“The whole point is to get past the ‘stuff'.” While we often think of minimalism as having less ‘stuff', it's not about the stuff at all. The goal is to get past the focus of material things in order to live a life that's truly meaningful to you.

Today we have Matt D'Avella, a filmmaker and creator on YouTube, making videos on creativity and simple living. Matt and Aileen talk about their personal journeys with minimalism, dealing with the numbers of social media, and thoughts on keeping the creative process meaningful.

In this episode we explore:

• 3:16 – The uncertain path of following a dream in filmmaking
• 8:11 – How $97,000 in debt lead Matt to minimalism & understanding happiness
• 15:30 – Why Matt has four cameras: Debunking the myth that minimalists can only have X things
• 19:21 – The Minimalism documentary: From Matt's bucket list to Netflix
• 24:48 – Keeping your sense of worth separate from your follower count + Detaching from the results with creative projects
• 30:05 – How Matt deals with creative ruts + Book recommendations for staying motivated
• 36:39 – Keeping content about minimalism meaningful when everyone else is talking about minimalism too
• 38:16 – The biggest obstacles in Matt's minimalism journey + How to live with a non-minimalist
• 41:46 – Rapid fire Q&A: Matt's dream life, recommendations, best received advice, and favorite part about life
• 43:49 – Aileen's personal takeaways and reflections

Links:

• Matt D'Avella
• YouTube
• The Ground Up Show
• Get The Rock on Matt's Podcast

Show notes:

• Interview on The Ground Up Show – Declutter Your Way to Clarity w/ Aileen Xu
• The Minimalists
• Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things
• The Dip by Seth Godin
• The Flinch by Julien Smith
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
• Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
• Ritual | ritual.com/lavendaire

Quotes

• The only testament to if you can actually make it is if you keep going and don't quit.
• I was thinking so much about the finish line, I didn't think what I'd do after it.
• The whole idea is to get past the ‘stuff'.

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