- The article is adapted from Podcast Minimalism - Minimalist life of Mr. Hieu.tv -
Mr. Hieu was born and raised in Vietnam but currently lives and works in Australia. He is currently an advisor to the Australian government on Digital Strategy. Over 20 years of working in many places around the world, he has accumulated a number of interesting lessons and stories. HIEU.TV is where he keeps and shares those stories. |
BACKGROUND...
To be honest, I found this minimalist way of living before I found my journey to financial freedom.
Unlike most people, people usually start their journey to financial freedom first and then, because of the need to cut costs, they start to learn more and it slowly leads them to this minimalist lifestyle.
In my case, it's a bit the opposite, I found this minimalist method first and then slowly it led me to the journey of financial freedom. Similar to the journey of financial freedom, discovering this minimalist living method brought a lot of positive values to my life and in today's episode, I will share with you a little bit about the positive things that minimalist living has brought to me.
Now when I look back at my life in the previous stages, at that time I made quite a lot of money but at the same time because I didn't know how to manage my expenses, I also shopped very arbitrarily, I even had an activity that now looking back I'm still very scared of, which is collecting. And a typical example of my collecting activity at that time was collecting perfumes, the legacy of which still exists to this day on the cabinet in my house.
Since I was little, I have loved scents, so when I grew up and started working, whenever I had money, I would buy perfume. At that time, I bought them indiscriminately, even many times I bought them just because I liked them, if I bought them, I would not use them in the end and the result is that until today, after so many years, I have given them to countless people, but the amount of perfume I have left is still over 30 bottles.
And that's just an example... the other items in my house are in the same situation, most of them I buy, use a few times and then put in a corner somewhere, and just like that the number of items increases. Most of them are in one place, taking up space in the house, I only use them once every five or ten years.
And this situation continues forever...
Until one time...
TURNING POINT
I accidentally heard a friend share, actually this friend did not talk about the topic of minimalist living but through his sharing I found a keyword called Minimalism , from there I started to invest in learning and the more I learned, the more I was attracted to this topic because it was so true to my situation and feelings.
And from there I began to discover that I was not an exception, there were many other people in the world who were in the same situation as me and they were also trying to find a way to escape this situation through a life motto called - Minimalism . In Vietnamese I translate it as the minimalist life motto.
And today, after many years of practicing this motto, I can say with great confidence that this motto will create a lot of value for everyone, especially for young people.
This topic is very long to explain, sometimes I have to make it into a series of articles like the topic of financial freedom but this time I will try to wrap it up in 1 episode. I will just keep it in the perspective of sharing the positive things it has brought to my life, how it has made my life better.
CONSUMERISM - THE DARK SIDE BEHIND THE CREDIT CARD
Before starting to talk about the positive things that this motto brings to me, I want to share with you a concept that is the opposite of minimalism, called Consumerism .
"Sweet honey kills flies"
Basically, if Minimalism promotes a lifestyle based on what we need , then Consumerism will promote a lifestyle based on what we want, and in terms of economics, Consumerism is not necessarily bad, because it promotes shopping activities, so it will push purchasing power up and the more shopping activities there are, the more taxes governments will collect and at the same time, companies will also create more profits, and from there, money is poured back into R&D (Research & Development) activities to find new inventions and those inventions will continue to be used to attract users to shop again.
And so the cycle continues...
Through that society will gradually progress. That is why after most of the world's economies they promote the Consumerism lifestyle.
If you pay attention, in every economic crisis, one of the first moves that governments will make is: they will print more money and they will lower interest rates. These activities are basically to stimulate the economy, or more colloquially, they stimulate people's shopping activities to help the economic machine operate again.
So now that I've talked about it, you must be wondering: if it creates so much value, then Consumerism isn't so bad?
"THE TRAP BEHIND THE SWEET HONEY"
Honestly, if we look at the overall aspect like that, it's not necessarily bad. But if we zoom in on each individual, each family, the picture will be a little different, even according to my personal observation in many cases, it will not be good.
As we know, advertising is one of the most profitable industries in the world. Companies like Facebook and Google are among the largest companies in the world. They operate based on advertising as their main source of revenue. Through these advertising activities, companies around the world day by day pump into our subconscious needs that we do not necessarily need.
And so far, things haven't really been that bad as long as people are living within their means. However, things don't stop there.
One of the greatest inventions of consumerism, here we can use the word great or terrible, is the credit card . Since the invention of the credit card, consumers have been able to buy more than they can afford. From now on, you can take the item you want home and put it on credit so that you can pay it back at the end of the month.
If at the end of the month you do not have enough money to pay, you can postpone the debt to the following months and obviously you have to pay interest on this debt, and this interest is one of the main sources of income for banks.
And I read a statistic 1-2 years ago, that is:
"On average, each person in the US is in credit card debt of about more than $6,000/person. And that's just credit card debt, I haven't even mentioned other debts."
