Thriving Through Minimalism: 8 Essential Habits

"People often say that encountering a benefactor can save you from wandering for years in life's twists and turns. In reality, rather than waiting for a benefactor to appear, it's better to become one yourself. Our habits hide our luck and destiny. By adhering to the following 8 minimalist habits, nurturing yourself, you will quietly transform into a formidable person."

1. Simplify Your Sleep Schedule

"People who can't even control their bedtime, how can they control their lives? Early to bed, early to rise; don't let your emotions collapse at night, and you've already won half the battle. Only by resting well at night can you invest more energy into learning, working, and living during the day. Sleeping at 10 PM and waking up at 6 AM, consistently for years, if you don't succeed, who will?"

2. Simplify Your Diet

"Everyone loves junk food and fried foods. But remember, you become what you eat. Replace takeout with home-cooked meals, switch bubble tea with fruits, and indulge yourself one day a week while maintaining a healthy diet the rest of the time. You'll radiate with vitality, even saving money on skincare products."

3. Simplify Your Information Intake

"Quality information intake is vital for a healthy brain. Constantly scrolling short videos, indulging in gossip, and consuming low-quality information limits your thinking and perspective, making you susceptible to others' viewpoints. Delete unnecessary apps, mute irrelevant group chats, and turn off app notifications. Spend more time reading books, watching documentaries or movies, and joining high-quality communities to absorb first-hand, quality information. Your mindset will naturally change, and your actions will follow suit, making excellence inevitable."

4. Simplify Your Hobbies

"Everyone experiences fleeting interests, which is fine as long as it's shallow and brief. However, cultivate one or two hobbies deeply to have a mental sanctuary. Immersing yourself in these hobbies can recharge you when life throws challenges your way. Whether it's running, swimming, reading, or walking, hobbies act as mechanisms to enter a state of flow, allowing you to reset and sail again."

5. Simplify Your Social Interactions

"Suggest both introverts and extroverts refuse ineffective social interactions. If a social gathering doesn't provide emotional or beneficial value, politely decline. Reduce contact with people who look down on you, have ulterior motives, especially unfamiliar, annoying relatives, or past relationships. As the saying goes, 'the ability to block' is a person's top skill. Anyone or anything that drains you is not worth your time."

6. Simplify Your Possessions

 

'Any conscious materialist knows that when you possess an object, the object possesses you.' We don't need as much as we think. If your room is filled with rarely used items, there's no space for what you truly need. I regretted not getting rid of a bulky coffee table in the living room sooner. The space suddenly became spacious, allowing me to lay down a carpet, relax, read, binge-watch, and play with family. By letting go of that item, I gained more happiness."

7. Simplify Your Spending

"Spending money brings short-term happiness, while saving money brings long-term joy. When you see something you like, refrain from buying it immediately. Add it to your cart, wait a few days; if you still want it after a while, then go ahead and buy it! Trust me, through a three-tier filtering process, the items you end up purchasing will truly be ones you need and won't regret. By avoiding consumer traps, as your savings grow, you'll have the confidence to try more valuable and meaningful things."

8. Simplify Your Mindset

 When facing complex relationships, encountering bizarre people and situations, be vigilant against emotional drain and avoid being consumed. Stay relaxed, don't rush, and don't be greedy. We can't have everything, but don't worry; we won't have nothing either. As the saying goes, 'You can have a bad experience, but don't indulge in a bad life. Destiny is responsible for shuffling the cards; it's always us who play the hand.' Good luck and benefactors won't magically appear. Regardless of the hand we're dealt, as long as we don't give up, we can play a winning hand. We need to polish ourselves day by day, cultivate good habits, and let these habits guide us through life's blind spots. Let's hold onto the vitality that life bestows upon us and live a flourishing life."

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Depression Detox: Combat with These 3 Actions

I don't know when it started, but feeling exhausted has become the norm in people's lives. After a busy day, they don't feel like doing anything and just want to lie quietly;

When they go out to eat with their loved ones, they sit there silently, each staring at their phones; When they finally have some free time, their minds are still racing, afraid of missing out on something.

"Everyone is caught in a huge machine, striving to turn time into money, forced to live faster and more efficiently, even surpassing physical limits." Over time, the body naturally starts to malfunction, falling into depression without even realizing it.

