I would like to share 3 benefits of minimalism that extend to all areas of life. Through life's ups and downs, it is important that we remember to take the time to enjoy the simple things in life. We need to be grateful for what we have, and focus on finding meaning in our lives.

Life is meant to be enjoyed, not filled with stress and frustration. Minimalism is a state of being, a simple approach to life, that can help us do more with less.  In the words of Vernon Howard, “You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.”

That is why I wanted to invite Will Chou, the founder of Will You Laugh, a self-development blog that focuses on the secrets to success, to write a guest post to talk about 3 benefits of minimalism that extend to all areas of life.

Take it away, Will!

When I first discovered minimalism, I was a mess of a person and I thought it was stupid. But everything has changed now.  To explain my change of opinion, we have to go back to the beginning. When I first discovered minimalism, I really wanted to travel the world for a living.

At the time, I was disillusioned with my career paths and confused about my future. I was struggling to find work I could enjoy and the job opportunities that I was offered, sucked. To put it simply, like many Millennials, I had chosen a tough college major that I loved (pre-med Biology) but realized too late that it wasn’t my passion (after graduation).

My days of despair led me to seek escapism on the Internet. I discovered a large group of online bloggers that had a huge following and who called themselves, “travel hackers.”

Essentially, they would travel to exotic places for a living and make their living by “hacking life.” They were able to achieve a level of financial freedom that most people would envy. At first, I wasn't sold on this whole idea of minimalism, but that soon changed. Today, I want to share with you the three benefits of minimalism that extend to all areas of life:

1. You Will Stay Organized and Clean

I had always been a messy person. Despite my best efforts to stay clean, my room would quickly morph into a mess of junk. To put it simply, the more items you have, the more opportunity it is for it to make you feel and appear messy.

When you only have a couple of items on your desk, it’s never going to look that messy no matter how long you delay cleaning it up. It’s shocking how few people understand or use this habit. Nowadays, I have applied this minimalist philosophy to every area of my life.

2. You Will Achieve More By Working Less

A lot of people make the mistake of approaching their daily to-do list with a reactive state of mind. They take on too many tasks on a daily basis, many of which are unimportant. When they look back at what they have accomplished, they are surprised by their lack of progress.

A solution is a form of minimalism called essentialism. The concept is simple. Focus on one to three tasks per day. Make sure they are the most important tasks that will make the biggest impact on the accomplishment of your goals. If you do this right, you will realize that you’re doing less work but getting more results by prioritizing and cutting out the unnecessary.

3. You Feel Happier and Less Stressed

Not so long ago, I was frustrated with my progress, both professionally and personally. I didn’t have quality friends, I wasn't earning much, and I was lost and without direction in my dating life.

It was confusing because I had always worked super hard in school and “done the right things.” After doing a lot of research on success, happy people, and the science of happiness, I came up with a simple mantra that has helped me a lot. It goes something like, “As long as I have air, water, food, a healthy mind, and a healthy body, I am happy.”

This mantra reminds me to lead a simple, happy life. By living this philosophy, I have become a much happier, more relaxed, and lighter person.

I Am Not A Minimalist And I Don’t Want You To Be. 

Wait, what? After all, I have said, I’m now revealing that I’m not a minimalist, I don’t intend to be one. Why? I can't say that I would be happy with living a lifestyle of extreme minimalism, and that’s OK. What I love about some minimalist influencers out there is that they’re not telling you to become a minimalist.

Rather, they are encouraging that you adopt the minimalist practices that work for you. That’s where I stand. I will be rich one day and I will buy expensive experiences, but the items and services I do buy will be fewer than the average person, and they will be focused on memorable experiences, rather than a desire to hold onto possession.

It’s important not to swing from one extreme perspective (“Everything you buy has value so you should hoard it.”) to the other (“Nothing has value so get rid of it all.”). The truth lies closer to the middle.

Will has spent thousands of hours studying the world's most successful people and shares his findings on his self-development blog, Will You Laugh. Get his free gift made especially for Project Life Mastery readers by CLICKING HERE!

Today I want to talk about the illusion of happiness. I believe that happiness is a universal desire. Deep down, we all want to be happy. Unfortunately, in today’s world, genuine happiness is a rare commodity. People who have bought into the illusion of happiness use things like money, relationships, friends, their body, etc., as vehicles to achieve certain ‘positive’ emotional states.

The more you ‘go after' happiness, the more fleeting it becomes. Materialistic things won’t buy you happiness. If you are constantly chasing the idea of happiness, you will live a life of pain and disappointment. Instead of focusing on the external rewards of life, focus on your internal state.

Happiness is a choice. There are people in this world that have nothing, and still, they choose to be happy. Similarly, there are people who have all the money in the world, but they still aren’t fulfilled. Whatever the circumstances are in our lives, we always have the power to choose how we feel.

