Hey all,

Long time, no speak.

After some deep thought, I have decided to close down the site due to a lack of enthusiasm to write and it wouldn’t be fair to keep going if I was not 100% committed.

I will still  continue to unclutter, downsize, and live with less  to the best of my ability as I really enjoyed creating projects and attempting to change as this was never a problem for me.

What has been the challenge for me is writing, promoting, and generally trying to keep up with ideas and such.  Now I know, you would think “Hey, so what! write for yourself” and I did,  but when it came down to it I really felt I was boring myself  and readers who have graciously taken the time to subscribe.

On a more positive note, the creation and development of the site and the comments from you, have actually inspired and rejuvenated me to work on a project that’s more closer to home and this would never have been possible if I had not made the decision to to create this site.

So,

Thank you, I really appreciate you subscribing, commenting and connecting.  If you would like to stay in touch I can be found working on my new project  Off Leash

Cheers and stay safe

Greg

“Keep an uncluttered home and mind and you can do anything” – me : )

2010 is going to be a cracker of a year for me and hopefully if you continue to follow Live It With less I will show you why.

But first, let me explain why I have created a separate page on the blog with the title  “The Big 4″

I am someone who really believes in the power of goal setting, and if done correctly and simply you can really unleash your true potential. However, many times I have either set too much for myself or acted compulsively for short bursts of interest and then let the enthusiasm to see out the goal fizzle  away.

2009 was a great year for me personally, we bought a new house, I managed to get in a few distinctions in my university course, I finally started seeing a psychologist to help me with changing my thought patterns,  my oldest daughter Grace started school, I started this blog and our third child Jesse was born a couple days after Christmas.

Yep I am pretty happy with how 2009 panned out, but how was this different to previous years where I had such glorious plans to conquer the world but had failed by mid January? Well, the secret to this particular year was that I didn’t really set any goals. I pretty much decided to start just doing what I thought was worth doing, keeping it simple and stopping  all the over analysing.

So,  should I keep going with the flow?

No, and here’s why, 2009 was good but is gone, I want more now and this will take more than just going with the flow. I want to keep building it to the next level and this requires some form of goal setting, but the key here is to keep it simple. I have learn’t from 2009, that if there is something I want, it has to become a daily process that builds slowly. It has to work in with your normal day to day. You must not obsess and let it take over, you just need to get in there a chip away at bit by bit.

So for 2010, this is what is going to happen,

Set Four Major Goals

Four Major Goals have been set. I have only set this amount as I believe that by having four distinct goals, they act as cornerstones for building who you want to become. Sounds a bit airy but I really feel that by trying to accomplish anymore is going to set you up for failure,  I know I have been there.

Remind yourself each day

Each morning  you remind yourself of these four goals and you try to slot in some time in for the big 4. It doesn’t matter if its 5 minutes or 5 hours. As long you  make sure it can fit into your normal day and give it 100% focus for that specified period of time you will get there.

If you constantly chip away at it you will create it.

I am so exited about  this method of goal setting, at the end each month I will be providing an analysis of my progress on the separate  The Big 4 page as well as regular updates on my weight loss techniques and  declutter stages as  part of  the “Project Less” category.

This  is my “Big 4″.

1. I will declutter the whole house
2. I will write 100 quality posts for Live It With Less
3. I will weigh 72kgs (158 lbs)
4. I will write an informative ebook

Whats yours?

Enjoy

I would like to wish all the readers of Live It With less a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.  I am totally blown away by the fact that people take the time out of their busy days to read my  blog and make comments.

It  truly is amazing.

A very special thanks to the top five blogs that I have had the privilege of sharing readers who have stopped by to check out my blog from the following sites,

1. The Minimalist Path
2. Man vs Debt
3. Zen Family Habits
4. Unclutterer
5. Far Beyond the Stars

If you are not aware of any of the above, please check them out, there is some very inspirational stuff being written.

and finally,

The top 3 most popular posts on Live It with Less to date, where

1. What is a Minimalist
2. The Simple Art of eating Less
3. Moleskines – Back to basics

This is the sort of stuff that I am going to continually aim to  replicate in the future. I hope you can stick around for 2010, I am confident it’s going to be a big one!

