Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyle: Secrets to More Time, Money, and Freedom

by Rita Wilkins

“Downsizing your life is a rollercoaster of emotions. I would be lying to say it is easy.” – Rita Wilkins, “The Downsizing Designer”

Rita’s downsizing journey was inspired by a trip to a third world country when she traveled to Senegal, West Africa to visit her son who was serving in the Peace Corps. She was profoundly moved by the people who were truly happy even though they had so little. This experience ignited a new passion for living a simpler life with less, which then led her to downsizing from a 5,000 sq. ft. home to an 867 sq. ft. apartment. She fearlessly gave away 95% of her belongings to people who needed or wanted them. Now she lives with 5% of what she once owned and has never been happier. She now has more time, money, and freedom to pursue what matters most to her.

Having experienced the life-changing impact of living abundantly with less, Rita shared her story on the TEDx Downsize Your Life, Why Less Is More. It also inspired her to write this book, Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyleso that others might consider the benefits of owning fewer possessions so that they can make room for what matters most to them.

My Closet Made Me Cry

“It was a dreary Winter day. Perfect for attacking the first of my many closets … or so I thought. I opened the door to one of my master bedroom closets and stared at a room full of clothes filled with beautiful dresses and suits, many of which had not been worn in years. Some of them still had tags on them.

Touching each piece of clothing, I was filled with emotions ranging from guilt to shame to pure disgust. What made me purchase so recklessly? Did I really need all of these? Weekend after weekend, I would fill my lonely days in search of that “perfect little black dress” for the “someday” perfect date. Then, I counted four other little black dresses that looked exactly like the others.”

Lessons Learned from My Downsizing

Stop making “stuff” mean something.How rich life can be when you own less.How too much “stuff” detracts from inner peace and true happiness.Readers will love her inspirational stories and learn from her useful, practical tips and strategies that they can immediately apply to their own lives to unlock, unload, and unburden themselves from what they think they can’t live without.

Rita uses real-life stories and examples to showcase how simple lifestyle upgrades each day can elevate your happiness and overall quality of life. This book will inspire you to see your life through a whole new lens and challenge you to downsize your life so that you can upgrade your lifestyle.

Rita Wilkins, also known as “The Downsizing Designer,” TEDx speaker, and nationally recognized interior design and lifestyle expert, will inspire you

Downsize your physical and emotional clutter to make room for what matters most to you.Let go of your invisible barriers that stop you from saying “I wish I had …”Reimagine, reinvent, redesign how you live, work, and play so you can have more time, money, and freedom.You will learn how to live the life you love … by design!

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

172 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 11, 2019

About the author

Rita is a master of reinventing and redesigning lives, including her own. Her Downsizing Journey was inspired by a trip to a third world country. When she traveled to Senegal, West Africa, she was profoundly impacted by people who had so little, yet they were happy. This life-changing experience ignited a new passion which led her to downsize from her 5,000 sq. ft. home in the country to her 867 sq. ft. “jewel box” apartment in the heart of historic Philadelphia. She fearlessly gave away 95% of her possessions so that she could live a simpler, more meaningful life with less. She now lives on 5% of what she once owned, she has all she wants and needs, and has never been happier. Realizing the impact of her own Downsizing Journey, she was inspired to share about the impact of living abundantly with less in her TEDx Talk: Downsize Your Life: Why Less Is More which is approaching 1,000,000 views.

As an interior designer for the past 35 years, she has designed thousands of residential and commercial interiors throughout the United States. Known as a highly effective, hands-on designer, Rita has received numerous design awards and has been featured in many national trade publications.

As a lifestyle design expert, she has dedicated the last three decades studying, observing, and impacting how people live, work, and play in their environments. In addition to her core interior design services, she combined the accumulated years of interior design and lifestyle design knowledge, expertise, and experience to create the Lifestyle Division of her company. As a renowned Baby Boomer Lifestyle Design Expert, Rita is a sought-after motivational speaker, a regular guest on national radio, TV, and podcasts that reach hundreds of thousands of listeners, viewers, and readers. She is a regular contributor to business and lifestyle publications and blogs.


As the author of Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyle: Secrets to More Time, Money and Freedom, Rita is revolutionizing the way people view and live their own lives. As a leading voice in the Movement to Live with Less So You Can Live More, Rita utilizes her Signature Blueprint Design Process that she has used for over 35 years to help readers:

• Discern what matters most to them.
• Clarify what’s preventing them from having the life they really want.
• See through their invisible walls of fear.
• Design a blueprint for the life they really want for themselves so they can upgrade their lifestyle to have more time, money and freedom to pursue what matters most to them.

As a transformational speaker, a masterful storyteller, and a revolutionary thought leader on living with less, she challenges her audiences to disrupt their status quo thinking, break through their mental barriers and inspires solutions so they can expose what has been holding them back from having a more well-balanced life. Rita’s dynamic and high energy delivery confronts old ways of thinking so new conversations emerge and inspiration for the future can flourish. Through her inspirational stories, Rita reveals practical tools, tips and strategies that the audience can apply to their personal and professional lives so they can reinvent, reimagine and redesign the way they live work and play. Utilizing her blueprint framework, countless audiences have been emboldened to make meaningful changes, fearlessly let go of mental and emotional clutter and achieve optimum balance in work and in life.

