14 Tips for a Less Materialistic Lifestyle
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“The things you own end up owning you.” - Tyler Durden in Fight Club
Beyond a minimum threshold of poverty, having more things doesn’t make people happier. But in a society driven by consumption, it can be hard to realize this truth.
Living a less materialistic lifestyle doesn’t mean becoming a monk and abstaining from all of life’s pleasures. It means shifting your focus away from possessions so they become less important by comparison.
Materialism Fills a Void
Owning things becomes important when you have an internal void. When your internal world is deprived it is only natural to want to fill it with external things. Unfortunately, this is like filling a sieve with sand. The sand may fit in the sieve temporarily, but it will soon sift through the holes, leaving you empty again.
What do you fill that internal void with? Here are a few aspects that fill the void better than possessions:
- Relationships
- Passionate Work
- Service to Others
- Personal Challenges
- Knowledge
At the core of all these things is your philosophy towards life and understanding of the world you live in. You can be rich, but you can’t be wealthy unless your life philosophy and internal world are healthy.
Reducing Materialism
Ending materialism doesn’t mean forsaking all your possessions. Ridding yourself of everything you own would only prove you are still too preoccupied with possessions themselves. Someone who has developed a healthy inner world would see possessions as neutral. This shift is more about attitude than specific actions.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- You aren’t the things you own. The problem is that you view things as possessions in the first place. Ownership is just a societal construct to keep order, it doesn’t have any deeper meaning. Separate your identity from the things you own.
- Relationships are about doing, not having. You can’t have a girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse. Although those terms are fairly commonplace, they demonstrate that many people still view relationships as possessions. The more you see relationships as possessions, the less intrinsic value you can get from experiencing them.
- Create a system of goals and challenges. Materialism fills a void. Replace that uncomfortable filler with goals and challenges. Although many of my challenges are directed towards material gain, that isn’t the real point. Just as winning Risk isn’t about world-domination as it is about a fun challenge.
- Serve. Invest your energies into helping other people. I don’t view acts as being on a continuum from selfishness to selflessness, as acts that directly benefit me can benefit others as well. But even in that case, shifting your focus onto the needs of others can replace materialism.
- Trash it. I’m the opposite of a packrat. When I need to do a major cleaning, I usually toss just about everything I haven’t used recently. Getting rid of old possessions can be a liberating experience, stripping away from you what isn’t important.
- See wealth as a challenge not a result. I view earning more money as an interesting and complex game. I expect my minimum comfort threshold would only be around $15,000 to $20,000 per year. Beyond that, earning more is simply a bigger challenge.
- Experience over objects. The only reason to buy an object is because you believe it will (directly or indirectly) improve the quality of your experience. Going straight to the source helps you avoid the middlemen that are material goods.
- Build intangible assets. Habits, time-management, discipline, emotional control, understanding and learning are just a few of the non-physical assets you can hold. Building intangible assets replaces your need for physical ones.
- Use money to free, not chain, yourself. When you have a larger income, don’t simply adapt by increasing your lifestyle. Instead work to create a buffer between your income and lifestyle so you live below your means. This will give you more freedom to pursue goals and ideas that may not immediately contribute to your productivity.
- Go basic. Simplify all your material possessions so they don’t consume your mental resources. Simple, even if less glamorous, requires less maintenance, offers fewer distractions and uses less thinking. A simple lifestyle affords you the ability to focus your energies on your inner world.
- Avoid the status game. Seek friends from all social layers. Don’t buy into the game that decides a persons worth based on their money or profession. I know people I would consider smarter and more enlightened who live on a fraction of the income that others do. Keeping pockets of connections within all levels separates you from the competitive aspects materialism brings.
- Judge yourself by your ethics and your understanding. I’d be far happier with myself if I were poor but I understood the world and lived true to a system of ethics, than if I had the opposite. Don’t base your self worth on how much you’ve achieved or the admiration of your peers.
- Let go. Buddhism teaches that attachment to things creates suffering. Again, this is all in the mindset. I’m not a Buddhist, but as I understand it, this doesn’t mean the only path to true happiness is to abandon everything. It simply means that you stop trying to hold on to all the things you own and the relationships in your life.
