Author: minimalismrules

Why Minimalism Brings Happiness

When I was packing for university, I found it extremely difficult to let go of some of the things I owned. I knew I couldn’t take everything with me, but I kept asking myself ‘how could I possibly throw this away?’. What if I need it one day? What about all of the memories? Now…
A Student’s Guide to a Minimalist Diet in 5 Steps

what is a minimalist’s diet? True to the minimalist mind-set, a MD (Minimalist Diet) is about reducing food down to what is essential. Although I refer to it as a diet here, in this case I mean diet in the case of ‘a way of eating’ or a long-term lifestyle, not a fad diet that…
5 Ways to Get Rich for Free

A lot of people hate talking about money. One of the most annoying things I hear is that “there are more important things in life than money”, and while I agree to some extent, it should be more like, “there are more important things in life once I have enough money”, because the kind of people who…
When Minimalism Matters Most

This is what practising minimalism has taught us from the beginning, that life is not about impressing others with your fancy clothes. Your net worth isn’t your life worth. Sure, it’s easy enough to agree in principle, but many of us dedicate our lives to doing exactly this—getting into debt or working long hours at jobs…
On how to get the most out of life with a dose of reality

Lately it has become fashionable in the media to bash on millennials (people in their late 20s-early 30s today). To be fair, we are an easy target, at least most of us who were raised in developed countries. We grew up being told that we’re unique and exceptional, that we can ‘make an impact’, or if we’re really special,…
There’s No Such Thing As Karma

…at least, not in the way that most people think of it. There isn’t some cosmic accountant who keeps track of all the good and bad things that you do, then deals out rewards and punishment in accordance. You can’t ‘build up good karma’ for doing something nice, and you can’t call karma a bitch because something…
How Imagining The Worst Can Make You Happier

What phenomenon happens to every person on earth every day of their lives without anyone realising it or learning from? The answer is hedonic adaptation. It’s the tendency of humans to go back to a stable level of happiness, even after something good (or bad) has happened to them. If you’ve ever dreamed of doing…
Minimalism And Our Natural Biology

Based on thousands of years of evolution, our bodies are biologically hard-wired to reward us when we feel pleasure, and punish us when we feel pain. If you do something that your body likes, it rewards you with a rush of dopamine, endorphins, and other chemicals making you feel happy. It hardly matters what the consequences…
On the Shortness of Life – Part II – Protecting time and living in the present

This Part II of a five part series about the stoic philosopher Seneca’s work, On the Shortness of Life, read Part I – Finiteness. Of all the things we have, time is arguably the most precious. There is nothing else in which we are only given a set amount of it. However much we have,…
On the Shortness of Life – Part I – Finiteness

On the Shortness of Life is a moral essay written by Seneca the Younger, a Roman philosopher who lived between 4BC – 65AD. In his letter to his friend Paulinus, he lays out Stoic principles that have lasted centuries in teaching us about the value of life itself. Inspired by this essay, I have written a…