May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow
Since I’ve become a simplifier life has become pretty awesome. Things have become better, easier and more beautiful.
Now there is time to do everything I want and I’m doing all of the things I always wanted to do:
Playing guitar, teaching fabulous guitar students and meeting interesting people, working out (at the moment: abs training, push ups, jump rope, walking), reading or writing and spending time with family and friends.
And I ain’t doing all of these things every single day. I’m taking my time.
In the past I always wanted to do a lot more, but now I’m limiting myself to a small number of things (the most important ones). I have let go of a lot of unimportant things and it has made life simply beautiful.
I’m focusing on things I really want to do and not so much on what I want to achieve. You’ll be amazed how things change for the better when you start to let go and live in the now.
If you want to enjoy more with less here are some ways to go about it:
1 – Get rid of stuff
Yes you heard it. Get rid of all the stuff you haven’t used within a year or better yet within the last six months. Get rid of stuff that is taking hold of your time, stuff that distracts you, stuff that is filling your precious space, stuff you regularly need to clean, maintain, move around or even repair but don’t really need.
Give your stuff away to family, friends or charity and you will feel good about it.
Get rid of excuses and only keep the most important things which you enjoy on a regular basis. A clean space is the best space to focus, be inspired and enjoy the things you love most. Less stuff equals more time. More time to make music.
2 – Enjoy the journey
The things you do in life, where you do it and how you do it, is the path you walk and the journey you travel. Make sure you love what you do instead of aiming for a dream goal without enjoying the path you walk on.
If you want to become a great songwriter enjoy the learning process of writing and creating. If you want to become a professional artist then enjoy performing for small audiences first and find passion in practice and improving. Find the challenge in overcoming obstacles and keep the fun alive.
Be mindful of this every single day. Don’t lose the path out of sight. If you just focus on achieving and on arriving at your destination you’ll forget to enjoy the wonderful moments of your journey which is what life is all about.
3 – Buy less
Stop spending time on buying and buying some more. Forget about the latest updates and upgrades on recording software or the latest plugins and figuring out how to make it all work. You really don’t need more and more. Stop adding more pedals and more guitars to your setup. Keep your guitar gear simple and minimalist. It’s saves you time and money.
Instead do something creative like improving your guitar skills or writing songs. Stop buying start creating.
4 – Do less
See more, gain more and learn more by doing less. Focusing on less makes life peaceful and more meaningful. You don’t need to read about everything, be everywhere, participate in everything, see and please everyone to find contentment or happiness.
Doing less means a deeper insight and more quality time for the most important things. More freedom and more spontaneity in your musical life.
Enjoy!
I think this is a wonderful article. I’ve been looking for a musician oriented life philosophy site and this has nailed it. I have some Ideas of my own and I’ve been developing them not only for musicians, but for people who share interests in joined disciplines with music (Such as Luthiery, Music Neuroscience, etc.)
Thank you so much!
Say it louder! This sort of message needs to be broadcasted!
I found your site when I needed it most. Four days ago I was hospitalized for trying to kill myself. I’ve been looking all my life at the goals and achievements that I need to, have to, make.
Music has always been a part of my life. But now I’m taking small steps towards learning how to create music and play the guitar. Your site is helping me cope with living life and taking the time to do the pleasure that are in life.
I just wanted to say thank you for such a wonderful site that brings life philosophy and music together.
All the best! Matt
I hope all is going well for you Matt. I just discovered this site after purchasing a wonderful used guitar-on a day I wasn’t expecting to be purchasing a guitar! I can’t wait to learn!