A month ago, I started talking to Sam Spurlin of The Simpler Life over Twitter. We’re on similar journeys through minimalism and personal development, and we’ve been chatting about life and blogging since we met.
When Sam first told me about his e-book, I was extremely excited. There is a growing body of writing on minimalism, and I knew that this would be a great contribution to it. I was not left wanting after reading Sam’s latest work.
At the beginning of this week, Sam launched his first e-book called Living The Simpler Life: 8 Essentials to Practice Every Day. (aff)
He sent me a copy of the e-book on the day it was released and I finished reading it a day later. The content is extremely digestible, and easily understood. If you’d like a taste, Sam generously shared a free chapter on his blog last week. Check it out here.
An In Depth Review of Living The Simpler Life
He draws on the experience of his own minimalist journey over the last seven months, as well as on his experience as a school and hockey coach, to find the lessons that will be most helpful in Living the Simpler Life.
This e-book serves as an excellent introduction to all things minimalism. Sam breaks down living a minimalist life into 8 key practices, and through his exploration of each practice, gives the reader a bounty of tools and ideas to apply each practice.
The design and layout of the book could have been a little stronger, but the pictures aren’t the point, are they? While not stellar, the layout and design are certainly not distracting, and the e-book still stands strong on it’s own two legs with high quality, applicable content.
One thing I missed at times in this e-book was Sam’s voice and his experience. Sometimes he would be delivering great content, but his experience as a teacher and coach took a bit of a backburner to the minimalist lessons. I feel that this still works wonderfully, but is slightly less engaging than it has the potential to be.
The ideas in this book are geared toward those beginning their minimalist journey. As Sam states in the interview below, he’s not breaking a lot of new ground with this book. The power of the book is the accessibility of the content to those who are looking for minimalist literature to get their journey started on the right foot.
If you feel that you’re more of an advanced minimalist, this book will still be useful to you. As someone who has been reading personal development literature for years, I still found the tips and lessons in this book to be welcome reminders. When I have completed the two thirty day trials I am currently working on, I’m sure that I’ll be taking some of the wise suggestions into consideration for the next step in my journey of growth.
One of the great things that Sam has done with this book is his 100% Money Back Guarantee. If you’re not happy with the lessons in the book (I’d be surprised), you can get your money back, no questions asked. It’s a pretty bold Guarantee, but Living The Simpler Life: 8 Essentials to Practice Every Day is a strong contribution to the field of minimalism.
An Interview With the Author
As soon as I finished the book, I sent Sam an e-mail hoping to snag an interview. He graciously accepted, and below is the first author interview to appear here on Grokkery.
Yours truly, Jonathan Wondrusch, plays the role of JW, and Sam picks up the inspiring role of SS.
JW: Hey Sam, thanks for taking the time today. Let’s dive right in. How would you describe your blog in five words or less?
SS: Learning to live consciously, together.
JW: And how about describing yourself in a similar fashion.
SS: Teaching, coaching, writing, living — consciously.
JW: What is your One Burning Question?
SS: I’m really glad you wrote those posts about OBQ’s because figuring out mine really helped me clarify what it is I’m trying to do with thesimplerlife.net. I wrote a post about my experience finding my OBQ awhile ago but my final product was:
“How can I live a truly conscious life while teaching others to do the same?”
JW: That’s truly inspiring. What was your main goal in creating this e-book? Did you achieve it?
SS: My goal was to create a book I would have wanted to read three years ago. When I was first learning about simplicity, minimalism and personal development I spent an inordinate amount of time reading about all the different aspects. It would have been very helpful for me to have had one resource that served as a good primer to the topic — and then convinced me to get off my butt and actually do something.
To that end, I think I achieved my goal. The ebook covers a lot of different topics that are all tied together with the theme of living a simpler life. I included “Make Progress Now” tips that serve as a good way to, you know.. start making progress!
JW: If you had to pick one action step for people to take after finishing your e-book, one thing above all the rest, what would it be?
SS: Hmmm. I would want somebody to take whatever chapter resonated with them most and do something I suggested to make that essential a larger part of their life. I know everybody who reads the e-book is going to be at different stages with their own simplicity journeys so I can’t really give one overall action step that would fit everyone. At least, that’s my cop out for evading your question 
JW: Basically whatever feels right? But just get to it?
