BLOG: Could You Live With Just 100 Things for 1 Year?

I've been reading the book, "The 100 Thing Challenge" by Dave Bruno. It is one man's efforts to personally change his consumerist tendencies and be more mindful of the things he owns and the purchases he makes. I find myself wondering if I could take the 100 Thing Challenge personally and what that would look like.

It seems ironic that in this season of buying that my focus is now in having less; however, Bruno’s thought process leads me to believe that it is not about having less but appreciating what you have, making specific and mindful purchases of high quality goods and ensuring that the thing you are purchasing is not more important than the activity it represents. I will also point out that he took this challenge for himself and did not apply his restrictions to his family. You can check out more about Dave at his blog.

I do not see myself whittling down to 100 things just for the sake of a challenge, but I certainly could commit to more mindful purchasing and to reducing the clutter in my home. In my work, I encourage and guide my clients to lead a more simplified life. Part of simplifying is reducing the amount of stuff that we own. I like to think of it this way: the less I have, the less I have to clean! Do you think you could commit to letting go of 20 percent of what you own? What would that look like? How would it feel?  

I find that the more we let go of our physical possessions the easier it becomes to let go. For instance, the first item that you part with may be a challenge but the result is that the next item is much easier. It gets to the point where you are almost looking for things to pass along. You may find it easier to part with your possessions if you feel they will be used and appreciated by someone else. If this is the case, consider freecycle.org or a local charitable organization such as The Salvation Army.

The only question now is, “What will you let go of first?”