In the words of A.R. Lucas, “If there’s even a slight chance at getting something that will make you happy, risk it. Life’s too short, and happiness is too rare.” Are you ready to drop the illusion of happiness, and live from a place of joy, gratitude, and fulfillment?

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

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Do you want to learn how to create a morning ritual that will bring more inner happiness into your life? CLICK HERE to join my course, Morning Ritual Mastery!

I'm not saying that there won't be challenges that arise in life that try to shake your happiness. The question remains, “How does someone sustain a positive state during times of unhappiness and duress?” It all comes down to their mindset.

These people make happiness their top value in life. They engage in a process of self-reflection, learn how to master their emotions, and find peace within themselves, which in turn, allows them to experience inner happiness.

They know that the direction that their lives take depends solely on them and them alone. They don’t search for things or people to make them happy. In turn, they achieve and attract more into their lives. There are 24 hours in a day. You can either spend those hours being happy or sad.

For myself, I know that once I started putting happiness first, my life changed, on a physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual level. One strategy that I adopted in order to condition my state of happiness, is a morning ritual. Every day, I take the time to honour myself. I reflect and show gratitude for all of the blessings that exist in my life.

If you prioritize your happiness, I can guarantee you that it will make everything in your life easier. When you start your day feeling full, you overflow with love, happiness, and abundance, which has a contagious effect on others and the world at large.

The illusion of happiness makes people believe that if they can find happiness everything else will be okay. But there isn't a magic pill for happiness. Rather, it is a daily practice. Have you bought into the illusion of happiness? If you are aren’t happy with your life, try shifting your mindset, and adopting an attitude of gratitude.

Abraham Lincoln once said that, “People can be as happy or unhappy as they make up their mind to be.” When you adopt a happy mindset, being happy won’t feel like work. It will just be your natural state, and that is when you will start attracting amazing things into your life.

If you aren’t living the kind of life that brings you inner joy, happiness, and fulfillment, I challenge you to start the journey towards a happy life. The first step is connecting with that place of inner happiness that resides within you. It won’t be easy, but nothing in life that is worthwhile ever comes easy.

Drop the illusion of happiness. Don’t wait for things to happen in order to be happy. Choose happiness in your life, NOW.

Do you want to learn how to create a morning ritual that will bring more inner happiness into your life? CLICK HERE to join my course, Morning Ritual Mastery!

Video transcript

Hey, everyone, this is Stefan from ProjectLifeMastery.com and today I want to talk to you about something that I believe that most people in society today don't value enough. It's something that I believe that we all really want deep down inside. We all crave it, we all desire it, and what that really is is to be happy. I believe that all human beings really want to be happy in their lives. We want to feel a sense of joy, fulfillment, and meaning.

The challenge that I've observed is that most people in society today have bought into the lie and the illusion that happiness, joy, and fulfillment come from outside of ourselves. That you have to put your focus and emphasis on the external results and rewards of life, instead of focusing internally. You need to understand and know that the happiness that you are craving and seeking is already within you.

That's why I think a lot of people only focus on making money. They want to make a certain amount of money, and create a certain lifestyle or freedom, buy a car, or a house, or some sort of materialistic possession. Or they may be more focused on their body and achieving a certain body weight, or maybe it's attracting a man or a woman into their lives and having love and a great relationship.

Don't get me wrong, I think those are all great things. They're all important. I've pursued those in my life as well. However, the challenge is that when you believe that you need to have something outside of yourself in order to be happy, instead of recognizing and understanding that you could be happy right now regardless of your outside circumstances, regardless of having a car, a relationship, an ideal body, or a lot of money.

There are people in this world that have nothing. They're broke, in debt, poor, alone, sick or dying, and yet they still have decided, regardless of their circumstances, to be happy, joyful, and cheerful. Similarly, there are people out there that have a lot of money, and they have everything on the outside world, yet they're not happy or fulfilled.

That's why you see so many celebrities and famous people commit suicide, because they are depressed and unhappy. You see them have it all, but deep down, they haven't learned to master their emotions and really find happiness within themselves. I was reading the other day that there are over 2,000 billionaires in the world. Every five days in China there's a new billionaire, every six days in the United States there's a new billionaire. I believe that what's more rare than a billionaire is someone that's really happy and fulfilled.

That is what I look for in human beings. People that I want to learn from. People that I respect the most, aren't just the people that have a lot of money. That's great, but I look at whether or not they are really happy and fulfilled. Most people use their business, money, their body, relationships, friends, or whatever it might be, as a vehicle to go after and achieve certain emotional states. That's the belief system that they have programmed in their minds.

In the world of marketing today, that is what they are selling to you. When you look at a magazine or you watch TV, you're being marketed to buy a product. Ultimately, what you're really after is the emotion that you believe that a product can provide for you, or the result that it will provide for you. It's not true, my friends. In fact, what if, instead, I were to propose this to you – instead of believing that in order to be happy, you need to achieve or get something outside of yourself to be happy, what if you decided that you were going to be happy regardless.

