Posts Tagged ‘New Orleans’

July 22, 2010

Marching towards minimalism, becoming an affiliate, and feeding the homeless

As you may already know, my grand plan is this:

  • Leave my 9-to-5 job at the end of November.
  • Return to Ireland and set up my own business.
  • Build the business to the point where I’m delivering more value and earning more money than I am now, while working a maximum of 20 hours per week.
  • Move to Spain by May 1, 2011.

I have already begun setting myself up for success. One of the ways I’m doing that is by moving decisively towards a minimalist lifestyle.

What is minimalism?

Minimalism is me selling my TV, canceling my Netflix and giving away all my furniture. Minimalism is me realizing that I don’t have to pay $800 a month for rent (I recently moved apartment and saved myself $65 a week). Minimalism is donating all those clothes I never wear and all those books I never reread.

Minimalism is getting rid of all the crap and clutter so I can be free.

I counted up all my possessions at the start of May and found I had 330. As of this writing, that number has been reduced to 193. I’m aiming to own less than 100 things by the time I leave New Orleans.

Why minimalism?

I believe a minimalist lifestyle will help me succeed in my grand plan for several reasons:

Minimalism cuts out distractions
Less clutter helps me focus, helps me keep the main thing the main thing. Since I began the elimination process, I’ve found it much easier to find the focus and time needed to do my writing, planning and studying.

Minimalism saves money
I’m amazed at how much I can now save per week while earning the exact same income that I have been for years. All along, I was spending huge chunks of money on things I didn’t really need. I’ll go into detail about my financial situation and aspirations in a future post.

Minimalism gives me freedom to move
My new apartment is a temporary sublet, but having to move again next month won’t be a problem. I imagine it will take about two hours, total, to pack, load, transport, unload and unpack everything I own. At the end of November, when I move my entire life back to Ireland, I don’t expect I’ll have to check a bag at the airport.

Minimalism detaches me from material goods
Most people fear a big dip in income because it would force them to drastically change their lifestyle and give up all their toys. But what if you choose to embrace a minimalist lifestyle regardless of your income? You’d realize that you really don’t need to live that superficial lifestyle to be happy; in fact, that lifestyle was one of the main hindrances to your happiness in the first place. Having embraced minimalism, I’m well prepared for the temporary dip my income will take when I quit my day job and start my own business.

Minimalism works
I’ve been following people like Everret Bogue, Colin Wright, Leo Babuta, Karol Gajda, Tammy Strobel and Raam Dev; just a handful of online entrepreneurs who have adopted a minimalist lifestyle to achieve success. They’re living proof that minimalism works.

Helping the movement, the homeless, and myself

Everett Bogue’s fantastic e-book is what got me seriously considering minimalism in the first place, so I’ve decided to help spread his message. I’ve signed up to be an affiliate, meaning I get a 50% cut of sales generated through this here blog. The arrangement should give me an idea of what my current earning power is like, so I won’t be starting out clueless when I quit my job in November.

the-art-of-being-minimalistUnfortunately, since I’m currently a non-immigrant worker in the United States, it’s illegal for me to earn any extra money beyond that which I’m paid by my sponsor/employer. This law is in place to ensure I don’t take more work away from Americans by doing side jobs. Damn Government’s holding me down, man.

So since I can’t get paid, I’ve arranged to have my affiliate earnings deposited directly to the PayPal account of a non-profit, namely The Desmond Project, an organization that provides hearty meals to the homeless in New Orleans every Saturday. I’ve volunteered with them several times in the past year and can testify that they’re great people doing great work.

So if you’re interested in learning more about minimalism, feeding some homeless folks, and helping me figure out how much money I can earn through this website, click here and continue on to buy the e-book. The cost is just $17, though you’ll probably end up saving a lot more than that if the message impacts you the way it did me.

