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Minimalist living has become increasingly popular among people. So, what is exactly minimalist living? Is it really a good idea to live a minimalist lifestyle?
Minimalist living, in essence, means that you are adopting a lifestyle of living with less.
What “less” means here is less earthly possessions and a less materialistic lifestyle.
Benefits of Living A Minimalist Lifestyle
So, why are more and more people are interested in leading a minimalist lifestyle?
As an “accidental” minimalist (you will see why later), I have found that there are so many benefits to leading a minimalist lifestyle.
First of all, I find that I feel less stressed and more peaceful with myself because a lot of our stress and anxiety come from comparing ourselves with people around us and wanting the things that other people have.
When you are a minimalist, you stop trying to keep up with the joneses and stop wanting things that don’t mean anything to you.
In other words, minimalism is a mindset and attitude towards life.
Secondly, I start to have more savings because I stop buying things that I don’t really need.
In the past, I would just buy anything that is nice and pretty without asking myself if I really need it.
Now, before I make any purchase, I would ask myself if this is really necessary.
If yes, then I will buy it.
If not, I will move on.
As my spending habits change, my savings have also increased significantly.
Thirdly, I feel my life is a lot simpler and I have more time for people who are important to me.
In the past, my calendar was filled with events that are just a pure waste of time.
Now, I intentionally keep my calendar clear of all the meaningless events because I no longer feel pressured to say yes to everything that comes my way.
Joshua Becker, the blogger of Becoming Minimalist, says it best, “minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.”
Why NOT All People Want To Become A Minimalist
If being a minimalist is so good, why are there not more people adopting the minimalist lifestyle?
Here’s why.
In a materialistic world, it is challenging to be different and stay different, especially people around you are all chasing after material things such as more money, better cars, bigger house and branded clothes.
Don’t get me wrong.
It is perfectly okay to want to have a better life.
And it’s human nature to want more and want better things.
For example, a lot of my friends are talking about upgrading to a bigger house and some have already done so.
When everyone else around you is doing the same thing, it is easier to just follow suit instead of being the odd one out.
Being different is hard, especially if all your friends and family think differently from you.
But, being different is NOT wrong.
Do I like a nicer and bigger house?
Yes, definitely.
In fact, I like big expensive house with seaview,
But, it’s NOT something that I want or I must have to feel happy.
When you buy a bigger and nicer house, you will likely get an equally bigger mortgage in your name.
So, do I want a big mortgage?
Absolutely NOT because I don’t want to become a slave to my bank for the next 20 to 30 years.
To me, a nicer house with a bigger mortgage brings only financial stress, not happiness.
The house that I am living in right now is good enough for the three of us – my husband, my son and me.
A few years ago, we also paid off our mortgage.
That was a big financial burden off our shoulders.
As we are mortgage free, we have more freedom to do what we love instead of being chained to a full-time job that we don’t like.
If we were to follow the herd and upgrade to a bigger house, we would likely lose the financial freedom that we have right now.
So, if given a choice, would you choose financial freedom or a nicer house with a bigger mortgage?
This is a no brainer for me.
There are a lot of other priorities in my life that are far more important than owning a nicer house or a better car.
I would trade anything for financial freedom and total control over my time.
But some of my friend would never understand why I do what I do because we have completely different values and beliefs.
Is mine right and theirs wrong?
I think there is no right or wrong here.
Rather, these are just different lifestyle choices.
So, what is your choice?
Does having more really make you happy?
How To Live A Minimalist Lifestyle
If you think the minimalist lifestyle is a right choice for you, how do you actually get started?
As I said earlier, minimalism is a mindset and attitude towards life.
So, the very first step to living a minimalist lifestyle is to get rid of your old mindset and attitude towards life and embrace your new one.
That means you stop wanting thing that you don’t really need.
But it’s easier said than done.
Mindsets are beliefs which are mostly learned and conditioned through experiences.
The good news is that mindset and beliefs can be changed.
It takes time, but it can be changed.
According to self-improvement expert James Clear, the most practical way to change who you are (i.e. your beliefs ) is to change what you do.
So, start small by asking yourself the simple question,” Do I really need this?” before you buy anything.
For a new habit and a new belief to form, you must do it over and over again.
The more often you do it, the more it becomes a habit of yours and the more it starts to become your new identity – a minimalist.
The next step is to start decluttering your home.
If you just look at your bedroom, how many things are there you don’t really need?
Here’s an example of a non-minimalist’s bedroom.
Just looking at the picture increases my stress level, seriously.
Now, how about this minimalist’s bedroom?
Looking at this photo brings down my stress level instantly.
It’s so clean, neat and tidy with nothing extra.
Now you have a general idea of what a minimalist’s bedroom should look like.
So, how do you decide what gets to stay in your bedroom and what gets thrown out of your bedroom?
A bedroom is a place for you to sleep.
When you try to declutter your bedroom, just use this test “do I need this to have a good night’s sleep?” to all the items in your bedroom .
If it passes the test, it gets to stay.
If not, it gets thrown out of your bedroom.
Once you have done your bedroom, it’s time for you to do the same to all the rooms in your home.
I must say that I felt so good when I am done decluttering my home.
Not only do we have more space in our home, but we also manage to donate most of our stuff that we no longer need.
After you are done with your home, the next step is to declutter your calendar.
Living a minimalist’ lifestyle is not only about living with less physical possessions and less wants, but it’s also about living with less meaningless events that take up a lot of your time.
So, what are the events that are really important? And what events are just a waste of your time?
In the past, I would say yes to all the meetings and outings.
But, I’ve learned to say no and protect my schedule and my time.
Between meeting friends who just love to gossip and complain and staying at home to play with my son, I would choose the latter any time.
Part of being a minimalist is also about not wanting to hang out with people who you don’t really need in your life.
Tips For Minimalist Living
I was a materialist, but now I am minimalist.
In the past, I used to spend most of my money acquiring nice clothes, shoes and handbags because I thought that would make me happy.
It did put a smile on my face, but it was only for a brief moment.
As I read more about personal finance, my beliefs and values changed over time.
I realized that what really matters to me is my time with my family and also my freedom from money.
That’s the key to my happiness.
This realization makes me change my spending habits and money habits.
Before that, I never did any budgeting and never had much savings and investments.
After that, I started to track all my monthly spending and aggressively cut down on things that I don’t need.
No more fancy clothes, shoes and handbags.
You see, living a minimalist lifestyle is just a natural by-product of my new spending habits as well as my new mindset.
So, what is it that really makes you happy?
Whatever you think it is, I want you to know that your happiness depends much more on your attitude than it does on what other people think of you and what physical possessions that you own.
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