"LOOP"
And so, people continue to shop and get into debt. And because they are in debt, they have to work hard to pay it back. And if they are doing the job they like, that's fine, but in many cases, they have to do jobs they don't like just because they have to do it to have money to pay off the debt.
And because they do such jobs, after those stressful working hours, at the end of the month when they get their salary, do you know what they will do to reward themselves?
They go shopping to reward themselves with some kind of stuff, some kind of convenience. And the more they shop, the more they get into debt. And so the cycle goes on and on, and in that cycle companies sell more and more goods, and governments collect more taxes. The only one who suffers is the Consumer.
And the bad news is that companies and governments have no interest in helping us escape this cycle because they fundamentally need the economy to function that way. From their perspective, it’s better for them and better for the bigger picture.
But if we switch to the consumer perspective, the picture is not so bright, especially for those who do not know how to manage their finances.
There is a very famous movie: The Matrix, that movie tells about a fantasy world where everyone is sleeping and what they feel every day is controlled by a server. And all of humanity at that time was in that system, only a few people woke up and escaped from it. I will not go into too much detail in case there are those who have not seen this movie.
When I read about Consumerism, I felt like it was not much different from the movie The Matrix. Most people are born, grow up and get caught up in this flow of consumption, money and debt that companies and governments have set up.
...for these people, every day they wake up to go to work is a long day for them. They just look forward to the end of work and at the same time, all the time and everywhere, advertising activities continuously pour into their ears messages like if you are too tired with work, reward yourself with this product and that product.
And so we keep hearing it over and over again until we unconsciously agree that these products will somehow improve our quality of life. But in reality, they are pulling us deeper into that consumer spiral, and from there, they make our quality of life even worse.
"ESCAPE FROM THE TRAP"
So how do we escape this endless loop?
In my personal opinion, it will be through 2 tools:
- The first is financial freedom.
- The second is the minimalist lifestyle motto.
So why do I say that minimalism will help us escape that loop?
First, to start, you guys try this small activity, you guys open your wardrobe and look at how many clothes you have bought that you rarely wear. And there is actually a statistic for this, which is:
"On average, a normal person only wears 20% of the clothes they own. That means on average, 80% of the belongings people own just sit in a corner, month after month."
Even so, we still continue shopping to buy more things.
Similarly, for those who have moved out, try looking around your house to see how many items you currently own and how many of them you actually use regularly, and how many of them are just sitting in a corner collecting dust.
"MONEY AND QUALITY OF LIFE"
I think that in the vast majority of cases this number is not small. This situation will create 2 problems for us:
- First is the waste of money . But more important is the second problem.
- Owning too many things will greatly reduce the quality of our lives .
The first and most obvious point is that it makes our homes more cramped and cluttered. And this alone, according to scientific research, has a direct impact on our emotions and health.
There is a rather interesting study:
"One of the reasons people like to go on vacation at resorts is because, in addition to the beautiful scenery, everything in those places is more organized and convenient than in their messy houses. While everything should be the opposite, the house should be the warmest and most comfortable place for us."
The third point is a bit more abstract: owning too much material wealth will invisibly become a burden on our shoulders, making it impossible for us to move.
Now, imagine, if there is a company in another city or even another country that offers you a job that you like, but now looking back at the total amount of belongings and assets that you have, it will at least make you think twice and invisibly, we are limiting our living space, remaining only within the scope of a city or a country.
In my case, if tomorrow a company in London or New York offers me a job that I like, within a week I can transfer all my belongings and leave without worrying about anything. That is the freedom that a minimalist life brings me.
And in my opinion, that is the greatest value that Minimalism brings to us. But besides that, there are still countless other benefits that in the framework of a few dozen minutes of this podcast, I will only share a few typical benefits that it has brought to my life.
BENEFITS OF MINIMALISM
1. The first benefit is that Minimalism helps improve the quality of my life .
I will explain this through an example: on average, a quality suit (in Vietnam, people often call it a vest) will cost around 2000-5000 dollars and similarly, a normal suit will cost from 500-700 dollars and in the past, I would tend to buy normal clothes. However, now that I have switched to a minimalist lifestyle, I only have 1 or 2 sets in my wardrobe, but they are 1 or 2 quality sets.
Because a quality Suite is usually sewn with meticulous quality with very expensive fabrics, its lifespan is obviously much more durable than normal Suites. If it is a normal Suite, I have to replace it every 1-2 years, but with the ones I own, there are some that I have worn for 5 years and their quality is still almost perfect. In the same 5-year period, if it were before, I would have to buy normal Suites several times to get the same 5-year period. Not to mention that when I wear these Suites, they fit my body and make me feel very comfortable and confident every time I wear them.
On the one hand, you buy many sets but only wear them a few times. In the end, you have to throw them away and buy new ones.
