“The mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” – Confucius

With any undertaking, it’s important to have the right tools. The same is true when you simplify, scale back, live more frugally and sustainably, and make room in your life for things you love.

We’ve already discussed several key tools. The Short List:

1. Determining your essentials and eliminating the rest.
2. A “thriving” mindset where you focus on what you love, not what you don’t have.
3. An “enough” mindset, where you realize you already have enough, and stop wanting more.
4. A plan to reduce expenses, both small and large.
5. Sound financial habits.
6. Debt-elimination strategies.

“Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take small steps.” – Saul Bellow

While it’s important, when scaling back, to try to eliminate non-essential expenses as much as possible, you can’t change everything all at once. And even if you tried, you’d be less likely to be successful – drastic changes don’t stick as well as small ones do.

So start small when you start changing your financial habits. Want to save money? Cut back on eating out a bit – if you currently eat out 5 times a week, for example, try doing it only 2-3 times and save the difference. That’s a great way to start.

One great question underlies our experience, whether we think about it consciously or not: What is the purpose of life? I have considered this question and would like to share my thoughts in the hopes that they may be of direct, practical benefit to those who read them.

I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affects this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment. I don’t know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars, and planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but – at the very least – it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.

You must know the type of the person who has the Midas touch.  That person who, no matter what they do, come out smelling of roses.  They don’t work particularly harder than anyone else, they just seem to have that knack of ‘striking gold’. Opportunities seem to come their way and, to be fair, they know how to make the best of them.

Other people seem to struggle financially no matter what they do.  They may be able to make ends meet, but enjoying greater comforts in life, seems beyond their reach.  No matter how hard they work, they cannot seem to break this cycle. They wonder why is it so hard for them to prosper financially, while it seems so easy and for others.  What does the first type of person have that the second type doesn’t?