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Sara B Hart PhD
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The Upside of Downsizing: Getting to Enough Kindle Edition

by Sara B. Hart PhD (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 147 ratings
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The art of downsizing is getting to the point where you have just enough; a point of sufficiency and satisfaction.
This book focuses on the emotional side of downsizing. It is not about the practicalities of
sorting and selling and donating, but how it feels to do all that, to get rid of your children’s favorite toys, even if your children now are forty years old with their own children. How it feels to discard years’ worth of pictures of family vacations, holidays, celebrations. The disappointment and disbelief when those things you’ve been saving “for the children” are not wanted by them. Sara holds nothing back as she talks about her pain and sadness and exhaustion. She also shares her sense of relief and of lightness as she gets closer to realizing she has just enough; that all the stuff is completely unnecessary for her sense of sufficiency and of joy.
As you read about her emotional journey, you will know you’re not alone during yours. You will
find Sara a caring, light-hearted, funny companion along the way, offering helpful hints on how to communicate effectively with Real Estate Agents, Professional Downsizers, Stagers, friends, and family. She offers sage advice about taking care of yourself during the process and understanding what “getting to enough” means and how it can be so helpful to you.
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  1. Print length
    136 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    June 26, 2018
  5. File size
    2352 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07FH81JQC
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Positively Powered Publications (June 26, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 26, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2352 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 136 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0996169261
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 147 ratings

About the author

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Sara B Hart PhD

Sara B Hart PhD

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“How will I know when I have enough?” That is the question Sara Hart asks audiences when talking about her special project called Sign of Enough. She began her project in the mid 1990’s, and recently her passion has been refueled as the results of our over consumption and greed become more and more obvious. The idea also became the watch word for her as she completed a major downsizing of her home. Sara focuses on the emotional side of this process in her book The Upside of Downsizing: Getting to Enough. See her website www.signofenough.com for more information.

Dr. Hart has been involved in helping to develop leaders and effective teams inside organizations for 30+ years. Prior to founding her own management consulting company, Hartcom, Sara was in charge of Training and Development for the research division of Pfizer both in the US and the UK. She has facilitated hundreds of groups and presented to scores of meetings. Sara loves to go on bike rides, walks, and to attend concerts, opera, theatre, and especially to have dinner with friends. She lives with her cat, Mr. Bu, in Los Altos, CA.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
147 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Nancy
5.0 out of 5 stars Sara challenges us with insight, wit, and love to consider her profound question: "How Will We Know When We Have Enough?"
Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2018
Verified Purchase
I love this book! Sara writes with connection, authenticity, humour, empathy, and honesty. And because she is telling a story, it is fun and instructive and sobering to read. I feel that I am with her and that she is listening to me, understanding me, and letting me figure things out for myself all at once. Even though I am not at the moment downsizing, I downsize a little every few months, and the book is relevant even for that level of decision-making and its emotional challenges.
The book also speaks to other dimensions of our lives as we come to terms with what matters most.
It also is an ingenious and effective, practical, personalising, home-hitting way of introducing her vital concept of "The Sign of Enough". How, indeed, will we know when we have enough? A question for the whole world to embrace right this minute. She is brilliant. So is her book.
Plus I love the title. :-)
10 people found this helpful
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Rian Meir
4.0 out of 5 stars A Strong though subtle reminder of having to move.
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2022
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This was much like meeting up routinely with someone in the area who is in the process of moving while the setting may be a park bench, bookstore or other public place where you can listen to the latest unraveling. Much like time itself, it zooms forward and really makes you think about that inevitable moment of having to find a place somewhere to land with less stuff along with an inkling of what feelings might be involved during that process, for example: anger, abandonment, confusion, anxiety, hesitation, loss. It's funny sometimes, so I'd read from this author again. She seems kind in that she is honest. Maybe lonely. Who isn't these days? The subject is an enormous one, and this peers into one person's experience, for those who are curious. You'd probably read this more than once. At times, my attention was drifting, and I think there is a lot of nuance to find in reading again.
One person found this helpful
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Jayda
5.0 out of 5 stars Don’t let the title mislead you
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2021
Verified Purchase
This story is about so much more than minimizing (what I expected)
It’s about a woman’s journey through many trials of life, dealing with aging, dealing with loss, accepting your life and yourself for what it is, and it almost feels like a shoulder to cry on in a way.
It’s inspiring and heartwarming, A great read for anyone who may be seeking/ looking to give emotional validation. If you’re looking for help dealing with a struggle you may have, this book is a great place for a taste of reassurance and confidence.
Even if you’re heart is stone... it’s a quick read to see how the other half (the emotional human half) lives.
One person found this helpful
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Jeanne L
5.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a book for realtors and home sellers... and pretty much anyone who owns lots of stuff
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2018
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Wow - Sara Hart has artfully addressed so many issues in this short, yet powerful book! As someone who has been dealing with the inheritance of family "treasures" and two home sales during the past few years, I found this book to be incredibly comforting and a welcome companion on an otherwise lonesome journey. I pretty much inhaled it when it arrived and expect to read it many times again. This book is a must-read for anyone who is faced with a downsizing, and it's also a great resource for realtors and professional organizers.
14 people found this helpful
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Kimberly Hough
3.0 out of 5 stars Was a pretty good book to read.
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2022
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I liked it quite well but it didn't really describe exactly how to downsize on anything in particular though or how to emotionally get through it all like the book was supposed to be about. That was disappointing.
One person found this helpful
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2kwaldo
4.0 out of 5 stars A different take on downsizing.
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2022
Verified Purchase
Having read numerous books on downsizing and minimalism, I expected this to be more of the same.

