this edition of the [no hustle] huddle went out on Monday 30th October 2023

This edition of the huddle is once again brought to you by coffee ☕ my daughter continuing her sleep regression — although she is on the up 👍

Still, tired I be 🥱 and when I feel tired, I am more easily “triggered”.

Emotions seem to exist on the tip of my tongue.

Be it frustration, anger, worry… when I’m tired, I’m close to the edge.

and so it’s more important than ever to LET GO. 

Not just of the little things in life (so you don’t make them BIG things), but let go in the sense of committing to less … consuming less … surrounding yourself with less.

This is true MINIMALISM 🍃

Not minimalism in the sense of an empty room and bare walls. That’s a form and it can feel therapeutic and freeing. But the real premise of minimalism is to cull your world of the chaos. 

To LET GO so you can better Let What Be, BE 🙌

There’s a line in Beyond The Pale that relates to this… when Wil says:

“Do you recall when you were last here, how I spoke of letting go of the clutter in my life?” I nod.

“At the time, we talked about how I let go of the things in my life—books, gadgets, clothes—to be minimal. But this isn’t where my personal cleansing began, and, in truth, it wasn’t the most important part. 

Because, before you can let go of the many things that surround you, you must first simply learn to let go.” He leans closer, places his palm over his chest. “Of those thoughts, feelings, desires, fears, everything… Not always let go, in the sense of ridding them. Because if a feeling is real, it is real. But, rather, letting go by accepting it is there. Letting go by letting it in, letting it be.”

To be a minimalist is to embrace less.

Not so you can own less and be more content with what you have, but so you can have less “stuff” to worry about. Physical stuff, sure… but also the mental, digital, emotional, and existential kind.

Because you and me … we’re human. we only have so much energy; so much time.

Each ounce of bandwidth comes at a cost. You exchange it, and unless you’re conscious about getting a solid return, you’ll likely spend more than you receive.

And that’s never more true when you run low on sleep.

OR suffer burnout 😩

OR go through a tough period 😥

OR are involved in a busy chapter of life 🤯

During such times, it’s more important than ever to LET GO and conserve your energy; treasure it above everything so you can keep your head above water.

The question is… how 🤔

How do you do this?

We’ll get to that in a second … first, let’s do this 👇👇

from the [no hustle] community

Minimalist Lifestyle Benefits: How To Achieve More with Less — this article went live last week, and it serendipitously dives into how you can achieve more with less

The Importance of Simplicity in Life—3 Questions To Rediscover Life’s Beauty — if you want to embrace a more “simple” life, I encourage you to ask yourself these three questions today.

3 actions to take this week

🔖 bookmark this → I love this article from Mark Manson, and I share his frustration toward “self-help” books … not because such books are bad, but because the reason we read them is often rooted in toxic behavior.

🎧 listen to this → I couldn’t write about minimalism and not direct you to this amazing podcast from ‘The Minimalists’ … more on these guys soon, but for now you may like to bookmark this thought-provoking and eye-opening episode.

💪 DO THIS → List 3 Feelings That Feel “Heavy” Right Now — you have various worries on your mind, no doubt. Some valid. Others less so. The point here is to identify three that feel heavy. 

To start, just make a list and accept these feelings for what they are.

Then, think about what you can do to LET GO of them.

How can you free up space in your mind and life to do the work you need to do to work past these current stresses that hold you back?

this week’s featured book

Minimalism by Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus — You may know of Joshua and Ryan from their Netflix documentary or uber-popular podcast, but they began their genius long ago and this book helped this humble writer a great deal.

A catalyst, if you will … not just helping me donate clothes and the like, but starting a journey to keep my life minimal so I can go DEEP into the areas I need to.

🎙️ pass the mic

Although not a minimalist per se, Ryan Holiday is a Stoic and I see a lot of overlap in these ideologies. One of the pillars in both is to LET GO.

If you’ve never come across Ryan before, his work is a rabbit hole worth losing yourself down — and if you have, maybe today is the day to re-read one of his books or binge on his YouTube Channel; both are wise investments of time ⏰

🎤 drop the mic

Although I wouldn’t call myself a minimalist, I do largely subscribe to its lifestyle. But again, I don’t focus on the physical aspects so much as the emotional ones as I struggle to deal with the chaos of life 🐝

This world is so stimulating, you see; for us introverts, each day is a battle ⚔️

AND when you’re low on sleep or energy (because you’re sick, maybe)… it becomes more important than ever to LET GO and shed your world of “extra”.

Extra noise.

Extra voices.

Extra opinion.

Extra opportunities.

Extra choices.

Having less to focus on allows you to focus more deeply — this is always important, no matter who you are or what you do with your life 🫶

You get one go at it, after all… all we can do is give it our all.

Yet that’s hard to do that when you spread yourself thin 😔

So take the opportunity to do the exercise above at some point today. 

Give yourself the gift of letting go, not of clothes and pictures and shoes et al, but rather the mental and emotional “extra” you cling to.

This is the part of MINIMALISM too few focus on. But it is the aspect that fundamentally frees you to BE who you need to be in this current chapter of life.

Thanks for reading today … if you know someone who also needs to read this, please forward it to them and encourage them to subscribe 📝

As for you, I’d love to hear from ya … hit reply and share what MINIMALISM looks and feels like to you👇👇

Thanks for reading, and thank you for being YOU

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