I'm Wearing the Same Outfit for One Year, Here's How It's Going | Part Two
I never could have anticipated the response that this project has solicited—in a few short months the scope (and scale) has grown from exploring minimalism and wearing a uniform for a year to connecting with people all over the world about what matters most to them and how we can each, individually, have a greater positive impact with our time on earth.
I have heard from people from every continent (except Antarctica) and it seems that the urge to simplify is not exclusive to my sleepy town of Stillwater. Minimalism seems to have captured the attention and intentions of folks everywhere. Since the launch of The Uniform Project, I’ve gotten to connect with people who are eager to share their own stories of how minimizing or systematizing their lives has had a dramatic and positive impact. It’s crazy.
It’s been, in turns, exciting, humbling, intimidating, and energizing. And, more and more messages and questions arrive in my inboxes every day. I’ve been blogging about it daily on my Instagram and a little bit, too, on Facebook. There was a flurry of articles about The Uniform Project, here’s one from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The Project got a little airtime on NPR. Bob Collins seem to like it too.
And, despite the quick evolution of the project, all the while, in the background, the core aim—to simplify life in some small way—has been flowering relentlessly. In a sentence, when it comes to making life easier: This works.
“It has been my experience that changing the way that we do one thing can change everything.”
And, by “this”, I mean having a system in place for streamlining a busy schedule. By putting some sort of parameters around the day-to-day events of life, I have been able to devote more of myself, my energy, and my creativity to the things that truly matter to me. Wearing the same clothes every day has been shockingly effective. For me, meal prepping and dawning the uniform has removed a certain amount of logistical decision making that felt draining. I know that some people really enjoy cooking each day and deciding what to eat in the moment; it turns out that I am not one of those people. And, I was done fighting that urge to be different when I decided to prep my meals in bulk. I have eaten the same things for breakfast and lunch every day for over two years. And, amazingly, I am not sick of them at all.
This one, relatively small change has spilled over into every area of my life. My relationships. My work. My inner-world. In short, wearing the same outfit everyday has shifted my reality. It’s become about something more than minimalism—it’s shifted my paradigm of reality. Though, perhaps, this is actually what is at the spiritual core of the minimalist. It’s not about “doing more with less”, it’s about something far deeper. (I am still gathering my thoughts on this one.)
“The core message of the Uniform Project is one of personal development. I am using the uniform as a vehicle for talking about bigger ideas—consistency, discipline, and the magic of thinking small and letting little daily actions add up to something substantial. ”
And, while everyone doesn’t get it, a huge number of folks do. And, I have felt deeply honored to connect with so many people about the momentum that one small shift can make as it ripples out and affects our lives in surprising ways.
Here is a working list of three positive outcomes that I’ve experienced as a result of wearing the same outfit every day:
1.) The Little Things Are the Big Things. It has been my experience that changing the way that we do one thing can change everything. I think back to some advice that I got from a coach early in my life, he said, “Make your bed every morning.” And, that one small action changed everything for me. Starting the day by taking intentional action, no matter how small, made it easier to take action all day long. It also made it easier to build momentum and take bigger and bigger actions. In that same way, wearing the same clothes everyday means that I no longer wake up and begin making micro-decisions about what to wear—which is related to the weather, the week/weekend, my calendar, who I will be interacting with, and so on. Instead, I just have one outfit. That’s it. And, I wear it regardless. It’s a tiny element in the grand scheme of things, but wearing the uniform has helped me start each day with momentum. I can wake up being present and pro-active instead of reactive and evaluative. Because I also meal-prep every Sunday, I also no longer need to think about what to eat. The core basics of food and clothing are all there, I have a plan in place and I just follow the steps. In this way, I go to bed each night already ready to start the next day. It automates the process in a way that is both freeing and motivating.
