You became a presence, a being, inside an existing culture wrapped in a moment of time. You did not choose the culture in which you landed nor did you choose the time of your landing. However. After being around for 25 years [about a quarter of your expected life span] you owe it to yourself and those around you to RESET your sense of being and time.
Any time after you are 25 years old you can reveal, or reconnect with, what I like to think of as your unique version of minimal-you [see photo].
Minimal-you is based on your three core elements: thoughts, habits, and beliefs.
If we accept the notion that one's being is framed by the culture you are born into then it is reasonable to assume that this facet of life is revealed by your thoughts. More specifically it is revealed by the way you think; and the way you think is, in turn, influenced by the social ties you share with those around you. If those social ties are strong then there is every chance that you will continue to think like those around you. The most obvious expression of that fact is that you have similar habits to those you are tied to socially [at work, play, church, and otherwise]. But the true unifying element for all of you in your cohort is your belief set and this tends to be based on an ideology, a theology, or aspects of both.
Minimal-you is best exposed once you begin to eliminate your collective or social wants [the culture you were born into or have adopted over the years of your current life]. These social wants are what give you a sense of belonging to an entity that is greater than your thoughts. For example, I want to become a CEO is a statement of ambition but it is not necessarily an expression of need. And so it is easy to see how these collective wants can become a proxy for the culture that binds you to a mindset that directly impacts your thoughts and your ways of thinking. This will give you precious insights into your unique version of collective-you.
However. To find, and to explore, one's unique version of minimal-you then your focus must switch from collective wants to individual needs.
Individual needs can be defined as those thoughts, habits, and beliefs that make you feel special. For example, there are moments throughout your life when you feel special. It can happen as you walk alone on the sunny side of the street, when stop to get food from a street vendor, when you curate an idea that is replicated by others in your workplace or social community.
This feeling of being special is experienced in a moment of time. Thus it is your needs that link your essential being to those moments of time when you are your unique version of minimal-you.
Richard
For more about the vital differences between "collective wants" and "individual needs" just go to the homepage of my website minimal-you.com
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