Why It ’ s Unwise to Be a Minimalist

When I first heard about the concept of minimalism many years ago, I was intrigued but also a bit hesitant. As I looked into it, I found that my hesitation towards it was well-founded, and I don’t consider it a particularly intelligent strategy for life or business. “Less is more” can be an interesting heuristic to use sometimes, but it doesn’t work well for many classes of problems and challenges. Sometimes it will point you away from opportunities and solutions instead of towards them. Human beings have invented a wide variety of tools and services, and many of those can be useful and worthwhile under the right circumstances. The key is to evaluate and assess these tools and their costs and consequences to see which ones we can maintain a healthy, productive, and appreciative relationship with. That assessment is going to be different for each person. Sometimes a good solution will look like minimalism, sometimes it will look like maximalism, and sometimes it will be elsewhere within the spectrum of possibilities. The Standard of Appreciation A better approach than minimalism is to use the standard of appreciation, especially long-term appreciation. Ask yourself: How much will I likely appreciate this over the next 10 years? This question can really help you size up your relationship with a tool or service. For example: How much will I appreciate using a cell phone over the next 10 years?How much will I appreciate being active...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Abundance Lifestyle Values Source Type: blogs