- You can’t take it with you. What is going to matter to you on your deathbed? Looking back at your entire life, what was important? Use that to prioritize.
Carl of PseudoPower said,
August 15, 2007 at 10:48 am
Awesome post.
A couple of months ago, I had all of the stereotypical items in my bachelor pad. Huge tv, nice furniture, etc. I also had my corporate job.
I realized it didn’t deeply satisfy me, so I made a radical change.
Now I’m on the path of minimalism. I’ve been following all of those tips above.
I’m glad i’m not the only one thinking this way.
It’s sad to see people, even my own family be depressed because their neighbors has a nicer car. Then they try to fill it by buying something. :\
Anyway, great post! It hits the spot for me.
Harveen said,
August 15, 2007 at 12:01 pm
LOVED THIS ARTICLE!!!!! Your list is simply fabulous, and I’m telling all my friends to read this!!!
Eric DelValle said,
August 15, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Very nice post. I had this printed out and tacked on with some other favorites. Keep up the good work bro!
Scott Young said,
August 15, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Thanks everyone. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
-Scott
Kevin said,
August 15, 2007 at 11:17 pm
11 & 14
Everyone gets caught up with possessions and fitting in a particular social class. I think you hit it right on when you explained how material possessions should or are viewed as neutral by people with strong inner worlds.
Gene said,
August 16, 2007 at 2:18 am
There was a time when I thought more money and more “stuff” would help me fill that enormous void inside of myself. I worked hard at having more and made a great deal of money and felt empty, I spent the money on things and still felt empty. Finally I looked inside and discovered myself which was what I had been secretly looking for all of my life.
I care only about having enough and that could be remarkably little if truly necessary.
That was a good and timely article! It helped me think again of my core values and goals.
Gene
Scott Young said,
August 16, 2007 at 6:56 am
Thanks for the comments everyone.
-Scott
Conn said,
August 16, 2007 at 8:23 am
A less materialistic lifestyle is the necessary condition for a more spiritualistic lifestyle but it isn’t a sufficient condition. A less materialistic lifestyle doesn’t lead us automatically to a more spiritualistic one. We have to do something towards it.
Watch your title: livestyle to lifestyle.
Cheers!
Scott Young said,
August 16, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Conn,
Thanks for the typo info. I completely missed that in my editing. Doh!
-Scott
Kali said,
August 16, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I think this is a great post Scott. That quote is so true.
max night said,
August 17, 2007 at 2:34 pm
I totally agree with all of this. I intend to get rid or leave behind a lot of useless objects or other junk I dont need. A very good reason for me to keep something would be for its sentimental value.
s427 said,
September 7, 2007 at 8:27 am
I’d use the word “consumerism” rather than “materialism”, because materialism is also an important philosophic standpoint that has very little to do with the accumulation of material possessions in order to achieve happiness. In fact, it is perfectly possible to have a materialist point of view on the universe AND to agree with all you say in this article. (Which is what I do, by the way
)
Scott H Young » Friday Links 08-02-08 said,
February 8, 2008 at 10:00 am
[…] 14 Tips for a Less Materialistic Lifestyle - There is a lot more to life than stuff. Here are some of my thoughts on how to shift your life to focus on the less tangible, but more important aspects of life. […]
Robbie Yohn said,
October 17, 2008 at 4:23 pm
My advice: Save things that really really really mean a lot. I threw out my pictures and instead put on disk. Compactability is the key.Less is more.
I try to own less clothes because as a survivalist, you have to learn to do without. Also I believe in storing things in caches in places one would never even imagine. I try to live simple, without so much clutter and garbage. I could live naked on an island, eat healthy fruits and vegetables, build a house of mud and straw. Who said having everything means you are better than anyone else. There are “poor” people in other countries who actually live better than we as americans do. They do with out and live life.
I never owned a car, never traveled abroad yet. I never been to college. I learn from reading and from living life. Learning from experiences and knowing what mistakes not to make.