2.) Outliers Get A Lot of Attention. I’ve been wearing the same outfit for over 120 days and most of the people who I interact with everyday have not noticed and, importantly, they really do not care. This is meaningful to me because it seems to point to something essential about “outliers”. For me, an outlier is a person who embodies an exception to the norm. These can be people who inspire us but they can also be people who do the opposite—those who drain us, degrade us, or actively try to make things difficult in our lives. The latter has been a challenge for me in the past when I have thought that the views of the outliers were actually the norm. For example, if we spend time with people who gossip viciously about others, it can be easy to think that EVERYONE thinks and talks that way. When, in reality, people who speak maliciously behind others’ backs are in the minority. Statistically speaking, they are outliers. It’s worth a Google. That said, things that are dramatic are more memorable, so it can feel easy—even seductive—to believe that the majority thinks, talks, and acts like the loudest voices in the minority. So, in my case, the outliers have been people who have gone out of their way to criticize the Uniform Project or to judge it harshly. For the first time in my life, I have been trolled. It took a second to get used to, I will say that. Then I realized that I was mentally treating the haters as though their ideas held more weight than anyone else. And, in fact, most people are indifferent to what others are wearing. They really don’t care why someone is wearing what they are wearing. This fact has been very grounding for me because the core message of this project is not about simply wearing the same outfit for one year; instead, the core message is about minimalism, doing more with less, and maximizing the experience of life, as opposed the appearance of life. The core message of the Uniform Project is one of personal development. I am using the uniform as a vehicle for talking about bigger ideas—consistency, discipline, and the magic of thinking small and letting little daily actions add up to something substantial. So, if my goal was to get everyone to hear what I have to say, it would be endlessly daunting. Instead, I’ve cast a broad net by talking about the project on social media, radio interviews, newspaper articles, blogs, and podcasts. And, for every 100 people who hear it, I get a handful of haters and a handful of people who truly dig it and want to learn more. If I believed that everyone cared about what I was doing and wearing, it would be hard for me to truly connect with folks who are interested in the deeper discoveries and revelations. In many ways it’s about making my personal journey public—and, in doing so, I am making the specific universal. That is, I am using the Uniform Project to talk about personal development; but I could also be using something like my journey in recovery or my health journey at the gym or my decision to eat only plants.
“That said, for me, it’s all tied together. Wearing the same outfit everyday has made it exponentially easier to do other things every day. Period.”
3.) We Are What We Do Every Day. Wearing the same outfit every day has made it easier for me to be consistent and disciplined about doing other things every day, too. The Uniform Project has given me a model to use—a framework—that I can apply to almost any area of my life, especially those areas in which I have historically struggled to stay consistent. Like, for example, meditation, exercise, and waking up early. Since Day One of the Uniform Project, I have not missed one day of my meditation practice and I have gotten my 5 workouts in each week. No exceptions. (The getting up early piece is still a work in progress, but progress has been made.) That said, for me, it’s all tied together. Wearing the same outfit everyday has made it exponentially easier to do other things every day. Period. A life coach that I used to work with would always say, “How you do one thing is how you do everything.” And, what she meant was simple: If I am looking for the “easy way out” of things, or if I am cutting corners, or if I am playing small in one area of my life—which is what I used to do—it’s likely that I am doing that, in some form, in all areas of my life. It may not be blatant or even intentional, but for me, this idea held water. If I am not showing up in one area of my life, it makes it easier to not show up in another area of my life. So, in that same way, if I am intentional and rigorously disciplined in one area of my life, it is easier to be so in all areas of my life. It’s like practicing something over and over again until it becomes natural, normal, or automatic. I think about it in relation to toothbrushing. It’s something that I do every day, and because I do it every day, I have all my teeth. As an adult, I know the importance of it. But, do I want to do it every day? No. And, do I look forward to it every day? No. And, yet, I do it any way because I know the long-term benefits of it. It’s not a one-and-done scenario—I can’t just brush my teeth really hard on Sunday night and then call it good for the week. Instead, in order to get the benefit, I have to do it each and every day. And, importantly, someone had to teach me the importance of this—my parents—and then hold me accountable for YEARS as a child before I understood and knew, on my own, to brush my teeth twice a day. This last element is why I deeply believe in the importance of working with some sort of coach, counselor, or group. We cannot see every element of our lives. And, we certainly cannot see ourselves 100% clearly from the outside the way others can, which means that we all have blindspots and growth points that require guidance and ongoing outside input. If my folks just told me once about the importance of brushing my teeth every day, I wouldn’t have any teeth left.
In Part Three I’ll talk about common questions that people have and do a deeper dive into the spiritual elements of minimalism that I am learning about and experiencing.
Follow the day-by-day journey of The Uniform Project on my Instagram where I post updates several times a day! Or, visit my website at www.ZachCarlsen.com
About Me | Zach Carlsen
I’m a coach, writer, teacher, and co-creator. The purpose of my work is simple: I help people get out of their own way so that they can take deliberate action to create a life that aligns with their values, inner-wisdom, and deepest vision. I am grateful to be an uncle, a boyfriend, a French-speaker and translator, as well as a poet and athlete. My Top 5 StrengthsFinder Themes are: Ideation, Connectedness, Strategic, Input, and Empathy. In Myers-Briggs terms, I am an INFJ. In astrological terms, I am a Double Cancer/Virgo. In my own terms: I am really excited to be alive. I coach and develop a team of IT badasses during the day for a software start-up in St. Paul, MN and I run an extremely busy private coaching practice on top of that. As for coaching credentials, I am a certified Strengths Coach through Gallup, Inc. I also have degrees in English, French, and Pedagogy from the University of Minnesota and the University of Montana. Recently, I served as the interim Chair of the Board of Directors at Empower Survivors, an organization dedicated to supporting the healing of survivors, educating communities, and preventing childhood abuse.