But wait

Everett encourages everyone who buys his e-book to make five copies and pass them along to friends, free of charge. So before you go spending your hard-earned cash, leave a thoughtful comment below and you could win one of the five copies I have to share.

July 8, 2010

While you were failing

Not very often, but every now and then, I’m way too hard on myself.

Monday morning was a good example. I had planned on getting some serious work done over the 4th of July weekend, but instead I couldn’t resist scratching a pesky social itch and so ended up spending the majority of the weekend either out on the town or sleeping in.

There I was on Monday morning, feeling like I’d let myself down, neglected things I shouldn’t have.

But then I got to thinking. I realized that yeah, sure, I failed to follow through on my initial plans, but that didn’t have to mean those previous few days were a complete waste. I put aside the negative thoughts and asked myself a question: What did I succeed at this past weekend?

As it turns out, I succeeded at quite a lot: I donated a bunch of clothes, getting my possession count down below 200 for the first time; I forged lots of great connections; I had an abundance of great conversations; I laughed; I made others laugh; I made people think; I read a whole book; I shared my dreams; I danced to live music; I broke through fear barriers to approach and chat with women I found extremely attractive; I stayed true to myself; I supported local businesses (mostly pubs); I shared stories and experiences; and I pieced together the previous blog post.

Man, what was I thinking? I rocked it this past weekend!

Now I’m wondering if you, like me, ever focus too much on your failures, beat yourself up, oblivious to your successes. Let’s stop doing that and start giving ourselves some credit. We don’t always do what we set out to do, but we can still accomplish quite a lot, even as we’re failing.

June 3, 2010

The logic of a plant-based diet, as per Star Trek

There’s a bar in the French Quarter that I’m quite fond of called Flanagan’s. It’s low key, away from the madness of Bourbon, often pretty quiet on a Friday or a Saturday night. The random people who hang out there are usually up for random conversations, and the bartenders are always laid back, cool to chat.

About a year ago I was in there and got talking with one such bartender. He was probably in his late-20’s, had a shaved head, a Sparta beard, and plenty of visible tattoos. I had just recently turned vegan, and I was doubting that this was the type of guy who’d be able to relate. But then I heard him discussing a detox diet with the cook, who could have been the bartender’s twin except for a significant height difference.

So we got talking about food, and it turns out that the bartender himself was vegetarian. I asked him why.

“Star Trek, man.”

Come again?

“Star Trek! The Vulcans are all vegetarian. They don’t find it logical to eat meat.”

I was never big into Star Trek, but I knew that Spock was Vulcan, and I knew Vulcans made decisions based on logic and reason, with no interference from emotion. And Mr. Bartender went on to tell me that the Vulcans thus thought it illogical and wasteful to spend all that time and effort feeding an animal, only to kill it and eat it.

“Why feed your food when you can just live off the feed itself?”

February 12, 2010

5 Things We Can Learn From Dem Saints

There was never a better time to be in New Orleans than this past weekend, with Mardi Gras really kicking off and the Saints winning the Super Bowl for the first time in the franchise’s 43-year history. It has been a magical season for the Saints. Here are a few things we can all learn from them:

Finish Strong

This was the mantra for the Saints all season. Quarterback Drew Brees gave each of his teammates a copy of Dan Green’s book of the same name last April, and they all took the words to heart.

From Green’s finishstrong.com website:

The Finish Strong attitude is about choice. Only you have the power to choose how to respond to the challenges before you. How will you choose to respond? Will you lie down or will you choose to fight? The choice is yours and I challenge you to always choose to Finish Strong. The great philosopher Epictetus said, “It’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react that matters.”

Indeed. Everything is a choice. You can use what happens to you as an excuse to give up, or you can use it to get better, grow stronger. The Saints took all the setbacks from the past few years and learned from them. How they responded to those blows helped them triumph in the end.