SS: Pick an essential that kind of stuck with you for some reason. Maybe it’s something you never really thought about or maybe it’s something you know you need a lot of work in. For some people it might be cultivating gratitude. My focus is on mindfulness right now.
JW: How has it been for you to incorporate all of these practices into your own life?
SS: It has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m not even close to being where I want to be with these. I’ve laid a foundation for all of them, but this is a lifelong process that I’m talking about.
JW: What keeps you going?
SS: Wanting to be a better person. I don’t want to waste my shot at life. I only get one, ya know? I love reading biographies and I’m a student of history so there are many people from our past that serve as inspiration and role models.
JW: Who is this e-book for?
SS: This ebook is targeted at those who are fairly new to the whole simplicity line of thinking. I won’t pretend to have written anything earth-shattering or genre-busting. I think I’ve provided a good "let’s get started" primer to those who are largely uninitiated. With that being said, I do think there are some good nuggets in there for those of us who have been living a simpler lifestyle for awhile.
JW: How would your e-book help the readers of Grokkery? How might it affect their self awareness and personal development journeys?
SS: I think every personal development journey first starts with a simplicity journey. Focusing on simplicity really makes your motivation, goals, thoughts and desires very clear. In my own experience, as soon as I started focusing on what really mattered in my life — my values, I started making huge strides in my own personal development. I say in the ebook, "A life of simplicity is value and passions laid bare." I know it’s pretty lame to be quoting myself but I think it’s very accurate.
Your blog is all about increasing self awareness and I think my ebook fits nicely into that theme. The entire first chapter is about increasing our own self knowledge so that we are clear on who we were, who we are, and who we are trying to become.
JW: Besides blogging, how else are you teaching others to live a truly, conscious life?
SS: Up until a couple weeks ago I was spending 3 or 4 days a week substitute teaching in high schools and middle schools. I obviously wasn’t prosetelyzing about this stuff while I was in the classroom but I tried to just be a positive example and apply the principles of simplicity to how I acted.
Also through my hockey coaching. We are in the offseason right now so I’m not doing too much with that but during the season I try to help the young men under my charge become better hockey players and more importantly, better people.
JW: And now that you’ve published this first e-book, what’s your next step at The Simpler Life? Any long term goals for the site you’d like to share here?
SS: I’m still in the process of figuring that out. I’ve got plans for a monthly newsletter. Going to start another ebook soon. I’m going to expand the interview series I’ve been doing. I’m posting my interview with Jeffrey Tang of The Art of Great Things next week. Lots of guest posts as well.
JW: Sounds like a pretty exciting short term future. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
SS: Thanks 
I really appreciate it.
JW: You’re welcome! And thank you for your time, Sam. Best of luck on the success of your e-book. I look forward to seeing the next one.
And for fun … Who is your favorite Jim Henson muppet?
SS: Great question. I’ve always been a big fan of Beaker. I think he’s misunderstood and a comic genius.
There you go! I hope you enjoyed the interview with Sam and the review of his great new e-book. If you’re looking for a resource to explore the fundamentals of minimalism, or just need a helpful refresher, Living the Simpler Life will be an amazing resource for you. You can find it here. (aff)
If you have any questions about the book, you can visit Sam’s site at http://thesimplerlife.net or message him on Twitter. I’m also around if you’d like to ask me more questions about my thoughts. This book is a steal for anyone looking to gain clarity and peace in their life through minimalism. If you’re on the edge about it, take my word and buy it. He has a 100% money back guarantee, so what do you have to lose?
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks so much for the kind review and the interview! I truly hope the book will help your readers and I really appreciate the exposure.
Thanks so much for the kind review and the interview! I truly hope the book will help your readers and I really appreciate the exposure.
You’re welcome Sam! I think that the book would serve my reader’s pretty well, especially those on the fence with the idea of minimalism.
You’re welcome Sam! I think that the book would serve my reader’s pretty well, especially those on the fence with the idea of minimalism.
You're welcome Sam! I think that the book would serve my reader's pretty well, especially those on the fence with the idea of minimalism.
You're welcome Sam! I think that the book would serve my reader's pretty well, especially those on the fence with the idea of minimalism.