Happy Thanksgiving to all my North American readers!

With Thanksgiving finally here and Black Friday looming, many would be looking to capitalize on the great deals available. This is to achieve their dreams of finally getting that one item so desired, or at prices that would seem a real bargain. Whether your goal is to snag that fantastic deal, or leverage on the shopping frenzy to fuel your money making aim, it is actually a good time to consider and apply John December’s Live Simple: Radical Tactics to Reduce the Clutter, Complexity, and Costs of Your Life.

Live Simple presents straight-forward, very real tactics that will help you lead a life without the clutter and costs that often hold you back from spending energy and money instead on the more productive and satisfying things in life, rather than for instant gratification. Obviously, a lot of that depends on your own priorities, but other than the very applicable tips, John offers a concept which I have always tried to practise (sometimes well, sometimes not) - that many things in life that you thought are essential, are not necessary in the grand scheme of it all. You can live well and happy without a lot of the possessions that you currently own or hope to have.

Having given up a stable job that paid me much much more than what I currently make online, I had to re-adjust my lifestyle a lot in adapting to the reduced income. While this might be tough on many people, it has given me a greater perspective to how you can get more, by having less. It is not always easy, but one of my mottos is that the little things add up, and some of the little steps I have taken include:

• eating out less (once or twice a week) and choosing cheap (but still healthy) hawker fare instead of fine restaurants
• going out less (as this adds to transport and other expenses) by scheduling all my errands into a single day as much as possible
• eating what’s healthy and necessary, instead of what I want - as is often the case, the goodies are the expensive drinks, chocolates and snacks, while you should not over-save on health - more bang for your bucks
• using a fan instead of the air-con while working at home
• getting rid of my vast collections of everything by selling them (make some cash in the process)

There are many ways you can live simply, and a lot of it includes considering what you really need, instead of what you want. This is especially important for anyone who has taken a leap of faith diving into their own business, on or offline. While Live Simple does not ask you to become a monk, it does make you think twice about whether that iPhone is really necessary when there are much cheaper, and just as useful, alternatives.

There are many ways you can apply the same tactics and concepts to your fledgling online efforts, and contrary to what many other experts advise on, I do not always do the same things. Some of these simple ways would be, but not limited to:

• not buying a whole bunch of domains just to park them and use them when ideas come up - I only buy a domain when ideas have been fleshed out and structure planned - I do not consider it an investment when I pay a year of fees only to realize at the end of it I have not done anything with the domains
• not having too many hosting accounts for separate domains - I know the hullabaloo on SEO advantages of separate hosting accounts etc, but just not cost effective enough
• gradually cutting down on time spent trying to find out as many money making methods as possible, and to use part of that time to put things in action or on other activities I want to pursue in life - this is what I call reducing mind clutter and similar to Live Simple’s tactics to simplifying your stuff and dreams

While going into business online would require just as much of what is involved in a bricks and mortar one, it does not necessarily mean being engulfed by the complicities and social involvement such as networking and entertainment. I am by nature, not an outgoing and social individual, and often have to step out of my comfort zone in this line. My belief is that being happy is more than just having money to do and buy what you want. This, and my adaptability in choosing the simpler but often less obvious options, also allows me to evaluate success not in comparison to others, but instead to my eventual and overall personal happiness, peace and satisfaction.

By applying Live Simple’s tactics in one way or another to your personal life and online efforts, it can quickly cut out the clutter that might be stalling your progress and causing frustration. Saving more could give you more. If I had come across advice on how to reach out to other resources earlier, it might have spared me the years I took to formulate the same mindset on my own. But rarely do things come too late, better now than never - if you had to read one book this holiday weekend, why not make it John December’s Live Simple?

Note: Live Simple comes in 3 forms - the free online version, as a $4 ebook, and a paperback that costs $14.
There are no affiliate links in this article - I have found Live Simple to be useful to myself, and I hope to many of you too.

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