Take Risks

Saints coach Sean Payton has taken a lot of heat over the years for not playing it safe. He regularly pulls the trigger on fourth downs and calls unconventional plays with the game on the line. I thought he might play a little more conservatively on Sunday’s big stage, but was delighted to be proven wrong by that on-side kick at the beginning of the third quarter.

Payton’s aggressive play-calling sometimes backfires, but I love that he’s not afraid to take those risks. He’s willing to fail and to take full responsibility if those risks don’t pan out. Those qualities make him a great coach.

The same principles apply to personal development. You can only grow so much if you’re afraid to take risks. To really make leaps, you have to push the limits and be okay with falling off the edge every now and then. People might label you obsessive and think you’re crazy, just ignore them. The vast majority of the time, those very critics are simply afraid to fail (or even afraid to succeed) themselves. Don’t let anyone project their own limitations on to you.

Demand Excellence

There are fascinating tales of the hard work and preparation Drew Brees puts in. As a recent ESPN The Magazine article tells it, Brees is the guy sprinting harder and longer than anyone else at practice, and he gets mad at himself when he botches a single pass, regardless of the fact that his previous ten throws were flawless. It’s that constant drive for excellence that separates the good from the great. Lots of players are happy just to make the NFL and collect a fat paycheck. That’s good enough for them, and that’s why their names and deeds are soon forgotten.

Do you strive to be great? Do you demand excellence from yourself? How can you be better? Are you willing to put in the countless hours of work and study required to reach your potential? Imagine the payoff if you were to make that investment. Drew Brees would tell you that it’s worth it.

Believe

A quote from Brees in January:

“The strong sense of faith in this city makes you think this is destiny, that we’re going to achieve what we set out to achieve. It’s only a matter of time.”

What Brees and the Saints had was ultimate faith in the endgame. They absolutely believed that they would prevail as long as they kept working. They laid all the groundwork, and reaching their goal had become a simple matter of persistence.

Whatever it is that you’re working towards, don’t ever doubt that you can get there. Only when you stop believing in something does it become impossible. Yes, reaching your goal may also require great amounts of time and effort, but a foundation of unshakable belief is crucial to making your dream become reality.

Have a Higher Purpose

The Saints had extra motivation to win it all. New Orleans is an unparalleled place full of great people, people who endured the destruction and heartache of Hurricane Katrina yet managed to use the tragedy more like a springboard than a stumbling block. The Saints understood that winning the Super Bowl was about more than football and trophies and rings. They wanted victory more for their fans and hometown than for themselves. They had a higher purpose.

What higher purpose do you have? Does your motivation come from a desire to be rich and famous and adored, or do you strive to succeed with the ultimate aim of lifting and helping others? Work towards something bigger than yourself and you’ll have an automatic advantage.

January 8, 2010

Materialism

The things you own, end up owning you.

That quote is from Fight Club, one of my all-time favorite movies. It sums up a lesson I first learned about six years ago, when I was stuck working in a department store in Ireland, having dropped out of college and dreaming of one day living and working in the United States.

Problem was, I kept making excuses as to why I couldn’t just drop everything and move to the U.S. Most of those excuses centered around material things. I owned over a hundred movies on DVD at the time. I also had a big widescreen TV, a Playstation 2, an Xbox and a nice desktop PC hooked up to a serious sound system. I knew I couldn’t bring all those possessions with me to America. What would I do with them?

For a while, I did nothing. I just stayed where I was, with all those nice things, holding me hostage.

Breaking loose

I’m not sure what triggered the change in me, but at some point I got fed up and decided to break loose from the shackles. I gave away pretty much all of those possessions and took off on my U.S. adventure. I thought I’d miss everything I’d given up, but instead I experienced an overwhelming sense of freedom. Nothing was weighing me down anymore, except the suitcase full of clothes I brought with me.

Then the airline went and lost that suitcase full of clothes, but I wasn’t bothered much. I’d already separated myself from my material belongings. They no longer defined me.

