Am I having a mental block, or am I too high in my consciousness?

[Knock]

I am having a problem in figuring out a product I want to sell in starting a new business. I know that selling a product is one of the biggest areas for success in creating financial independence. No longer trading time for money, and all of that. However, I am a minimalist, who spends very little on materialistic goods. I am finding it hard to sell with integrity something that the market will value, if I myself don’t value it. To me, materialistic goods are false idols, they don’t lead to any real sense of life satisfaction or long-term fulfillment.

Is this a mental block that I have, to justify not doing the hard work to make money? Perhaps some inner resistance to others wealth that is perpetrating limiting beliefs surrounding money? Could it just be that my consciousness is to high to have integrity in making money off others false beliefs in what will provide them happiness?

[tsuki]

@Knock I'm a minimalist myself and here's my line of reasoning that I find to be authentic:

If you really needed money, life would press you to make it. Since you can choose to not pursue it, then it probably means that you shouldn't.
It will not relieve your suffering because the meaning it provides is not sustainable. You will fail to make more money at some point, so why invest so much of life in it? If you want to learn to do business because it serves your long term strategic goals, then by all means - go ahead, but treat it as a learning experience and not an earning opportunity.

When it comes to products - it is really difficult to make a good one and your minimalist sense is not an obstacle, but an aid.
If you have worked on your aesthetic* sense for a long time, creating a product you would need yourself can be a good standard for what you create.
It may be the case that you are at the point in which there are very few things you truly need, so it may be wise to market minimalism itself?
It seems like it provided a lot of value to you.

* by aesthetic, I mean this in general sense - there are things that are beautiful by their sheer usefulness and not their visual style.

Edited February 22, 2019 by tsuki

[Knock]

@tsuki Thank you for your reply

Do you know of any examples of minimalists that follow the path you prescribe? I am finding it hard to find others with similar interests between minimalism and profiting off selling products.

[tsuki]

11 hours ago, Knock said:

Do you know of any examples of minimalists that follow the path you prescribe? I am finding it hard to find others with similar interests between minimalism and profiting off selling products.

When it comes to marketing minimalism itself - look for Matt D'avella on youtube. He has made a movie about minimalists that may inspire you. There seems to be a small market for this stuff, I'm not sure whether it is still picking traction, or is it dying off. You will have to look into it yourself. In a sense - it's a paradoxical market because you are educating people to not need you. It resembles spirituality a lot.

If you look for people that are driven by minimalist aesthetics - Steve Jobbs comes to mind. I haven't read his biography, but my wife has and she confirms. I was never too invested in following other people's lives so I can't be of much help here. I don't even know what I'm missing out on in this regard.

Good luck!

Edited February 23, 2019 by tsuki