“Inspired by books and blog entries about living simply, Tammy Strobel and her husband began donating some of their belongings to charity in 2007. As the months passed, encouraged by a Web site that challenged people to live with just 100 personal items, out went stacks and stacks of sweaters, shirts and shoes — books, plates and pans … In 2010, three years after they began downsizing, the couple owned four plates, three pairs of shoes and two pots. Tammy’s income of about $24,000 a year easily covered all their bills. And, along with all of their previous unneeded possessions, there was one other thing they no longer had — $30,000 of debt.” ~ New York Times story by Stephanie Rosenbloom

There is little doubt that almost all of you reading this post have much more than you truly need to live a Meaning-full life. And it is also the case that every single item you own that is over and above your own unique “need level” is damaging your health, robbing you of your happiness and neutering your personal Power.

Fortunately, you are not hopelessly at the mercy of your ego’s primal instinctual desire to hoard things. Rather, you are conscious being, one who can choose a different path – a path to personal Freedom.

And just as fortunately, you don’t need to limit yourself to owning only 100 personal possessions (like Tammy Strobel did) to feel dramatically better about your life. Every little-used possession that you give away will add that much more energy to your everyday, and every unused item in your home that you discard will add that much more Peace-full Freedom to your life.

So once you are ready to walk that Peace-full Road, here are a few tips to help you do so get started …

TIP #01 – DECLUTTERING … Step one for any de-hoarding of your life is dedicating a block of time on one day and then decluttering your home, which involves going through all of your possessions, identifying the obvious “hoarding violations”, and then removing those items from your living environment that very day. Items that bring you great Joy, items that are regularly used and items that serve others are to be kept – items that are rarely used and serve only yourself are to be removed – period.

Be fore-warned, while this activity sounds ominous now, you will soon see that the liberating affect of removing “dead items” from your life feels truly fantastic – you might indeed discover that it is actually lots of fun.

If you find yourself pausing over a particular item and wondering “Do I really need this?”, then the chances are very high that you do not. And yet, avoid wasting a lot time debating yourself about any of your possessions. If there is any lingering doubt, set such “in between” objects in a box and then set the box in a closet or in the basement. The minimization of visible clutter in this way will do your Soul lots of Good no matter what eventually happens to the items in question.

Note: You can do this with your budget as well – looking through all your major expenses and noting which ones are of very little worth compared to their cost. Do you really need satellite radio? How about that secondary cell-phone plan or those magazine subscriptions? Do you really watch enough movies at home to justify that Netflix account? If the answer is no, cancel these needless stressors as well.

TIP #02 – PILING IT UP … Designate another day, maybe a week or two after the first, to take your Freedom of Self to a deeper level. On this day, one space at a time (you can divide larger rooms into many “spaces”), take every possession you own and put each one of them in one of three piles – trash, donation or keep. The criteria are similar to those used on day one, though you should be much more discerning on this day. In fact, be absolutely ruthless with what stays and what has to go.

Have you used the item at least once in the last month (or have a clear vision of using it at least once in the upcoming month)? If not, it goes – period.

Does the item reflect your personal values – does it make an accurate statement about who you want to BE as a person? If not, it goes – period.

Does the item bring Joy or Peace to anyone other than yourself? If not, it goes as well.

As you engage this process, avoid skipping over any items that are “on the borderline” – simply put them into an extra box and tape it up when you are done. Then set the box in a closet or the basement or the attic. If you don’t think about any of the items in the box for three months, open up the box and give everything away.

NOTE: Many times we hold onto possessions because they have some sort of sentimental value for us. If this is the case for any of your possessions, especially larger ones, remember that people and memories are not found in material things – they are found in your Heart. Take a digital photo of the item and then let it go.

