The Matthew Byers Method

  “The badge of honesty is simplicity.”   -         Novalis       The key to being able to radically change your life for the better begins with honesty. If you are still able to convince yourself that life is just fine the way it is, then you would never have the proper amount of motivation to undertake such an approach as this method suggests. Honesty begins with you. If you are known as a liar, then people are less concerned about lying to you. Granted, some people lie to everyone regardless of their familiarity or reputation. However, those close to you will interact with you in a different way if you are known as a person of integrity.     Minimalism is about eliminating the things in our lives that distract us from the fullness of joy that we wish to experience. If we must constantly remember who we lied to and who we told the truth to, this practice of misleading others could be daunting. Simp...

  “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”   -         Carl Sandburg       If there was ever one thing that all of humanity should be able to agree upon, it is the value of time. You can replace just about everything in your life. Even though some things are less replaceable or invaluable than others, there is simply no way possible to retrieve a moment in time once it becomes a memory. There are no second chances to live today. You only get one opportunity to make this day count.     You may ask how to possibly make every moment count? The key is to be mindful of your priorities and values whenever you make decisions regarding how your time is spent. Granted, some decisions seem to be less optional than others. However, the problem with most people is that they have far more ...

  “If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.”   -         Frank A. Clark       Minimalism is so much easier to achieve and maintain if you are truly thankful for what you already have. Sometimes, it’s easy to forget just how truly blessed we are to have such an abundance. In the western world, our luxuries are commonplace and our delicacies are ordinary. It is so rare to find even one person who can honestly say that they can go an entire day without complaining about something. We are indeed spoiled rotten! Let’s take a quick look at several personality types that reflect this dynamic between minimalism and thankfulness: searchers, hoarders and organizers.       Searchers     So, what does thankfulness have to do with minimalism? It’s almost a symbiotic relationship: those who tend to have a problem with minimali...

  “Friends should be like books, few, but hand-selected.”   -         C.J. Langenhoven       First of all, there is nothing wrong with having lots of friends. Minimalism is certainly not about purging belongings and relationships until you end up becoming a hermit in the woods with a shotgun and nine cats! Conversely, this concept is, at its very core, about achieving quality over quantity. Using a Minimalist approach highlights the items, people, and moments that bring the most joy possible to your existence. Let’s take a look at a few of the relationships to who just about everyone can relate:     Friends and acquaintances   There may still be a few wayward souls out there who cannot claim even one friend on earth. However, for the sake of this topic, let’s assume that most everyone reading this has at least a small group of friends and acquaintances that they can claim as their own. While...

  “Clutter is anything that stands between you and the vision you have for your best life.”   -          Peter Walsh       While Minimalism and de-cluttering are two separate concepts, they are not mutually exclusive. To have a de-cluttered space does make the transition to minimalism somewhat effortless. Minimalism is a mindset that redirects your thoughts throughout your day to a central principle: defining your full! Whether that be fewer pieces of furniture, only buying one roll of paper towels or even downsizing your living space, this concept eventually permeates every facet of your life.     While we might imagine what we think Minimalism looks like, in actuality it’s radically different from person to person. Just because someone else has less belongings than you does not make them a true minimalist and you a fraud! In the beginning stages of your transition to Minimalism, your focus sho...

Welcome to the Matthew Byers Method blog page. This is something that I have been researching off and on for several years. Now, the time has come for the world to benefit from my experiences, knowledge and wisdom. Aeschylus is credited with the famous quote "Wisdom comes through suffering." Well, I have endured some personal and professional tragedies in my recent past that have created quite a bit of suffering in my own life. Fortunately, this has led me to the revelation of the very method that I am about to share with you through this blog. As you may have already guessed, my name is Matthew Byers. I have found twelve key foundations necessary to transform anyone’s life through a methodical approach:   M inimalism A ssociations T hankfulness T ime H onesty E ating W isdom B udgeting Y ielding E xercise R elaxation S alvation         It is my greatest hope to transform the lives of others through the lens of my personal exp...