In the November 2006 issue of Reflections magazine I describe four habits all students can develop to simplify their lives. I describe how a daily constitutional helps increase aerobic capacity and mental clarity-both important for students. Together with exercise good nutrition increases energy and over-all well being. I recommend students reduce their possessions to the things they love and want to keep the rest of their lives. When we allow too many objects into our lives we become slaves to our possessions. Finally students need to learn to say no to all things that complicate their lives. This includes objects, obligations, activities and people. As students simplify their lives they can apply their new found time, money and energy to their studies.
As you master these four habits you can develop more sophisticated habits that will simplify your life even more and allow you to focus on those things that really matter to you. You may want to spend more time with family and less time at work or you might want to free yourself from debt. Below I describe slightly more advanced habitual changes you can make to simplify and win more control over your life and your education.
1. Spend a few hours a week in a natural environment away from crowds, traffic and buildings. Many of our complications stem from our thoughtless decisions and actions. You need time and the proper environment to think about your life and where you want to go. We make most of our bad decisions when we let people rush us into action. When our senses suffer the over stimulation of the modern world with all the useless information, noise and vulgarity we make bad decisions that complicate our lives. Go to a quiet, natural environment and learn to think deeply. Think about all the shackles in your life you want to remove and about all the things you can say no to. As one of my favorite thinkers wrote you want to learn to live deliberately.
2. Live in a home with only those rooms you use every day. Many students live with parents which I consider the best arrangement. You reduce your worries, expenses and problems and at the same time help your parents. To those who live alone or share a home with a spouse and/or children I suggest you live in the smallest house or apartment possible. If you have a big house sell it and with the profits buy something smaller and let the left over money collect interest or use it to pay off debt. To determine the right size home for you consider the rooms you use every day. If you have one room you don’t use every day you don’t need that room any day. You may want the room. This doesn’t mean you need it. When you learn to fully distinguish want from need you simplify even more. Excess rooms mean more mortgage or rent, more to clean, more to worry about when a hurricane pays us a visit and more stuff to fill the room.
3. Live close to school but more importantly work. I suggest you live within 30 minutes of work. One of my students recently wrote a composition about all the stress in his life and mentioned his terrible job and his three hour commute every Monday-Friday. Some statistics show the majority of Americans spend 20% or more of their day in traffic to and from work. This causes manifold health problems. You need to make intelligent decisions now as a student to plan your future. Where will you live and where will you work? Don’t look at these as separate questions and decisions. You will probably find it easier to live near work than to work near home. Does that make sense? Of courses the best way to solve the commute problem-work from home. Technology allows this for more and more people every day. Remember in a capitalist society you can fashion products and create your own work too.
4. Strive for economic freedom. Many of my students mention all their credit card debt to me and I shake my head in disbelief. The majority of Americans own nothing in the ultimate capitalist society. Can you think of a bigger irony? The average consumer has $8000 of debt and this doesn’t include mortgage and car payments. To gain and/or maintain economic freedom you have two options only. You can take the complex route described by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki in Why We Want You to be Rich or the simple route described by John Maeda in The Laws of Simplicity. I took the latter route and achieved great peace of mind by age 30. You need to become expert at desire/need distinction. Remember the aphorism, “The poor stay poor by acting rich. The rich stay rich by acting poor.” Decide whether you want to achieve economic freedom or whether you want to help the business owner achieve it.
If you want to simplify try to develop one, some or all of these habits. The results will surprise and satisfy you. Life passes fast. Do you want to live in traffic or as a debt slave? Remember Thoreau’s advice, “simplify, simplify, simplify.”
As you master these four habits you can develop more sophisticated habits that will simplify your life even more and allow you to focus on those things that really matter to you. You may want to spend more time with family and less time at work or you might want to free yourself from debt. Below I describe slightly more advanced habitual changes you can make to simplify and win more control over your life and your education.
1. Spend a few hours a week in a natural environment away from crowds, traffic and buildings. Many of our complications stem from our thoughtless decisions and actions. You need time and the proper environment to think about your life and where you want to go. We make most of our bad decisions when we let people rush us into action. When our senses suffer the over stimulation of the modern world with all the useless information, noise and vulgarity we make bad decisions that complicate our lives. Go to a quiet, natural environment and learn to think deeply. Think about all the shackles in your life you want to remove and about all the things you can say no to. As one of my favorite thinkers wrote you want to learn to live deliberately.
2. Live in a home with only those rooms you use every day. Many students live with parents which I consider the best arrangement. You reduce your worries, expenses and problems and at the same time help your parents. To those who live alone or share a home with a spouse and/or children I suggest you live in the smallest house or apartment possible. If you have a big house sell it and with the profits buy something smaller and let the left over money collect interest or use it to pay off debt. To determine the right size home for you consider the rooms you use every day. If you have one room you don’t use every day you don’t need that room any day. You may want the room. This doesn’t mean you need it. When you learn to fully distinguish want from need you simplify even more. Excess rooms mean more mortgage or rent, more to clean, more to worry about when a hurricane pays us a visit and more stuff to fill the room.
3. Live close to school but more importantly work. I suggest you live within 30 minutes of work. One of my students recently wrote a composition about all the stress in his life and mentioned his terrible job and his three hour commute every Monday-Friday. Some statistics show the majority of Americans spend 20% or more of their day in traffic to and from work. This causes manifold health problems. You need to make intelligent decisions now as a student to plan your future. Where will you live and where will you work? Don’t look at these as separate questions and decisions. You will probably find it easier to live near work than to work near home. Does that make sense? Of courses the best way to solve the commute problem-work from home. Technology allows this for more and more people every day. Remember in a capitalist society you can fashion products and create your own work too.
4. Strive for economic freedom. Many of my students mention all their credit card debt to me and I shake my head in disbelief. The majority of Americans own nothing in the ultimate capitalist society. Can you think of a bigger irony? The average consumer has $8000 of debt and this doesn’t include mortgage and car payments. To gain and/or maintain economic freedom you have two options only. You can take the complex route described by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki in Why We Want You to be Rich or the simple route described by John Maeda in The Laws of Simplicity. I took the latter route and achieved great peace of mind by age 30. You need to become expert at desire/need distinction. Remember the aphorism, “The poor stay poor by acting rich. The rich stay rich by acting poor.” Decide whether you want to achieve economic freedom or whether you want to help the business owner achieve it.
If you want to simplify try to develop one, some or all of these habits. The results will surprise and satisfy you. Life passes fast. Do you want to live in traffic or as a debt slave? Remember Thoreau’s advice, “simplify, simplify, simplify.”
Copyright Bert Lorenzo, 2007
