“Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.” – Cavett Robert Read

December 29, 2015, Charlotte, NC… For the next twelve months I will not buy another shirt, belt, jacket, t-shirt, pair of shoes, pants – or anything else to wear. I don’t need anymore stuff this year!

I already had enough stuff, so I put my retail therapy on hold for a year. I wanted more time for intentional choices.

“How’d that work for you, Bruce? A full year – nothing!?!” my friends ask.

It was great – actually easier than I thought it would be. I didn’t buy a single piece of clothing all year!

I learned not only did I already have enough, I had too much. When it got down to what I actually needed to make it through a week or month, even go on a trip, I realized my closet already held everything I needed.

Besides, I wasn’t sure people noticed what I wore anyway. If I’m clean, don’t smell bad, and blend in – great. There are other, more important, ways to be noticed. Other things matter more than retail therapy solutions – things like kindness, the environment, fair rules, and wages that reflect contribution.

I’ll make a new resolution for 2017, but I want to keep the spirit of my ’16, “No New Stuff.”

If something works, keep it in good repair, only replace when absolutely necessary. That was my choice with my work boots .. you might recall.

I vow to only buy when necessary, focusing on keeping what I have in good repair, and then replacing things when it’s time. If something can be donated or recycled, then it will find a new home or a new purpose.

 

When replacement time comes, I’ll turn to companies with mission statements like Patagonia’s and Bombas. They are companies who have found ways to add value to their offerings by focusing on things needed in our world today, things other than just bigger profits from selling more stuff. For me, these two companies stand out – their values match the ones I’m looking for in my life.

How did you do on your 2016 resolutions, what did you learn?

Did you stick with them, change and adjust along the way, or give up? Was there learning in your choices you can share?

Tell me about companies you know with a mission like Patagonia and Bombas, companies who care about their people and our planet, as much as their pocket book.

Here is my resolution from December 29, 2015 if you’d like to look back.

As always, the conversation starts here.

“In the ordinary choices of every day we begin to change the direction of our lives.” – Eknath Easwaran

Epilogue

Rapper J.Cole believes that happiness and satisfaction can never be attained by pursuing things such as materialism. He thinks that we should place our importance on spiritual elements or elements which contain real substance.

What do you think?