Over the previous months I came up with a list of the things that I believe to be the essentials that everybody should know about in order to be able to live effectively and with less effort. This is my distillation of what I have been studying over the last five years or so. I wish I had known this 20 years ago 😊.

This last year has taught me how important it is to strip one’s life down to the essentials. People who know me understand that I’m not passionate about much. I certainly wouldn’t be prepared to get into a knockdown, drag out argument with somebody over this list, but I think it is a good starting point. I don’t think the number of categories is particularly important. I’m not a huge believer in the click bait that one sees on all the various websites, “The FIVE top things to … blah blah blah … ”, etc. so I will just list the various things that I have come up with and I hope that you find them useful.

Know yourself: it is hard to do almost any of the things below if you do not know yourself. That means self-examination. That means thinking about who you are, what you do, and why you do it. It’s about knowing your basic values and beliefs. I freely admit it took me years to understand that, and it is still a work in progress. For much of my life I, more or less competently, have drifted through the world without really truly thinking about where I was going. For me, the journey seemed to be enough. But I think that self-knowledge helps one enjoy the journey more and waste less time.

Yes – I’m aware of the school of thought that says ‘If you don’t know where you’re going it doesn’t matter how you get there.’ – but I take it with a grain of salt. So, you should have a general idea of where you would like to be … but it shouldn’t be engraved in stone.

And … if nothing else, be really aware of what you DO NOT want. That is quite helpful all by itself. 😊

Finance: Now this is something that I seem to have understood fairly early, even though I didn’t always apply it. I believe it is critical, in today’s world, to understand the basics of finance. Know what you are buying. Know the true cost of ownership. Don’t buy depreciating assets. Do not fall into (at least in America) the home owning mirage. Understand about interest rates and credit cards. Credit cards are very useful tools but know how to use them. If you live in America, understand what a credit score is and how they work. Last year was a real education on that for me. Don’t buy tons of crap you don’t need. Buy quality. It lasts. Save money. Have a buffer. One of the main points I make below is to live simply, be minimalist. It becomes much easier to save money when you don’t buy a bunch of stuff you don’t really need and will never really use. I’m laughing at the trimming I’m doing as I get ready to go on the road next month. Staying minimal is constant work.

Never stop learning: I don’t mean that you have to go out and be getting a PhD every couple of years, but there are so many ways to learn about the world and new skills that it would border on criminal negligence not to at least TRY to learn new things. There is endless educational opportunity, free and or very reasonable. Languages, artistic skills, computer skills, the list is truly vast. There are applications like BrainScape, YouTube is a huge wealth of useful information (provided you can stay away from watching stupid videos). Great Courses Plus is an excellent resource. There are online universities left, right, and center. I discovered a website called PREPLY recently for learning languages. That has been excellent for me. Find some good podcasts. Listen to them. However, be selective. Learn what you like. Trying to study something you are not interested in… Not really going to work. You might, however, have to spend some time learning about things that you need to know, for example, finances, that you might not really be that interested in. In those cases, yes, you have to grit your teeth, and get through it.

Your health: The basics of good health are simple. Get sleep. Good sleep. Eat well, some meat, lots of vegetables, some carbs. As balanced as you can. Try to eat clean – not a lot of processed foods. It is that simple. Exercise regularly. That doesn’t mean to be a triathlete, nor does it mean to be a power weightlifter. It means good, reasonable exercise. Walking. Hiking. Yoga. Tai Chi. Body weight exercises. There are more options than you can shake a stick at. Experiment, find out what works for you. Do it.

[I have to add something here – due to my cardiac issues I was given a couple of books to read by my cardiologist this week. By a guy/guys called Esselstyn. One is about ‘Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease’ and the other is ‘The Engine 2 Diet’ – I’m very conflicted about the advice. I understand it, they make sense, but damn! – Going all vegetarian? I’m really struggling with this.]

On top of those basics - TRACK YOUR HEALTH. Understand the basics of tracking your health through blood tests. Understand what the markers are and what the results mean. When you’re younger, maybe get a comprehensive blood panel once a year. As you get into your late 30s and onward, I would start doing it more often. Every six months. Right now, conditions permitting, I try to do it every three months. I wrote in a blog article some time ago about a website called www.healthmatters.io . Put your results into that, track them. Understand what they mean. I guarantee you, as you get older, that data will be INVALUABLE to maintain your health and catch conditions before they become too critical.

Last thing on the health front, not exactly a day late and a dollar short for me, but close. Pay attention to good dental hygiene. Various studies have shown that good dental hygiene has a direct relationship to overall health. I’ve always been lazy with that. No doubt about it. And at this late date, I paid the price. Several root canals, a number of crowns, pain, the beginnings of periodontitis, but, thanks to my dentist here in the United States, I believe I’ve caught it in time. I have finally learned how to floss well, I use a WaterPik and an electric toothbrush. It is early days, I’ve only been doing this for three months, but my mouth feels better than it has for some time.

Live simply but well (do less - live more): Minimalism writ large. Live simply but enjoy what you do. Enjoy the simple things. I like reading, enjoying a hot cup of good coffee in the morning, talking with friends, puttering around my room, cleaning, the very act of living simply, meditating, exercising, etc. I enjoy these things. As somebody mentioned on a meditation guide that I listen to called ‘effortlessly’, the less you feel you need to own, the less you need to insure, protect, maintain, polish, clean. That says it all right there. And don’t feel guilty about not struggling. In many cases, especially our Western culture, we are trained to feel guilty if we are not somehow struggling and striving for something. I have come to the conclusion that that is nonsense. Of course, sometimes, one has to work hard at something. I don’t deny that. But I don’t understand why it seems to be a cultural imperative that we have to be struggling all the time.

When you live simply, you will struggle much less. This is where I have really learned about focusing more on the process or the journey, rather than the end result. In the last few months, I have really come to embrace this, especially with learning languages. I am far less concerned with my ultimate goal, then with the simple enjoyment of studying the languages every day.

Be prepared: I don’t mean to turn into a prepper complete with bunker and enough supplies and armaments to wage a small war. But be prepared. Understand basic medical first aid. Have the equipment to be able to help people if you need to, understand how to use it, and how to recognize people are having problems. I’m not going to put out a list of what everybody should have, you have to figure that out for yourselves. But think about what you would do in your house if the water went out, or the power went out for an extended period of time. If you’re in another country where you go to if there’s a disaster. I guess the keyword is think.

As a part of being prepared, be aware. Situational awareness. Understand what’s going on around you… All the time. Again, don’t take this to extremes. I don’t mean to be continually paranoid. I mean to be aware. Know what’s going on around you. It’s not a hard thing to do. Just look and see what’s going on around you. If you see if you were walking down the street and you saw a couple of people fighting in front of a storefront someplace … take note. Be aware of that. Avoid it. Avoidance and awareness are probably the two of the best ways to be prepared.

Hmmm. This turned out to be a longer article than I had originally thought but that’s okay. I think it’s worth saying and worth thinking about. Hope you enjoy it.

 AND … By The Way - Thank you to everyone - I now have 32 Subscribers :-) … Wow!