I started this week asking myself what happiness is. But I quickly realized happiness is fleeting. It is the opposite of sadness, which is also temporary. So I asked myself a better question. What is contentment? And that led me down a rabbit hole.
I realized contentment cannot exist when you are always wanting something. How many jet skis can you have until you finally feel content? Is it ten? Is it one hundred? If someone in poverty with very little can be content, and someone with a six figure salary cannot, then clearly the answer is not about how much you have or do not have.
That thought led me to minimalism. I thought minimalism held the promise of contentment. So I went all in. I did a massive declutter and burned through four barrels worth of things. And here is what I learned.
Step 1. Determine what actually serves a purpose in your current life, not a future version of yourself.
Step 2. Gather everything into categories and put them into totes, drawers, or baskets so nothing is scattered around.
Step 3. Turn those categories into intentional systems like morning hygiene, cooking, laundry, and so on.
Step 4. The benefit is that everything has a clear place and a clear purpose, which makes it easier to engage with those things instead of feeling overwhelmed.
The real lesson is this. Minimalism is not about having less. It is about having things with purpose and organizing them so your life works better. That is where contentment lives.
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