Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. – Dale Carnegie

Minimalism and the art of a minimalist lifestyle need not be an uber difficult, scratch-your-head confusing and overwhelming task at hand. Especially when you are facing your looming fortress of stuff. Nine times out of ten, your fortress wins and you throw your hands up and trudge back to your lumpy couch to watch more TV and eat Doritos.

If you lose 9 times out of 10, how to get to that 1 time out of 10, the only time you need to get the ball rolling on your minimalist lifestyle?

I’ll show you how. Let’s crack The Minimalist Code together.

The Minimalist Code has 3 components:

1. The Undercover Mission, or Subterranean Objectives.
2. The Elusive Snow Leopard, or Clandestine Operatives.
3. The Forlorn Cry of the Battle’s Siren, or the Minimalist Freedom Fighters (MFF).

Let us further examine each component:

1. The Undercover Mission, or Subterranean Objectives. Make your objectives well known and not some secretive operation. Tell your partner, your kids, your family, your coworkers, your friends and your pet dog, cat and gerbil about how you are paring down your stuff to make room for the important. If you’re a blogger, post your progression, your challenges, your triumphs, your 100 thing list (if you count your things).

You don’t have to do this alone, you know. Some will and they prefer that. But if you are more of an I-need-moral-support-and-encouragement-along-the-way type of person, this is the way to go.

Just like group fitness training (or one-on-one with a personal trainer) tends to have a higher success rate than individual fitness training, minimalist lifestyle training can be more helpful for you if you did it with others, or at the very least, shared your progress with others who actually are curious about it and will support your efforts.

Imperative to note: Not all will be supportive of your efforts. This is human nature. When we go against the grain, there will be friction. And in this case, friction comes in the form of human beings. Do not act surprised when you are met with opposition. Not if. But when.

2. The Elusive Snow Leopard, or Clandestine Operatives. Minimalists are everywhere. We are your next door neighbor. We are your roommate. We are your coworker in the cubicle next to you, who seemingly always has the “spotless” desk. We are your fast-twitch barista who serves you your venti soy chai in 41 seconds flat at Peet’s Coffee. We are your classmate. We are your brother. We are your sister. We are your favorite authors. We are everywhere.

You just can’t see us. Maybe not visibly at least. And certainly not with those pairs of eyes of yours.

No. You need to spot the elusive snow leopard and you can’t do that unless you are in the snow leopard’s zone, its home and territory. You can’t find it if you’re sitting at home.

We are the clandestine operatives who smoothly glide from one place to the next, hardly, if ever, leaving a trace of our presence behind.

We live simply and minimally, we eat healthy, we care about our earth, we travel lightly and try to leave a light carbon mark in this world.

We don’t destroy; we build. We don’t hate; we love. We don’t chastise; we encourage. And we don’t want you to feel left out; we invite you to come join us.

As a minimalist freedom fighter, I encounter many, many objections, arguments and bold fighters of the consumerist kind. I stand strong and so do they. Each side has valid points. And each side thinks their lifestyle is better, more sustainable.

Instead of wasting time arguing back and forth and going in one crazy circle (one of the reasons why this blog’s comments are now disabled), let us live our lives as best as possible. I encourage others to join the minimalist revolution through this blog Castles in the Air and through my eBooks I self-publish, such as The Radical Minimalist.

And if you don’t feel this is pertinent in your life and hate minimalists, do yourself and me a favor by unsubscribing right now. I don’t want you to waste your time here. This blog is not for you.

3. The Forlorn Cry of the Battle’s Siren, or the Minimalist Freedom Fighters (MFF). MFF’s, though not as common as minimalists (if you can even say minimalists are “common,” we are still in the minority), is even more elusive. Though not as “quiet” in one’s minimalist efforts, MFF’s actually voice concerns about a consumerist’s lifestyle, suggests practical and helpful tips on how to lessen the load and increase the happiness, creates a dialogue between themselves and their peers and colleagues and accepts the fact that anything worth fighting for will be dangerous and will not come without its enemies.

If you are a minimalist and want to become a MFF, talk with a respected and trusted MFF. Of course, only you can determine who you trust and who you respect. If that person is me, I’m very grateful for that. If that person is someone else, talk to him/her.

Not all MFF will have blogs. There are dozens more out there without a blog, the digital platform we have to share the message of minimalist freedom on. So seek out those who you are incredibly curious about, respect how s/he lives, etc.

And if you are not a minimalist and happen to just come across a MFF (I will refer to a MFF as a “her” in this case), you will notice 4 things:

1. Something about her just draws you in. You can’t quite place it but there’s something there alright.
2. She is incredibly free and emulates the freedom that is within her by how she unabashedly lives her life. She’s happy, she smiles a lot and practically radiates freedom from all corners of her being.
3. She’s very strong and independent and has a voice of her own. She does not hide behind the veils of mediocrity. She does not settle. And she does not conform.
4. She wants to help and has a genuine heart for others. She wants to invoke positive change in the world and doesn’t just wish for it. She actually does something about it.

And there you have it: The Minimalist Code. The question is, what will you do with it?

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