Wanting Less

It’s been 9 months since retiring from a career in banking and starting my new life as an entrepreneur and yoga instructor. My largest fear when making this change was losing a regular pay cheque which allowed me to do whatever I wanted whenever.

What I have found is, since starting my new life, I want less. Nowadays, I do the things I love most and no longer want things or want to do things to distract me from living a life I wasn’t passionate about. Before, I remember counting down the hours until I could leave the office and couldn’t wait for the weekend to arrive. Now, my days are filled working on things that interest and stimulate me and each day flies by.

I remember creating a budget before leaving my previous job to make sure I could live within my means. Over the last 9 months, I have been applying the KonMari method to my life. For those of you not familiar with the KonMari method, it was developed by a now famous Japanese woman, Marie Kondo, who helps people transform their lives by tidying their spaces. The genesis behind her method is to only keep things that “spark joy” and discard the rest. The things, and former distractions, that no longer sparked joy in my life have been discarded and I now live a simpler life with less wants. In addition to the emotional benefits of de-cluttering my life, ridding myself of the things that no longer serve me has also been friendly on the pocketbook. I’m happy to report that I’m living well within my means. Wanting less equals spending less.

I suppose I’ve taken the KonMari method one step further by also discarding from my life, things you can’t touch. The most significant was my former job. I have also ended an expensive gym membership and relationship with an overpriced grocery store. It’s still a work in progress and suspect cultivating my ideal lifestyle will always be, but so far, the work I’ve done has left me wanting less, feeling lighter and living a more meaningful life that I enjoy.

Melanie Yip
Co-Founder, Movement Travel