On the one hand, I get to fully use the product I paid for and every time I use it, it brings me comfort and confidence.
It is clear from the above example:
“Owning less helps me focus on quality, and that in turn improves the quality of my life.”
And this is true not only for the example above but for all the things we own. From clothes and shoes to cars and household items.
That's why now, whenever I need to buy something, I tend to choose the best item possible, maybe the initial cost will be higher than the miscellaneous items. But looking at the whole life cycle of that item, I am saving more.
2. The second benefit is that living a minimalist life helps me save more time.
Also an example of clothes. In the past, every time I went shopping, I had to spend a certain amount of time looking around for a model that suited me and then had to try on and see which set fit my size. Because although I knew my size, not all brands would produce the right size, so it took me a lot of time and effort.
Now, after many years of practicing Minimalism, I have optimized my dressing style to a very optimal level. Through many years of filtering, I have chosen the brand that best suits me for each type of item I need to buy.
"Clarity of Mind"
For example, what brand is it for everyday casual wear? What brand will I choose for hiking, camping, outdoor wear? What brand will I choose for formal wear? If I even know which model of that brand will suit me, it will save me a lot of time. And I no longer have the concept of wandering around shopping to choose clothes.
I have certain time frames after a certain period of time when I will go shopping for a bunch of new clothes and each time because I know exactly which brand I need to buy from and where that store is, even which shelf the item I need to buy is on. And when I get there I also know which size of that brand fits my body best. In most cases I don't even need to try it on.
So the total time I spend on shopping for my stuff is now much shorter. And most importantly: all the items I buy are the best quality items, exactly the style I want. So:
" Everything I buy is something I will use 100% of the time."
It is no longer a situation of buying and then leaving it as before.
3. The third benefit is that living a minimalist life helps me save more.
I have touched on this issue above by saying that buying quality items will save me more over the total life of the item than buying low quality items.
But I optimize this even further, because I already know which brands I need to buy, so I make a list of the items I need to buy, plus a few simple setup steps, from now on I have a notification system from the brands I like so that whenever they have a discount program and there are items that match the items on my list, I will receive a notification. And so if necessary, I will order.
And thanks to that, in many cases I won't have to pay full price but can still get the item I need to buy.
4. The fourth benefit is that Minimalism helps me consider more when buying something.
I work in customer experience so I know quite well the tricks that stimulate user shopping behavior, and because it is also my expertise, I have also built myself a few tricks to combat this.
For example, when I need to buy something, instead of browsing the website after finding enough information, I will put that item in a list that I name the list of items I intend to buy and then I temporarily forget about it. If after a while in my daily life there are things that still make me need that item, I will mark that item with another star, when it has enough stars, I will buy that item.
On the contrary, after a while I review again and see no stars, I will remove that item from the list.
The reason why I have such a hard time buying something is because for me now, every time I buy something, I see it as adding another burden on my shoulders.
" If the value it brings to my life is not enough to balance the burden it adds, I will not buy it."
I would rather accept that I will lose some comforts but in return I have an easier life.
"LETTING GO IS GAIN"
And I also practice the habit of letting go. Hearing the word “let go” sounds a bit heavy, but “let go” here is about the meaning of belongings. In the past, there were many things that I kept because they were associated with certain memories. It was a pity to throw them away, but keeping them would just leave them there and I would have to drag them along wherever I went.
Now, after many years of living a minimalist life, I have developed a habit of just keeping memories in my head or at most I will scan or take a picture of it and save it on my computer. Then I can either throw that item away or give it to someone else who needs it more than me.
" SUCCINCT"
Another benefit of minimalism is that my house is always neat and tidy, because I don't really have much stuff to make it messy. So every day I wake up and have breakfast in a clean, airy space, and then I sit at a neat and tidy desk.
And of course, with such a living environment, it creates a lot of positive energy for me, and at the same time, I don't need to clean much because, as I said earlier, I don't have much stuff to make it messy.
Actually, I want to be messy sometimes it's harder than neat.
"FREEDOM"
And finally, something I've said before, but because it's the most important thing, I'll repeat it: minimalist living gives me back my freedom , which to me is the most valuable thing.
Now I can freely go and live wherever I want, my luggage is very light, and every time I leave a place I only bring experiences and not any items about my life.
In the framework of a few dozen minutes of today's podcast, I can only talk about the positive things that a minimalist lifestyle brings in terms of material aspects. But Minimalism also helps me in many other aspects.
Minimalism is also minimalism in finance, minimalism in lifestyle. Even minimalism in thinking.
In each of these aspects, Minimalism has created many positive values for my life.
If the journey to financial freedom helps me no longer depend on money, then Minimalist Living helps me no longer depend on material things.
For me these 2 tools are invaluable!
Through some of my sharing in this episode, I hope that it has shown you the value that Minimalism has brought to my life and through that, I hope that it has also given you some inspiration about this way of living.