A few fun things to know about Rita…

She is embracing her new “city girl” lifestyle in historic Philadelphia. She is the proud mother of two happily married sons and is excited about becoming a new grandmother.

And always creating something new and challenging…
While on a 30-day journey to the South of France, she prototyped a new location-independent lifestyle business model, Work 3 Days and Play 4.

She is a pilot, loves motorcycles, and blonde Cocker Spaniels.

Reviews

[Katherine Hebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book to be read with pen and paper in hand as you mull over recommendations, quotations, questions, etc. posed throughout and jot down thoughts and ideas. Although the book is relatively short, you really need to take your time to reflect on what changes you can make in your life, why, and where you can begin.

[Zeljka Ulan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely LOVE this book. Following the steps that the author suggested, started me on my own journey of simplifying my life. It is so empowering. I would recommend this book to everyone!

[Zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We are always getting ready to live but never really living." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Though I'm not the target audience for this book, I enjoyed Wilkins's stories and her practical views on getting a handle on downsizing. Taking time and thinking through some of the questions she poses will definitely benefit a lot people. Contains a lot of ideas that have been covered elsewhere but combines everything into a thoughtful guide. The recommendation to get CAD designs or an interior designer for new spaces seems a bit out-of-touch for the average person.

"Set limitations. Choose the essentials. Simplify (eliminate the non-essentials). Focus (a tool for becoming more effective). Create new habits (for long-lasting improvement). Start small (to ensure long-term success)."

"I define lifestyle design as living life on purpose in all areas of your life, including relationships, family, work, health, finances, and spirituality. It is how you experience your own life. It is how you show up each day living in alignment with what matters most to you so you can live a higher quality of life."

"Think back to the unopened boxes in your basement and garage: -Why did you take too much stuff with you in the first place? -Why was it so difficult to let go of certain items? -Why have they remained unopened?"

"Waiting for the perfect time to start: Fear of moving forward means you may never start. There is no perfect time. If you never start, you will never succeed."

"Not letting go: It's difficult to walk away from something you have invested in emotionally and financially. Learning to let go will give you the freedom to move on and seek other opportunities."

"5 COMMON REGRETS:
"1. I wish I hadn't worked so hard [...]
"2. I wish I had let myself be happier [...]
"3. I wish I had the courage to express my feelings [...]
"4. I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the lives others expected of me [...]
"5. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends."

"Stop mourning the past. Stop worrying about the future. Choosing to live in the past or the future robs you of the enjoyment of today. Commit to staying centered and focused on the present. It connects you to yourself and to those around you. Embracing life's "now moments" is a priceless gift you can give yourself and others."

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Won this book on Goodreads) Good book outlining what to do when you need a change. It just may be all the baggage you are holding on to. Might be the best to shed some weight and begin anew. This book was a good read and made me look at my own how to see how I can relieve stress and build up of "stuff". How I can open my home and self up to more experiences than shopping for items that will not bring memories or joy in the log run.

[Louise Borda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a blog post by Rita and was intrigued. I don't read many self help type books, but with retirement likely coming in the next few years the idea of downsizing has been in our minds. Great practical advice, easy to read, and uplifting.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

~Disclaimer: I received a kindle copy of this book for free.~

As an individual who got into minimalism a little over 2 years ago, I thought it would be interesting to read an older individuals experience. Namely, because I want to help my mother with the decluttering process. This is a shorter book and I figured it would be a quick easy read that I may be able to pass onto others.

The authors stated goal in writing this book is as follows: “By writing this book, I hope and pray that I will inspire and empower you to look closely into your own life — to be curious and brutally honest about the quality of life you are actually living.”

She begins by explaining her own journey into decluttering. This section includes a handful of useful tidbits like: "I first removed all the clothes I hadn’t worn in at least a year. Next, I tried on those that I wanted to keep. If they didn’t fit me when I tried them on, I put them in the donate pile. The clothes that remained hanging were still too many, but I realized I could do a second and, perhaps, a third edit on another day." I think when decluttering it is critical that you remember you don’t have to do it all at once. For some folks, a mass declutter is the way to go, but for others smaller steps are helpful.

I will admit at first I rankled at her tiny apartment being a “...867-square-foot apartment...”, but remembering that she had previously lived in a sprawling “...5,000-square-foot home...” I realized that by her perspective it likely was tiny. Besides everyone's ideal space will be different and my own dream space will not be Rita’s. I currently live in a 400-square-foot studio apartment and find the space adequate for a solo individual.

The author did get a tad repetitive with her points at times, but I’m not 100% convinced it wasn’t because she needed to pad her page count.

The author talked about living a life with no regrets. She brings up how the death of a loved one, a bad health diagnosis and the like can spur change. For me, that is what happened. My brother died suddenly, and I decided to make some changes in my life.

Ultimately, I cannot say that her story resonated with me, but I do think it will resonate with other Boomers. This might be a great gift for parents if you are trying to help them declutter. They don’t have to go so extreme (e.g. moving from their house to an apartment), but it may give them inspiration.

~Apologies for the more rambling review. ~

[Diana Beckham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simplicity is for the wealthy

If want to know the secret to being wealthy then read this book. I was naturally downsizing my life without thought, but in response to coping with things that were happening in my life when I won this book through giveaways. The book helped me understand what I was experiencing and how I could continue moving forward. Great read! Thank you