I'm going to be happy regardless of what my outside world looks like, just because I choose to. We are all in control of our emotional states. Regardless of what's going on, you can always look for the good. You can always have something to be grateful for. Imagine what it would feel like if you operated from a place of happiness first, and made prioritizing your happiness a higher value on your list. What if doing so helped you to attract and achieve more in your life?

Choose to put happiness first, and create a powerful ritual in your life, where every morning you commit to spending time focusing on happiness and taking in life's gifts. Trust me, there have been times in my life when my life didn't look so good.

There were times in my life when I was really struggling, and I had a lot to be unhappy about. I knew that if I could be happy now, despite the chaos and adversity in my life, then I'd really have mastered life to a much higher level. I would have taken control of my life, and that was the most important thing. What I found is that if you actually prioritize your happiness, and make the decision that you are going to be happy despite your life circumstances, I can almost guarantee you that it's going to make everything else in your life much easier.

For example, maybe you're in a relationship, but you want to take it to another level, or maybe your relationship is not going so well. I can promise you that if you're a lot happier, you're probably going to uplift your current relationship that you might already be in.

Similarly, I can promise you that if you're a lot happier, you're probably going to make better food choices. You're probably going to want to go outside and exercise and take better care of yourself, because you're already happy, and that's going to result in you being able to achieve your health and fitness goals that much faster. I can almost promise you that if you're happier, then that's going to help you improve the amount of money that you make. It's going to help you feel more motivated to start your business, to grow your business, to perform a lot better at your job.

I think a lot of people have it backward. You have to dehypnotize yourself into understanding that happiness has to be important than anything. Otherwise, what's going to happen is that you're going to achieve the things that you set out to achieve – the car, the house, the body, and the relationship – but here's what's going to happen. Once you get those things, you're going to realize that they did not make you happy.

Regardless of all the things that you've worked so hard to acquire, because you believed that they would give you happiness, you're going to feel a sense of emptiness inside. Then you're going to look for another goal to achieve. I'm here to tell you that I believe that the better way of going about it is to make happiness a more important priority.

Not a lot of people put enough value on happiness because it's not as tangible as a car, house, a body, a girlfriend, or a boyfriend. You can measure that, it's more specific. Whereas with happiness, it's something that people can't tangibly measure. Happiness is different for everybody. There's certain universal principles and patterns of happiness that, without a doubt, can help enhance that. I'm not saying that money and a relationship can't amplify it, but it's not the sole source of happiness.

In fact, you don't even want your happiness to be dependent on something outside of yourself, because if it's only dependent on a man or a woman, or a relationship, or a body, or money, then what happens when that goes away , your happiness will go away with it. Here's what I want to propose to you – make happiness a higher priority, shift your mindset, and your belief system. Decide that you are going to be happy now.

Decide that you are going to spend the first part of your day, which is the most important part of your day, and create a ritual. Do what makes you happy. Whatever that might be. I know for myself, I've got crazy rituals that I do. I enjoy learning each day, taking care of my health and my body, meditating, and focusing on and thinking about what I'm grateful for. I train myself to always look for the good, no matter what.

No matter what's going on, there's always good. I will find it and that will help amplify my life and remind myself how blessed I really am. Maybe it's doing some exercise and taking good care of my body. I think that can be an act of love. Start off the day happy. A lot of people start the day empty and try to fill themselves up. What if you started the day feeling full? Fill yourself up in the morning with your ritual so that you're overflowing with love, abundance, and happiness. When you do, it will have a contagious effect on everyone else around you.

In fact, I think that being happy every day is the greatest gift that you can give to other human beings on this planet. Create a ritual, or do whatever works for you. I don't know whatever that might be for you, but take the time to prioritize and value happiness more in your life. Pick up a happiness book and study. Place more emphasis and focus on it, because at the end of the day, that's really what you want deep down inside.

Hopefully, this video could be a good reminder for some of you to really value that more, make an emphasis on it. Don't just be one-dimensional in your life. I believe in life mastery and the foundation of that is your health, your mindset, and your emotions. You need to really master those areas of your life, because those are the ones that are going to affect everything else. Hopefully you enjoyed this video. If you did, give it a thumbs up. Leave a comment below.

I'd love to hear your experience of happiness and things that have worked for you. Subscribe for more videos, of course, and if you haven't already checked out my Morning Ritual Mastery course, I highly recommend that you do, because it's going to teach you how I create my empowering morning rituals, and how you can create one in your life. It is the best part of my day, and it's something that I've been doing it since I was 17 years old. I'd love for you to experience that, and check out that program at MorningRitualMastery.com.

That's it for today's video! Thanks for watching. I look forward to seeing you again in the next one. Take care.