TIP #03 – DELAYING GRATIFICATION (Short-term Maintenance) … Recent studies of consumption show that people are happier they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, instead of impulsively doing so. So, for just one week, every time you see something that you wish to consume or purchase or even just borrow, choose not to do so. Instead, write that desire down on a small notepad that you keep in your pocket. At the end of those seven days, take a look at your list.

TIP #04 – MINIMALISM SPENDING (Mid-term Maintenance) … Recent studies of consumption show that people are happier when they spend money on things they truly need, as opposed to doing so to “accumulate wealth” or “outdo the Joneses”. As such, for just one month, choose to BUY ONLY WHAT YOU TRULY NEED.

TIP #05 – SPENDING ON WHAT MATTERS (Long-term Maintenance) … Recent studies of consumption show that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects. Choose to spend the vast majority of your money not on things that are merely “fun” or “entertaining” (mostly material things), but rather things that bring Worth and Meaning to your life (mostly activities and hobbies that involve other people).

TIP #06 – GIVE GIVE GIVE (see image) … Regularly go though your possessions many times each year, and then choose to go forth and give your rarely used possessions to someone in need. The more we Give the less we feel that we need … In fact, recent psychological research has shown that the more we choose to be actively Kind to others (and thereby feel Loved ourselves), the less important our possessions become – and the easier it then becomes to keep giving them away!

TIP #07 – BEFRIENDING THE EGO … As I’ve mentioned in several other posts, no matter what tactics you use to deal with your addictions, fighting the ego forcefully never brings lasting results. The ego is the source of all your addictive urges, and it simply loves to be criticized or rejected. Whenever it feels threatened in this manner, it simply recedes to the back of your mind, quietly gets stronger, and then bursts forth at a later date twice as strong as before.

Fortunately, there is a very simple and very effective alternative to dealing with your ego – a method that only involves three simple steps:

Step 01) Acknowledge the Ego – Recognize your urge to purchase, possess, have or own that new object, and recognize where that urge comes from – the ego’s constant fear that you simply don’t have enough “stuff” in your life to keep you safe.

Step 02) Console the Ego – have the wherewithal to thank the ego sincerely for all it has done in your past (especially your infancy and your childhood) to keep you safe and keep you sane. Without its fearful vigilance in your youth, you might indeed have died. Admittedly, the ego’s efforts now that you are an adult are harming you tremendously, but the ego doesn’t understand this … It really is doing the best it can to take care of you, even though you are now old enough to Care for yourself. So be gentle with it as you reassure it that you are not going to stop buying frivolous items forever – just for this one moment; that you are not going to live more simply forever – just for today. This will allow the ego to relax long enough for you to engage the all-important …

Step 03) Transcend the Ego – by immediately going forth (while you are still desiring t purchase that new item or keep that useless old one) and Being Kind. Do something – it doesn’t matter what – that is designed to bring another person Peace or Joy. For as long as you do so, you will be completely urge-free, and at least in these moments, you are no longer an addict.

Note that the first letters of these three steps spell “ACT”, and this is no accident. It is not enough to think about being Kind, and it is not enough to “beam” Kind emotions to another. In order to alter your habits and release your self-destructive addictions, you will have to get up and go DO something. Even if it is just for one moment and even if the deed is a “small one”, you will have have the courage to actually to BE the change you wish to see.

And, if you can manage to perform these 3 Steps just one time, then all that will remain to conquer your addiction is for you to simply live on joyfully until the next hoarding-craving returns — and then engage the same 3 Steps again (& again & again & again).

The more often you do so, the easier it will become to follow your conscience instead of your instincts, to hear the Call of your True Self over that of your ego, and to show your Love as opposed to your fear.

“Beauty is everywhere, love is endless, and joy bleeds from our everyday existence. Embrace life … I am ceaselessly grateful from the bottom of my heart for everyone. The only thing I ask of you is to be free of materialism … Live and love so immensely that when death comes there is nothing left for him to take. Real wealth is love, music, learning, family and freedom.” ~ Dominic Mallary

“We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing.” ~ anonymous