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One weekend Dave Bruno and his family did a major house cleanup and then donated several bags of unneeded items to the local Goodwill store.“After we were done, I looked around and realized that I still had way too much stuff,” says Bruno, “It occurred to me that maybe I wanted to live simple but in reality I behaved differently.” That realization prompted the 39-year-old father of three to try an experiment, “The 100 Thing Challenge.
某個周末，戴夫•布魯諾與家人給房子來了一次大掃除，將幾袋不需要的物品捐贈給當地的慈善商店。“我們清理完畢后，我環顧四周，還是覺得家里的東西太多了，”布魯諾說，“看來也許我想過得簡單一點，但是現實上卻不然。”這個覺悟促使這位有三個小孩的39歲父親進行了一項名叫“百物生存挑戰”的試驗。”
With the goal of breaking free of what he calls a “bad habit of consumerism,” Bruno vowed in 2008 to live for one year with just 100 personal items. He whittled down his possessions to 94 items, including a Bible, laptop, guitar, wedding ring, car and clothes.He created some guidelines for the experiment since his wife and daughters did not participate—family-shared and household items did not count as personal items. He also grouped together some basic things such as underwear and socks. Bruno began blogging about his new no-frills lifestyle and eventually wrote a book, The 100 Thing Challenge: How I Got Rid of Almost Everything, Remade My Life, and Regained My Soul.
以掙脫他稱之為“消費主義的壞習慣”為目標，2008年，布魯諾立誓在這一年里只靠100件個人物品生活。他將其個人所有物削減至94樣，包括一本《圣經》、一部手提電腦、一把吉他、一枚婚戒、一輛汽車及衣服等。因為他的妻子和女兒們沒有參與其中，他為這個試驗制定了一些指導方針——家庭共享以及家用的物品不歸屬于個人物品。此外，他將一些諸如內衣、襪子等基本物件集中在一起。布魯諾開始在博客上記錄其極簡的新生活方式，最后還寫成了一本書——《百物生存挑戰：如何丟棄幾乎所有東西，重塑生活，重獲靈魂》。
Since completing the experiment in November 2009, Bruno has continued to live by the motto of reduce (get rid of some of your stuff), refuse (to get more new stuff), and rejigger (your priorities) and maintains just 110 personal things. “Nearly two years of living with a minimal, though completely adequate, amount of personal possessions, I’m no longer in the habit of consuming for consumption’s sake,” he writes in his blog. “That’s freed me up for all sorts of better endeavors than shopping—like spending time with family and writing a book and scheming about business opportunities.”
自從2009年11月完成了此項試驗之后，布魯諾仍繼續秉承下面的格言生活：減少（丟棄你的部分物品）、拒絕（購置更多新東西）、重新安排（你的優先次序），并保持只有110件個人物品。“我過了將近兩年只有最低數量個人物品的生活，完全自足無憾，我再也沒有為了消費而去消費，”他在其博客中寫道，“這讓我能夠抽出身來做各種各樣比購物更有益的事情——例如與家人共度時光、寫書和發掘商機。”
Bruno’s project has also inspired others to live minimally, many of whom post their own 100 Thing Challenge updates on YouTube. “The reality is that the 100 Thing Challenge is surprisingly easy,” says Bruno, who works as an online marketing manager. “I’m not saying there were no challenges or disappointments. I miss some things. But not that much. Frankly, it’s far easier to live with less stuff than with excessive clutter.”
布魯諾的試驗也啟發了其他人進行最簡化生活，許多人都將他們自己的“百物生存挑戰”過程發布在YouTube網站上，并及時更新。“事實是，百物生存挑戰其實非常簡單，”擔任網絡市場經理的布魯諾說，“我不是說這沒有挑戰性或者沒有任何遺憾。我也會想念一些東西。但不是那么多。坦白說，相比起過多的混亂，去繁求簡的生活容易多了。”
In an interview with SecondAct.com, Bruno offers five ways to start simplifying your life, no matter how much stuff you have:
在接受SecondAct.com網站的采訪中，布魯諾提供了五種途徑，讓你開始簡化自己的生活，無論你有多少東西。
1. Pick a number. Set a goal to limit the amount of items you can have. “As for 100, it was a good round number,” Bruno says. “Fifty things would have put me in the category of hermit, and 150 things would have been too easy.”
1.設定一個數字。定下一個目標，限制你可以擁有的物品數量。“至于100，這是一個很好的整數，”布魯諾說，“50樣東西會使我進入隱士的行列，而150樣東西則沒有什么難度可言了。”
2. Tackle your closet. “Everyone has more clothes than they need,” he says. He recommends choosing clothes for two weeks—14 different outfits—and then packing the rest away. “After a few weeks, you will not even notice the other stuff is gone.”
2.清理衣柜。“每個人擁有的衣服都比他們需要的多，”他說。他推薦挑選兩個星期的衣服——14套不同的衣服——然后將其他的打包拿走。“幾個星期之后，你根本不會留意到其他東西不見了。”
3. Break it up. Take a different area of the house each week or month and do the same as with your closet. Paring down items in the kitchen, bathroom and pantry in separate chunks will make an otherwise-daunting task much more approachable.
3.各個擊破。每個星期或者每個月針對家里不同的區域，開展跟清理衣柜一樣的行動。減少廚房、浴室及食品儲藏室的東西并整理分類，會讓本來令人卻步的工作變得更加容易著手。
4. Get rid of things you “think you’ll need someday.” “It’s not until you start to purge those must-have items that the real benefits of living simply kick in.” If you really want to get something new, get rid of something first.
4.丟棄那些你“認為自己有一天會需要”的東西。“只有你開始清理那些你以為必須擁有的東西時，簡單生活的真正益處才會開始顯現。”如果你真的想要一些新的東西，那么先丟棄一些東西吧。
5. Be realistic and realize this is a process. Bruno says it took more than six months to get down to 100 things. “This isn’t a weekend activity,” he says. “But my life has changed. I’m no longer consuming irresponsibly. Give yourself the time you’ll need to change your lifestyle. It’s worth it.”
5.現實點，認識到這是一個過程。布魯諾說，實現將個人物品縮減為100樣東西的目標需要6個多月。“這不是周末活動，”他說，“但是我的生活因此而改變。我不再不負責任地消費。給自己一些過渡時間去改變你的生活方式吧。絕對值得。”