Beauty in decay

I got another lesson in materialism when I moved to New Orleans in 2007. Even though I had already come to realize that material things were overrated, I still leaned towards the new and the shiny whenever I needed to acquire something. But a few months living in the Crescent City changed that.

If you ever visit New Orleans, you’ll quickly find that most of the establishments here look a little shady and run down, the bars in particular. If I saw bars like that in Ireland, I’d steer well clear. But I came to learn that in New Orleans, you really can’t judge a book by its cover. A bar might look like a hell hole from the outside, but then you reluctantly follow a wise friend inside to find the place full of high-character people having the best of times.

After a while I found myself seeking out the dive bars and repeatedly shunning style in favor of substance.

When it came time to buy myself a wagon, I got a good deal on a well-used Jeep that oozed character. I called him Doug. The air conditioning didn’t always work and there were a hundred pins holding the upholstery together. A few months after buying, a taxi slammed into the side of Doug; nothing but superficial damage. I was delighted. Battle scars = more character.

A buddy of mine summed up that attitude quite well, noting that I’d come to appreciate “the beauty in decay,” as most New Orleanians do.

Irish recession

The recession in Ireland is real: Lots of job losses, cut-backs, broken dreams. But I see it being great for the country in the long run. Ireland had become much too materialistic for my liking. People had become overly concerned with big houses, fancy cars, the newest mobile phones and the like. You had to have two mortgages and go out on the town at least twice a week. Every child was getting fourteen different presents for Christmas, without truly appreciating any of them. People were admired more for what they had instead of who they were. TG4 was probably one step away from launching My Super Sweet Sé Déag.

A lot of that hasn’t really changed, but it’s starting to. People have no other choice now but to cut the fluff and get back to what’s really important.

Owning nice things

This post isn’t meant as a rant against owning nice things. Materialism is defined as “preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.” So owning nice things isn’t the problem. Identifying with them is. I’m reminded of Fight Club again:

You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your fucking khakis.

By all means, buy nice things, but buy them for their practicality more than anything. Art and decoration is fine, but let it be an expression of you; not an attempt to impress someone or make people jealous. Buy yourself that $3000 couch, but not when you can get a $500 couch that looks just as good, is just as comfortable and will last just as long.

How to be less materialistic

You start by making a firm decision. Be sure you actually want to be less materialistic first, then try a few things from this list:

  • Separate needs from wants. It’s perfectly fine to want stuff and to get what you want, but you should never confuse your wants with your needs.
  • Spend stretches of time without your material goods. See if you can give up TV for a week, or see how you’d cope without your car for a couple of days.
  • Never buy when you can borrow, and help other people out by sharing your own stuff. You’ll save money, reduce clutter and build trusting relationships.
  • Acknowledge the emotions that certain possessions stir up in you, and ask yourself why. Try to identify what parts of your character are lacking and how you might be using possessions to compensate.
  • Similarly, try to identify what possessions your friends might have that make you jealous. Ask why, explore that part of you, and try to improve on it.
  • Consider how you’d feel if you lost certain possessions. Would you be able to handle it? Could you do without that computer, that TV, those new clothes? What would you do without those things? If your answers scare or depress you, you know where you need to grow.
  • Be grateful for the things you already have, and express that gratitude regularly. A good way to do this is to write out three things you’re grateful for each day.
  • Go on cleaning/clearing binges to declutter your house. Zen Habits has a great article on how to do this effectively.
  • Request that people forgo giving you regular birthday/Christmas gifts and instead make donations to trusted charities.
  • Expand your social circle and try new things – learn to value experiences, relationships and memories over possessions.

Find your comfort zone

The most important thing is to find your own comfort zone with your possessions and your relationship to them. It should be a personal journey, different for everyone. Just be careful not to use material goods to compensate for character defects. Remember the words of
Evan Esar:

Character is what you have left when you’ve lost everything you can lose.

Some day you might wake to find you have lost everything. Hopefully you’ll still know who
you are.