Posted by Lending Club :: April 14, 2008 @ 5:42 am

If you put all of your worldly possessions up for sale, what kind of price do you think you could ask? What if you added in other intangible aspects of your life, such as your hobbies, friends, and job? While this may seem like a purely hypothetical exercise, at least one man is going to soon learn the answer.

On June 22nd, Ian Usher will put his "life" up for sale in a massive online auction. The auction will be winner take all: Ian’s house, vehicles, furniture, clothes; everything he owns. By including equipment from his hobbies (skydiving, kite surfing, etc.), he suggests that his lifestyle is included in the sale as well. Taking things even further, Ian will introduce the winner to his friends and has arranged for a two-week trial at his current job. As he says on his website, which documents his story, after the auction he intends to "walk out of my front door with my wallet in one pocket and my passport in the other, nothing else at all, and get on the train, with no idea where I am going or what the future holds for me.”

While we may not take such drastic measures as Ian to make a change in our lives, we can certainly take something from his method. How much of our wealth is accumulated in “stuff” that can’t bring us happiness? What would our lives be worth if we offered them up for sale?

The point of this exercise is to help us separate the areas of our lives that bring us joy from those that do not. Most people conclude that material possessions are not the source of their happiness. Once you have identified each area, you can work towards increasing the good and decreasing the bad. For some people, that might mean consolidating credit card debt. Others may want to spend more time with friends and family. Ian Usher decided that much more drastic measures were necessary.

Even though most of us would never sell even a portion of our lives away, considering those things that would be the first to go is a useful exercise. Ian believes that everything needs to go from his life to find joy. What needs to go from yours?