7 ways to become minimalist
Minimalism is much more than a word or a way of doing things, it is a way of lifestyle that literally changes our lives. Several approaches allow us to discover this new way of thinking and how to make it our own. We will explore some of the main approaches in this post.
De-cluttering
Personally, I discovered minimalism in this way a few years ago when I discovered Marie Kondo’s famous method. One day, you realize that too much is too much and you decide to sort things out at home. It starts one day and then goes on for a long time because the more you sort, the more you want to unclutter. If you are like me in this phase you learn a bit more about the subject that interests you, you read articles, books and watch videos. This is when you come across minimalism and its main adage “detach yourself from objects”.
Save money
Another of the most classic ways of setting up in this mental movement. You may wish to save money because of a beautiful project or by necessity. So it is the financial aspect that comes into consideration and that pushes us to resell objects and especially to avoid bringing new ones into your home.
One of the rules to follow if you want to become minimalist is :
One object that comes in = One or more that comes out
Cleaning up relationships
It is also possible to become minimalist by realizing that a toxic person is in our close circle. We want to get as far away from them as possible and we finally realize how much we have to sort out in our life beyond the relational aspects. Of course, relational aspects are part of minimalism, so it is essential to be surrounded by people who pull us up, who bring us positive things and with whom we feel happy. We need to clean up our relationships because toxic people have nothing to do with it. This sorting out can take time because it is not always easy to clean up one’s relationships, so you have to be patient. The main thing is to have opened your eyes, my best trick to avoid making my life unhappy is to feel sorry or pity for the person. In general, a toxic person often has personal worries to deal with on, you just have to realize it and tell yourself that nothing more can be done for him or her and then detach yourself.
Moving house
Minimalism can be on its way out via a move. What better time in life to get away from a pile of stuff if not to change our place of residence. Especially if you’re moving to a smaller space. Often, you need to clean up to get rid of a minimal of things when you pack your boxes. It’s when you unpack that you realize there’s still a lot of stuff to be removed.
Save time
In speaking of home, lack of time can also push us to minimalism. What could be better than cleaning and tidying up 2 to 3 times faster when you become minimalist. This frees up precious time for more enriching activities as a hobby or with our family, our children or our friends.
Travel
Travel is also a good reason for minimalism, especially the project of a nomadic life. When you decide to leave with a single backpack there is no other choice than to leave all your possessions. This is one of the cases that drives to minimalism that I will call “extreme”.
Minimalism can also be applied to all sort of trips as taking less stuff because often it’s cheaper (no luggage in the hold for example). It can be very interesting financially if you are looking to visit new destinations.
Feeling free
Maybe one day you will realize that you only have one life and you have to enjoy it completely. When time passes, we remember happy moments, crazy laughs, wonderful landscapes, fragrances, flavours… we keep almost no memory of objects or material possessions. This is when we realize that it’ s more enriching to live experiences with the people we love compared to shopping, receiving or giving away material goods.
