Nietzche said it well, “He who possesseth little is so much the less possessed.”
Karen says
Love this! I am printing it out & hanging it on my fridge. I especially like the one about TV.
jack mullet says
yeah, but leave your internet and smart phone on, right? this list is lame. you can enjoy life just as much by consuming things
Fiona Cee says
It’s all about choice. What you are comfortable with: more or less.
I know what I need to get rid of to feel comfortable for me and that includes keeping those things like phone, internet and cable, for as long as I can financially afford them.
Courtney says
Thank you for this wonderful list, Joshua. I read it mindfully and came out the other side feeling very peaceful. I’ve been trying to pare down for a while, with marginal success but still a long way to go. I always find inspiration and motivation in your blog posts, though!
One thing I think could be added to #7 is the cost on the “other side” of a purchase, if you will. There’s the personal cost as you mentioned (time spent organizing, etc.), but perhaps just as important is the cost to other people and the rest of the world. For example, the creation of some products has a distinctly negative cost to the world, the environment, laborers, etc. But some products can positively impact the world, like things bought at shops that fund community enrichment, such as thrift shops and TOMS shoes. :)
Laura says
I’ve always fantasized about relocating my family to somewhere like Mexico, with the ideal in mind that suddenly then possessions and commitments would be simpler and more meaningful. I’m finally wrapping my head around making that happen in the here and now, even in the heart of affluent Alberta, Canada. I think a step in the right direction is surrounding myself with like minded people, turning OFF the tv and thinking for myself instead of accepting what is “normal”. I’m making progress but it’s about the journey, right?
Lina says
It is a journey, I moved to Mexico after painstaking getting rid of everything I owed in the states. Not long ago I started contemplating moving and it was then It done on my all the things that inadvertly I had accumulated. It requires intention and somewhere I got lost, seduced by the arts & crafts and the newness of everything. Sometimes we get distracted, I now need to backtrack and focus on the direction I want my life to be. Journeys have many twists!
Rod says
Hey Laura,
If you ever do reconsider moving to Mexico, the caribbean offers a great minimalist lifestyle for very little. If you ever want to talk about this, get in touch. I made this move 2 years ago and I’m so glad I did.
Cheers!
catherine hazur says
I would be interested to know more about ur minimalist move to the Carribbean. Thanks in advance for any information u may provide.
Catherine
Melanie says
Help! My kids are 25 & 28 and I have been empty nest for 7 years. I have received an offer on my fully paid for huge house and am trying to pry it out of my fingers. I feel trapped by owning it,but I also am emotionally attached to the dreams I have for it. I feel like if I turn the offer down, the feeling of being stuck will follow as soon as it’s too late, yet at under $ 500 per month it is the least expensive place to live.
Sandra Pawula says
Joshua,
That is truly a shocking statistic about teenage girls. I wonder how much it’s changed in the last 25 years. I love the idea of adopting a traveler mindset. That’s an image I’ll take away with me from this post.
joshua becker says
Shocking and unfortunate that’s for sure. Such a sharp warning to be observant of the messages that are constantly seeking to influence our thoughts and behavior.
lin says
I’ve never bought my kids brand name stuff. we shop thrift or clearance . they never ask for anything and shopping is more like a chore than a pleasure for us. so fortunate that she’s content wearing a tshirt to high school (and maybe a blouse if she needs to dress up for orchestra)
Vincent says
Great list, Joshua. A lot of these things slip through our filters and we end up figuring it out too late. Actually, scratch that. Some of us don’t ever figure it out at all.
Number 6 sticks out to me most. Money can buy you plenty of things and I feel like experiences are much more valuable than a tangible item that has the same sticker price.
joshua becker says
The sooner the better that’s for sure. And don’t neglect to seek experiences and/or opportunities that actually improve the world we all share.
sheplogic says
The overriding message heard in developed countries seems to be, “You may not know what you want, but that’s ok, because Im going to tell you”
You see and hear this on a some visual medium. You buy the ‘thing’. Then the next day, it’s a new billboard with a new message. “Now you’ve got that, you now need this and then you’ll be complete”
A vicious cycle which never will end.
http://thelandscapesoflife.com/consumed-by-consumerism/