Frequently doing these three small things might help you stay away from depression:

1. Regularly disconnecting from the internet and spending time with yourself.

Have you ever had the experience of intending to rest well at night, but as soon as you open your phone, you can't stop?

D shared her story of disconnecting from the internet.

For a period of time, she was constantly attracted by her phone, unconsciously browsing through various information, swiping her fingers across the screen. But these pieces of information were of no help to her work; instead, they distracted her attention and caused her to stumble in her creative process.

Realizing the pain, she decided to reduce her dependence on her phone. So, she set a rule for herself to put down her phone at a fixed time every day, while also logging out of common social media apps.

This ensured that she could focus on her work without external distractions.

Sometimes, she would habitually pick up her phone. But as soon as she saw the login page and realized she had to re-enter her password or verification code, alarm bells would go off in her mind, and she would give up.

This method may seem a bit troublesome, but it is very effective.

Of course, we don't have to disconnect from the internet every day. We can also follow what writer Scott Young wrote: "Give yourself 90 minutes of independent thinking time every seven days, without music, without playing with your phone, just you alone."

When you first try this, you are likely to feel anxious and uneasy, even unable to resist reopening your phone. But once you get used to spending time with yourself, you will feel true peace and relaxation.

Many people mistakenly believe that scrolling through their phones is relaxing, but true relaxation is when the brain stops receiving information.

Information overload can stimulate us, making it difficult for us to sleep or eat well, leading to deeper fatigue and emptiness, which can give rise to feelings of depression. Moreover, most of the information online has nothing to do with our lives; it just adds to our troubles.

Why not return to real-life scenarios through disconnection from the internet, to contemplate, meditate, and feel our own breath?

When you learn to shift your focus back to yourself, to notice the small joys around you, your mental core will become more stable, and your life will improve.

2. Refusing to overwork and not self-exploiting

In the book "Life's Troubles Consultation Room," it is written: "The more serious a person is, the easier it is for them to become depressed."

Being serious is worthy of praising, but too much of anything is not good.

For individuals, learning to take breaks actively is even more important than being immersed in work.

Life is like a rubber band, always stretched tight, and it may break at any moment.

Occasionally slowing down, recharging yourself, and then moving forward can actually be more efficient.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself, and don't always confront life. In your leisure time, why not listen to music, tend to plants, make yourself a cup of tea, and sit on the balcony soaking up the sun?

These seemingly insignificant things can help us break away from the fatigue of the moment, feel the pleasant side of life, and become less susceptible to depression.

3. Relaxing your mind and practicing a change of mindset.

I was deeply moved by the author Byron Katie's experience.

In her thirties, she suffered from severe depression for ten years, always in a state of mental low. At its worst, she stayed at home and only contacted the outside world by phone. Even when her children passed by her room, they had to tiptoe to avoid being unjustly scolded by her.

But one morning, a revolutionary idea came to her mind: "When I don't believe my thoughts, I am not in pain." She realized that what was making her depressed was not the people or things around her, but her perception of the world.

From then on, whenever she felt sad and conflicted, she would do a "change of mindset" exercise, asking herself: Is that true? Can you be 100% sure that it's true? How do you react when you hold that thought? How would you act if you didn't have that thought?

With each question and answer, many problems were resolved, and life became brighter.Many people have benefited greatly from trying this method.

Every minute, our minds are filled with countless thoughts.

Positive thoughts can calm us down and make us feel abundant and joyful;

Negative thoughts, on the other hand, can bring endless torment, making us feel gloomy and despondent.

One thought can lead to heaven, another to hell. The so-called change of mindset is to replace old thoughts with new ones.

"People can change their lives by changing their mindset, which is the greatest discovery of our generation."

Instead of indulging in the past and being led by negative thoughts, why not carefully examine the reasons behind our unhappiness through questioning?

Finding out where the problem lies is a good start.

Never think that a thought is insignificant; they take root in our minds and subtly influence every action we take.

In today's fast-paced world, almost everyone's life has become tense and busy.

We rush to one goal after another, feeling like life is an endless race.

But if happiness is squeezed out to the point of scarcity, life itself loses its meaning.

There are always times when things don't go well or when we feel tired. In those times, I see it as a vacation given to us by the gods; there's no need to force ourselves to sprint, no need to be nervous, no need to try hard; everything should just go with the flow.

