The importance of a minimalist lifestyle:
The minimalist lifestyle was created by Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn, who have helped more than 20 million people around the world live fully and successfully in the here and now.
If you are looking to lead a simpler and calmer life, in this article we will explain how to achieve it through a minimalist lifestyle.
The first thing you should know is that you have the power and the ability to lead a minimalist life, achieve success and learn how to be happy.
Achieving happiness and personal satisfaction is the essence of this particular and wise way of living, so if this is everything you have always dreamed of, you will surely love changing your habits and your thoughts to elevate yourself and fulfill yourself…
Knowing minimalism:
The founders of minimalism themselves define it as a tool that allows you to get rid of the excesses present in your life, which prevent you from concentrating and focusing on those aspects that are truly important to achieve your freedom, happiness, and feeling self-fulfilled.
And although this may sound a bit hippie or even a bit utopian, the truth is that the minimalist lifestyle adds more and more practitioners; so it has shown that it works and that it can generate well-being.
Do you wonder how minimalism emerged? Or what was the main trigger for this style of living?
It is due to the relationship between human beings and consumerism, and a large percentage of people associate happiness with literally everything that can be bought.
What does the minimalist philosophy point to?
Both Ryan and Joshua are convinced that what is culturally linked to happiness is out of step with the very essence of leading a full and pleasant life.
This is why, when you ask yourself what is the meaning and purpose of your life, you don’t get an immediate sense of it. And it turns out that these kinds of uncertainties make you feel heavy not only mentally, emotionally, or metaphysically, but also on a physical plane.
If this is your case, through the minimalist lifestyle you can live in wonder and amazement with your existence, without even having to give up what you love the most.
We mention this to you because most people consider that to be “true minimalists” they must give up having a house, a car, or a cell phone -just to mention a few cases-when reality shows us that these beliefs are wrong.
The freedom of minimalism:
On the digital platform called The Minimalists, its founders state that the main objective of minimalism is to help you achieve your freedom.
This implies freeing yourself from your fears, concerns, guilt, and depression, as well as helping you escape the clutches of consumerism.
The one that encourages you to buy excessively things that you don’t even need, or to believe that to be happy you must have a late-model car, or designer clothes and shoes.
And worst of all, when you don’t get those “objects of desire” you often feel unhappy, frustrated, or bitter, and in the long run, this ends up making you sick.
The rebirth towards a minimalist life:
It’s time to change your reality.
It is time to give a positive turn to this situation since your happiness cannot be subject to the achievement of properties or assets, and much less you must sacrifice your relationships, passions, your personal growth, and even your health to achieve it.
In this “renaissance” of consciousness, you will learn to make more deliberate and conscious decisions that allow you to live a life with purpose, regardless of your tastes or preferences.
Living the present with determination, clarity, wisdom, and appreciation is vital to leading a minimalist lifestyle to its fullest, since only then can you maintain it over time without hesitation or regret.
Benefits of leading a minimalist lifestyle
Being a minimalist will help you eliminate distractions, regrets, and everything that takes away your happiness and personal liberation.
Below we will list the most important benefits of the minimalist lifestyle so you can discover how this tool can change your life.
1. You will live in the now:
This means that you will not regret past situations or events, nor will you feel anxiety about future events that could arise.
2. You will reduce your discontent:
Minimalism advocates fullness, happiness, and freedom, which means that you feel comfortable with what you have right now, without stressing about what you have not yet bought, lived, or experienced.
By avoiding expectations, you can enjoy what you have, are, and have achieved, and thus avoid crippling discontent.
3. You will live in real freedom:
This is the greatest reward that the minimalist lifestyle offers you: to experience the freedom of conscience like never before.
By freeing yourself from everything that prevents you from growing, evolving, and being aware of yourself, you will feel lighter and much freer.
4. You will get rid of excesses
As we already mentioned, when you lead a minimalist life you get rid of the mental, physical, and metaphysical excesses that make you believe that you cannot reach your full potential.