All the best and remember to Enjoy.

Greg

Last week I read a great interview on Leo Babauta  by Everett Bogue who is  author of one of my favourite blogs  Far Beyond the Stars. The interview consisted of posing questions to Leo in regards to the subject of being minimalist.

Leo Babauta is the  author of the highly popular simple productivity blog Zen Habits and more recently Mnmlist.com which further reinforces his love of all things Minimal. I wont go too much into the interview (as you can read it here in full) but I will highlight a section that made  me question how I could explain my journey better,

Everett: Occasionally I’ll tell someone that I’m striving to be minimalist and they’ll say something like “Isn’t that boring? How do you stay busy and entertain yourself?” Assuming you’re talking to a stranger, how would you answer that question?

Leo: “Minimalism isn’t about having or doing nothing – it’s about making room in your life for the things you love doing most. In this way, by getting rid of all the clutter in our lives – physical clutter and commitments – we are freeing ourselves, so that we can focus on what truly matters, and not all the extra crap people tend to do and have for no good reason”.

Now, here is what got me thinking.

What exactly is a minimalist? Am I a minimalist? What would I say?

To answer this, I needed to see how others  interpret the meaning of Minimalism

The following  are quotes that have been taken from blogs that I  find inspirational. This also acts as a great reference for those of you like me who are seeking a path to Minimalism

Far beyond the stars : “Being minimalist opens a world of possibilities,

*   You can live wherever you want, and move as often as you want.
*   You will worry less, because all of your stuff is with you.
*   You can be productive with the tasks you choose to accomplish.
*   You can free yourself from the cycle of consumerism.
*   You can survive with less money, which allows more freedom to live doing what you’re passionate about”

The Minimalist Path : “The most important element of being a minimalist, for me, is determining what is most important in my life. Simplifying and reduction is the key, but knowing what is important is the best reason to become a minimalist”

Becoming Minimalist : “Becoming minimalist shows my kids that we do not need personal belongings to be happy, that our security is not found in the things that we own, and that the pursuit of happiness runs a different road that the pursuit of possessions.  those are life lessons that they will never learn at school.  and unfortunately, will not learn from us until we successfully navigate this transition.”

Everyday Minimalist : “I really do apply the principles of minimalism to everything I own or think about. I like to simplify, organize and not be stressed about having things too detailed or complicated (and also) Minimalism is simply keeping & using only what you truly love and want”

The Art of Great things : “As with any idea, there are different types of minimalism. It can be focused on reducing clutter. On streamlining finances. On being a real man – or woman, for that matter. And these are all great ways to think about minimalism. But they’re not for me. They’re not my way. They don’t make me get up on a soapbox and annoy my friends about them. For me, minimalism comes from a rock-solid, unshakable, 100% belief that you are enough. That’s what “self-reliance minimalism” is to me”

Simple Minimalism : “There are many bloggers who do a fantastic job of writing about minimalism. Unfortunately, a lot of them talk about embracing minimalism in ways that are unrealistic for most of us. We have families and jobs, a headquarters where our lives are based. Unfortunately, we can’t just sell our homes, quit our jobs, and live location-independent. Simple Minimalism is about implementing simple, yet effective, solutions to help us get the most from life”

It is interesting to read all the above views, I guess what we can conclude from the above is that although Minimalism can be interpreted in slightly different ways,  the recurring theme appears to be that you can live life to the full with less.

Am I a Minimalist?

I wouldn’t say I was just yet as old habits are hard to break, but I will get there eventually, especially with such a great abundance of resources out there.

So what’s my take on all this?

Live It With less : “I just want to live with less and eliminate the unnecessary so that I can concentrate more on becoming great”

Enjoy

Please add to this post  by leaving a comment with your definition of what it is to be a “Minimalist”