Whether it's regularly putting down our phones, balancing work and leisure, or making a change of mindset a part of our lives, they are all moments of respite for ourselves, not being depleted by stress.

Doing these small things often may not directly bring fame and fortune, but they can help us detach from the weariness of the moment, feel the comfortable side of life, and become less prone to depression.

I hope we can live the life we want and have a vibrant life.

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Money Magic: 10 Thrifty Tricks to Try Today

"Saving money is truly a case where the earlier you start, the greater the benefits! This way, you can start enjoying the compounding effects of interest and time sooner. For example, if you save $25,000 every year, even if you start at the age of 30, with an interest rate of 3%, you can still accumulate $1 million by the age of 60. But if you start saving at 50, to achieve the same $1 million, you would need to save around $100,000 annually, significantly diminishing the benefits of compounding interest.

Understanding the importance of saving early is one thing, but what if you're always living paycheck to paycheck and can't seem to save any money? Today, we'll share 10 money-saving techniques to help you save 'painlessly' and become addicted to saving more and more."

1. Beginner-Level Money-Saving Methods

Countdown 30 Days Method

Suitable for: Teenagers, students, beginners

Method: Save $30 on the 1st of each month, $29 on the 2nd, decreasing sequentially until you save $1 on the 30th. By the end of the month, you'll have saved $465, totalling $5,580 annually."

 

52-Week Money Challenge

Suitable for: Those living paycheck to paycheck, students, new professionals, novice investors, financial beginners

Method: Save $10 in the first week, $20 in the second week, and increase by $10 each week. By the 52nd week, save $520. Since there are 52 weeks in a year, you can save a total of $13,780 annually."

 

10% Mandatory Savings Method

Suitable for: Those living paycheck to paycheck, students, low-income earners, people who find saving money painful

Method: After receiving your monthly salary, mandatory save 10% in a separate account. This percentage can be adjusted according to your situation, starting from 5% if necessary. The key is to develop a habit of saving money painlessly."

 

Six-Jar Money Management Method

Suitable for: Students, professionals, financial beginners

Method: The 'jars' can be metaphorical or actual separate accounts, divided as follows:

Financial Freedom Account: 10%

Education Account: 10%

Living Expenses Account: 55%

Long-Term Savings Account: 10%

Play Account: 10%

Gift Account: 5%

 

Weekly Money Savings Method

Suitable for: Students, professionals

Method: Save $10 on Monday, $20 on Tuesday, increasing incrementally until you save $70 on Sunday. This way, you can save $280 per week, totalling $14,560 annually."

 

2. Advanced Money-Saving Methods

 

365-Day Money Challenge

Suitable for: Anyone

Method: Save $1 on the first day, $2 on the second day, increasing by $1 each day.

By the 365th day, save $365, totalling $66,795 for the entire year."

 

333 Money Allocation Method

Suitable for: Anyone

Method: Divide your monthly income into three parts for expenses, savings, and investment. The proportions can be adjusted according to your situation, such as 333, 631, 532, etc."

 

1234 Money Allocation Method

Suitable for: Those with some financial literacy

Method: Divide your income into four parts, adjusting the proportions based on your situation:

Money to Spend: 10%

Emergency Fund: 20%

Money to Make Money: 30%

Principal Savings: 40%

 

Staggered Savings Method

Suitable for: Those with relatively high savings

Method: Purchase different term fixed deposits in descending order with your savings, dividing your funds into three parts. Save $10,000 in a one-year fixed deposit, $20,000 in a two-year fixed deposit, and $30,000 in a three-year fixed deposit. After each deposit matures, renew it as a three-year fixed deposit. In this way, after two years, all three portions of your funds will be in three-year fixed deposits."

 

Snowball Savings Method

Suitable for: Those with some savings

Method: Set aside a fixed amount of money each year, such as $30,000 to 50,000, for five years. Then forget about this money and let it automatically accumulate interest in your account. Just like a snowball rolling downhill, it will grow bigger and bigger."

"No savings, no future. Savings act as our safety net, allowing us to face illnesses, unemployment, or unexpected events with more ease. It's also the path to achieving our ideal lifestyle. Accumulating wealth starts with saving every small amount of money. As Bill Gates said, 'Saving is one of the keys to success; it allows you to have more control over your life.' May our wallets grow fatter, and may we live confidently and expectantly."

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