I was delightfully surprised that this book had a much different focus. One that none of the others I read even considered

This book deals with the emotions and feelings about what goes on in our heads and life while planning and packing for a major move. Having moved a LOT in the last 10years, the emotional component is so very important, and one that is rarely touched on.

Well worth a read if moving is in your future.
5 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Personal downsizing journey.
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2021
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I want to thank the author for sharing her downsizing journey, with all the emotions and thoughts she had and how she dealt with them. I feel like this is a book I will refer back to again. It was very personal, like a friend telling you a story.
One person found this helpful
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Erika H. Schoeneweis
5.0 out of 5 stars Downsizing
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2021
Verified Purchase
It gave me some insight. I'm planning to move, and I feel armed to cope with the process. It will be less traumatic for me because I'll be able to put my excess into a storage unit and sort and purge at my leisure. I'm excited and looking forward to decorating my new apartment, but I admit there things inside and outside my house that I hate to give up, like my porch and nice kitchen. My future kitchen is smaller but still functional. It is enough. And that is what Sara has helped me understand.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Denise Ribeiro
4.0 out of 5 stars Várias questões para pensarmos
Reviewed in Brazil on July 23, 2022
Verified Purchase
Até a metade do livro achei-o interessantíssimo. Se livrar de objetos que pesam em nossa bagagem é uma coisa boa. Apesar do livro ser para quem vai diminuir drasticamente seus pertences (ela ficou com 1/4 do que tinha), traz perguntas bem pertinentes mesmo a quem não está passando por esse processo, perguntas que nos fazem pensar.
A segunda metade é muito repetitiva: ela escreve em todos os capítulos como é difícil deixar a casa onde viveu tantos anos. E até o dia de assinar a venda ela ainda cogita em voltar atrás e ficar com a casa. Ler 50% do texto nesse chororô foi bem difícil.
Leia pela primeira parte, muito clara, útil e inspiradora para fazer-nos pensar sobre o quanto possuímos e do quanto realmente precisamos.
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CAS
5.0 out of 5 stars Downsizing? - here's a great read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 22, 2018
Verified Purchase
More 'how this was for me' than 'how to', and all the better for that, this refreshingly truthful book is an invaluable resource for anyone facing the challenge of downsizing, vaguely thinking of it for sometime in the future, or for that matter simply interested in exploring their current relationship with accumulated material goods. Over a six month period the author packed up and sold the large, cluttered detached house in which she had lived for more than twenty years, with its much-loved garden, downsizing to a one-bedroom apartment in a retirement community a few miles away. Throughout the often painful process of shedding 'stuff', Hart kept a diary in which she recorded key move-related events and her emotional reaction to them, and it's this record which forms the basis of the book. At the start she cleverly draws in the reader, addressing our likely emotional response to the issues covered and extending an invitation to consider the book the basis for a conversation, with Hart in the role of listener. An added strength is the way Hart has framed the challenge of downsizing, and the issues it raises, within the wider philosophical question posed by her project, The Sign of Enough, 'How will I know when I have enough?' She explores our attachment to a lifetime's accumulation of possessions, challenging us to consider that, precious though they may seem, perhaps they are not, after all, an extension of ourselves, essential expressions of our identity, but simply things we may well no longer need and can perfectly well manage without. Hart is honest in describing the raw pain, rage, resistance and reluctance to let go which has to be faced and worked through, and in admitting that even after all that effort she has moved into her new apartment with far more possessions than there is room for, but there is also plenty of fun, laughter and learning along the way.
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Capt.
4.0 out of 5 stars Positive
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2019
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My parents aremoving from their big house into a bungalow and are a bit stressed...I got them this...my mum said it was a good, positive read!
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Chilled Chablis
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful book - what happens to what we thought was important - when we downsize?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2018
Verified Purchase
I loved this book. Refreshingly honest, witty account of a journey that most of us will go through in our lives at some time. And the main thread is Sara’s question - when do we have / when are we Enough - is so thought provoking. It doesn’t take long to read this book but the impact is lasting.
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