Motivation is the key

Temptation is a terrible thing. The attraction of convenience is ever present, the habit of doing things the old way pulls us back and before we know it, we've stopped budgeting and shopping with our cotton bags, and we're back in the mall.

Let's face it, living simply and pulling away from the mainstream can be difficult. We have to learn new skills, what we make usually takes more time than any store bought product, and there is more carrying, working, doing, mending, sweeping, cleaning, cooking, washing up and tending than ever before. Don't let anyone tell you it's easy. It gives you a better life, but it's more work. Some days it's just too much. So how do you stay motivated?

The internet is the biggest library in the world. At any time of the day or night you can log on and find the ingredients for making anything - headcheese, government writing ink, or Mawmenee. You can find the instructions for making any obscure object you can think of, as well as all the necessary tasks you need to know to run a home efficiently. If I wanted to rig up a flying fox in the backyard or build a worm farm or darn a pair of socks or make bread or soap, I could Google the words, read the results of the search and by lunchtime I could be working hard on my project. But where does the motivation come from?

When I started living simply, I removed myself from much of the temptation. I didn't go to the mall, I stopped watching advertising on TV, and buying magazines and newspapers. That helped a lot - I didn't know what was out there and I didn't miss what I didn't know. After a while, that kind of life became normal for me and now, several years down the track, I can go into a mall, buy the one item I went there for and walk away. I don't want anything and I don't want to look around at the new products. So where does the motivation come from?

I have come to believe simple living is about 80% motivation, 10% skill and 10% opportunity. It certainly is that way for me. I have to work on the motivation less now than I did before, but it's still up there. The skill part of the equation is easily taken care of by googling or reading books to learn the new skills we need in this life, the opportunity usually has a lot to do with the stage of life you're at, but where does the motivation reside?

Visiting blogs, reading books and thinking about my values keeps me motivated. The world of blogs is an amazing place that is only possible via the internet. Had you told me ten years ago that I could read about someone living happily in the wilds of John o' Groats or Kakadu or that I could write about my days and simply by pressing a button have people, world-wide, comment, well, I would have thought you were crazy. But that is the truth of it. I find that reading what other people do, who are striving to live as I do, with the ups and downs of it, with the successes and failures, that motivates me to do what I do every day. When I see it and do it every day, it becomes normal. It's like living in a small village that is different to the other villages. What we do here is normal, while being alien to those around us, but being involved in each others lives via our blogs, sharing what we do, learning from each other, that, my friends, provides the motivation to keep going.

Seeing others do what we want to do, reading and seeing how others live their version of simplicity, urges us to do something similar. And motivation is the key to it all. You could have all the knowledge in the world but unless you are motivated to use it, to live the kind of life you aspire to, that knowledge is hollow and of little value. I am rarely motivated now by learning new skills, my motivation comes from seeing how those skills fit into lives - mine and others. Seeing how people use those skills to help them live.

I believe we all have a responsibility to share what we know, to pass on knowledge, and encouragement, and to actively help others move towards a more sustainable life. It's a selfish act really. The more people living a greener life, the better off we'll all be, and, more importantly, the better the world will be when our grandchildren are our age. I hope my blog gives you the kind of information you need to skill yourself and make your home the place you need to live well. But more than that, I hope you find motivation here, I hope what I write makes you get up and move. There is a lot to be said for simple life and I hope you can fashion your life to live to your best potential. You will pick up the skills you need as you go, a little at a time, but you need to work on the motivation, because if that goes, you will just be left with a plan.

Photo from allposters.com