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A Starters Guide to Value of Simple

Well, hello there. And welcome!

I’m Joel Zaslofsky, the guy behind Value of Simple, the Smart and Simple Matters show, the Continuous Creation Challenge, and a whole lot more. That beautiful lady next to me is my wife Melinda (a.k.a. the reason this website exists).

If you’re new here, you’re probably wondering if this place could be valuable. It can be overwhelming exploring a new website to find out how and why you might be helped, right? Not here.

Consider this page your express pass to discover why this growing community could be right for you.

The Big Questions Answered

Maybe you’re like me when you get to a new website. You quickly think, “Who runs this, why am I here, and what’s unique about this that I couldn’t get somewhere else”?

The who and what are covered in the About page where you can learn more about what’s in it for you, my story, our principles, The Value of Simple Declaration, and why I help you simplify, organize, and be money wise.

This refuge of simplicity offers something rarely found in the era of niche websites: a holistic view of our struggles and specific steps to master the challenges life throws at you. From simplicity to organizing to personal finance to finding your big reason why you want to change, we cover a lot of ground. But the undercurrent always pulls us back to simplifying and organizing; your two main tools to have more time, more money, more respect, and less stress.

I’m Excited You’re Here!

My mission is to freely give away my best ideas, resources, and skills, which I do through a mix of blog posts, podcasts, pictures, and videos.

I’m confident you’ll dig all the current content here and all the grooviness that’s yet to come.

What to Do First

Here’s a carefully curated short list of the best and most influential stuff around here. Granted, the guy creating this list is a bit subjective. However, these resources have been confirmed by the community to be useful, actionable, and every once in a while, charming and entertaining.

Most Popular

• The Continuous Creation Challenge Resource Kit
• The Value of Simple Declaration: This is Why We’re Here
• The Personal User Guide: The Most Essential User Guide You’ll Ever Own
• The Ultimate Guide to Professional Organizers
• SASM 012 – Remarkable Relationships and Doing the Impossible with Scott Dinsmore
• 27 Simple Sages Reveal How They Simplify and Organize Their Amazing Lives
• Resources I Love Page
• Monthly Income, Traffic, and Happenings Reports (a.k.a “Pulse Checks”)

Our Philosophy and Principles

• The Value of Simple Declaration
• My Story

Personal and Revealing Stories

• Giving Up the “Good Life” for a Great Life (or why I quit my six-figure corporate job)
• Screw 80-20: Let’s Do 99-1 (A Tribute to Destroying Addictions)
• The Biggest Risk I Ever Took and Why I’m a Better Man for Being a Terrible Person

Simplifying

• Practicing Dying to Simplify Living
• How One Simple Man Learned a Powerful $16,000.00 Lesson about Detachment
• SASM 006 – Habit Stacking, Simplifying, and Your Wakeup Call with Courtney Carver
• How You Get Amazing Unintentional Benefits from Intentional Living

Organizing

• Can’t Keep Up? The ULTIMATE Guide to Professional Organizers
• Spreadsheets and You: How and Why to Put Your Life in Them
• SASM 005 – Curating Part 1: The Awesome Importance and Startling Benefits
• SASM 015 – The Forces of Order and Simplifying with Dan and Vanessa Hayes

Personal Finance

• Daily Money Manager: The Most Important Job You’ve Never Heard Of
• SASM 004 – Passive Income Mastery and How to Be Everywhere with Pat Flynn
• SASM 009 – How to Find and USE the Investing Start (or Restart) Button
• Start Investing with $100 is Launched!
• Could You Be Like 2.7 Billion People and Live on Two Dollars a Day?

Unconventional Wisdom

• The Value of Simple Declaration: This is Why We’re Here
• A Statement to Reframe Everything? The Defining Factor is Never Resources, It’s Resourcefulness
• The Epic Journey Into Awareness and 11 Life-Altering Reasons You Should Come Along

Entertaining, Quirky and Bold

• Spreadsheet Spotlight: Mastering Home and Auto Maintenance Tracking
• Help Day Recap (and the Answer to Whether the World Wants Help)
• When Should You Get Off the Hamster Wheel and Leave the Rat Race?

Interested in More?

There’s more awesomeness in other places like Twitter or Facebook. And if that’s not your thing, come and see me over on Google+, iTunes, or YouTube.

Perhaps the simplest way to keep track of stuff going on here is the RSS feed. But some of my best stuff is only shared with the Refuge of Simplicity community subscribed to my free newsletter. You can join the crew in seconds with just a first name and email address:

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What, you still want more? Check out my featured work on other websites like Lifehack, Becoming Minimalist. and The Huffington Post.

Then check out the FAQs or contact me if you don’t see something you need. If you’re the type that likes reading disclaimers and commenting policies, we have those too.

And if reading all this has inspired you to share a story, please do.

I’ll leave you with pictures of the behind-the-scenes team that makes this community great. Meet Lucia the Samoyed and Emsky and Golden Retriever.