6 things that i have learned, after 5-6 years of minimalism, coming up.
When I sat down to make this list, inspiration
started flowing like crazy.
And I realised that for me, these things go
way beyond the physical stuff, the physical
items side to minimalism.
This minimalist lifestyle has changed my life in many ways
way beyond that.
And that’s part of why I love talking about
it and learning about it.
When I was younger, I often felt like there
was something lacking.
I sometimes felt like I didn’t have the
right things to make me feel confident.
I didn’t have the right clothes, the right
makeup, or the right gadgets.
I often felt a step behind the others because
of that.
And I used to imagine, a future version of
myself, one where I could be content, confident
and happy.
And that image gave me hope that I would one
day get to that place.
And I did get there, but not because of what
I thought.
I got there, not by owning the right stuff,
looking the right way or fitting in with what
all the others were doing.
I got there by choosing my own path and focussing
on all my blessings.
Through minimalism, I learned that I actually
don’t need that much at all to be happy,
and I certainly don’t have to be perfect.
To even be able to discard things that I don’t
need, to be blessed enough to have all my
basic needs met, is already something to be
very grateful for.
I was able to stop my pursuit or external
things to make me happy, and I was able to
see the difference between actual needs, and
wants.
Decluttering got easier and easier over the years.
And every step of the way, I also got closer
to myself, to my values, to my confidence,
and to my happiness.
It’s easy to get caught up in thinking a
certain way.
And companies and advertisers are keen to
take advantage of that.
If I just buy this skincream, this outfit,
this super-hip thing that everyone is buying
I can belong and feel good about
myself.
In fact, I’ve learned that buying new things
will not change anything.
When you buy something new, you’ll get a
rush of dopamine and you’ll have a happy
moment.
But that moment passes, we become used to
something, and we immediately start searching
for something new.
This cycle will always continue.
When we feel good, we want the feeling to
last, and when it passes, we want to experience
it again.
Stopping this cycle has made me so much calmer,
I can stop searching, I can see things for
what they are, and focus on what I already
have.
One of my favorite quotes is from Bob Marley.
It goes, some people are so poor, all they
have is money.
I love it because it puts such a different
perspective on life, from what a lot of us
in Western cultures at least, are used to
hearing.
I’m sure making lots of money can be great, it certainly makes things easier, but it’s only one thing.
There is so much more.
Are you enjoying life, how do you feel when
you wake up in the morning.
Are you spending time with your loved ones,
are you pursuing your passions, are you giving
back to the world.
There is so much that money can’t buy.
I have made a change in my life because my
job as a projectmanager was not making me happy.
And I don't think I could have made that change in my life if I hadn't lived a minimalist lifestyle.
BTW, if you like to watch more of my videos
about minimalism, then check out my minimalist
living playlist, right here.
Humans like the feeling of security, to shield
us from pain and suffering and experience
only the good things.
And hoarding lots of things around us can
seem like it can offer us that.
And I’m not going to lie, I can also be
a control freak.
But through living with less, I’ve seen
that nothing has changed.
No catastrophe has come because I didn’t
have a certain thing anymore.
Everything is just like before.
And this has taught me the very valuable lesson
or letting go and just having faith.
I love the analogy from Alan Watts.
Imagine falling down a cliff.
You’re falling and all of a sudden, you
see this big hunk of rock falling next to
you.
You start to clinging to it, hoping it will
help you, when you actually know it’s not
going to do a thing for you in the end.
Now I don’t see life as falling off a huge
cliff, but I like the message in there.
And I know that life will look after me, and
I don’t have to cling to something.
I used to have so many things in my home that
didn’t make me feel good, in fact they made
me feel guilty.
Expensive clothes that I haven’t really
worn, or things that don’t fit me anymore,
items that are difficult to maintain and therefore
are just sitting there in need of treatment,
or certain hobbies that I’ve never made
the time for.
And everytime I would look at those, this
feeling of guilt would rush over me.
Getting rid of these items has been so freeing.
Life is too short to feel guilty every time
you look at an item in your home.
I used to think that certain things were just
not possible for me.
Either because of financial reasons, or personal
reasons, I’d just think that some of the
paths that I saw others take were not open
for me.
Minimalism has made me see that this is not
the case.
There is in fact nothing I couldn’t do.
It’s a matter of wanting.
If I want something hard enough, and work
at it hard enough, I can create this path.
If someone else is out there doing it, I can
do it too.
It’s easier for me to make big changes in
life, because we’ve been living below our
means.
Minimalism helps you to not get trapped into
expensive commitments, like for example an
expensive car, that we then have to keep working
really hard for in order to keep paying for it.
This way of living has opened up a lot of
paths for me that I didn’t think I had before.
And it’s a great feeling to know that if
I want to do something, there’s always a way.
