“You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you’re satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you’ve got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you’re trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.”

-Tyler Durden, Fight Club

If there is a better quote on the trappings of materialism I haven’t heard it. Too many men volunteer for a lifetime of wage slavery by buying things they don’t need and can’t afford, like a house or a wife. It’s great to have some choice nice things, but you never want to get to a place where your things own you. I could get up and go anywhere in the world tomorrow with everything I need and that’s an incredibly liberating feeling.

Minimalism is more than just a mindset, it’s a lifestyle, it’s a commitment to living life efficiently and without waste. Minimalism is a masculine lifestyle, hoarding useless trinkets is what women do, minimalism is what men do. Focus your life on your mission and your relationships and get rid of the stuff that doesn’t matter.

The easiest and fastest way to become a minimalist overnight is to purge everything you own to under 200 things, think how Stalin would purge your useless garbage and purge accordingly.

I do this challenge every year and I think you should too. Completing this challenge will give you a level of control over your life that you’ve never felt before, try it out:

How To Become A Hardcore Minimalist

Rules

• Write down all the things you own in a list of things in your Evernote
• Keep the list for life and continually update it
• Every item you own with the exception of the following is a thing

Exceptions

• Food or anything with a lifespan of under a month are exceptions eg. paper towels, napkins etc.
• Things you share with your girlfriend or wife are exceptions
• Accessories that come with a product are exceptions eg. the remote control that comes with TV
• Things contained in a box are exceptions eg. tools in a toolbox

My List

• 145 Things

If you’re serious about getting your life in order, now’s the time, so take action and make it happen!