5. You will be happy
We are not talking about experiencing momentary or ephemeral happiness, on the contrary, by becoming a minimalist you will discover that the key to being happy is not subject to certain things, but to the emotion of life itself.
6. Less environmental impact:
Minimalism is about living consciously, in a way that your surroundings and interior are not affected by your lifestyle.
Giving an example, Joshua Becker tells in his book The More of Less that on average there are more televisions than people in homes in the United States.
Assess your surroundings and ask yourself if you need those TVs, those clothes you haven’t worn in over a year, and that inordinate amount of cables.
7. You will feel less stress:
Imagine that you are at the door of two rooms. One is messy and with everything thrown on the floor, the second has everything in order and with everything in its place.
Which of the two makes you feel less anxious? Which gives you more peace of mind and space to think? This is what living a minimalist lifestyle is all about.
8. You will compare yourself less with others:
All your life you have spent making decisions based on what others have, done or fail to do.
How many times do we not see that people buy objects that they do not need simply to meet a social standard? Or worse yet, to not look bad in front of your group of friends.
If you think about it, this is what consumerism sells you: The more things you buy the closer you will get to the life of your dreams. Buy a house, a car, and as much luxury as possible because happiness is hidden in these material goods …
The thing is, you won’t. So you buy everything you want.
How to lead a minimalist lifestyle
The first steps may be a bit difficult for you because they require you to make radical changes in the way you think and act.
However, you will find that as you move deeper into the minimalist lifestyle, you will feel more comfortable and confident.
Here we leave you a few useful and practical tips that will allow you to live minimalism in your life, you decide to put them into practice in your days and thus transform yourself.
Get rid of the unnecessary:
The minimalist lifestyle invites you to get rid of the excesses of the world around you.
These include the excesses of consumerism, accumulating goods, having too much to do, too many distractions, or even too much noise or debt to pay off.
Minimalism teaches you to detach yourself from the non-essential to focus on what is truly transcendental, which is nothing more than what gives meaning, joy, and value to your life.
Minimalism is not about having nothing, but about having what is necessary.
Do not accumulate:
Those who lead a minimalist lifestyle have understood that saving is synonymous with lightness.
The less you accumulate clothes, shoes, properties, goods, products, and everything you can imagine, the less money you will have to spend on their maintenance or care.
This way of living will be like a new awakening because your attachment to material things will begin to fade, and very quickly you will have the power to balance your finances and use your money wisely.
The less things you have, the more you can enjoy your freedom.
Be neat:
This is something that will come naturally to you. The minimalist lifestyle is closely related to the order and this means that the fewer possessions you have, the easier it will be to keep your spaces and your life organized.
For example, if at home you have what you need to live and feel full and happy, then you will see that you will no longer forget where you put your keys, in which drawer you kept your coat, or on which chair you left your reading glasses.
If you are a minimalist you will put everything in its place without this seeming like a boring imposition; that is to say, the organization will suit you wonderfully and you will respect it with the greatest pleasure in the world.
Recycle:
Make room for you to glimpse your personal growth. A good idea is to recycle everything you can: from the packaging of the food you eat to the sheets or notes from your school or work.
Break free:
Let go of everything that distracts you so you can create amazing experiences. Free yourself from the obligations that bind you to distracting elements that prevent you from building memories and sharing quality time with the people you love.
Free yourself from the external and internal noise that deafens you and does not allow you to think clearly, nor treasure your spirituality and your inner peace.
The result is that you will have the freedom to live and enjoy what fills you and inflates your chest with love, pride, inspiration, and devotion because, in the end, you will have made room for it by removing what was not important.
Donate what you no longer use:
Clean your house, office, drawers, garage, basement, car, and even your bag, and select all those clothes that you no longer wear or the equipment that you do not use, as well as everything that is no longer useful to you and dedicate yourself to donating it.
You don’t have to throw them away, at all, make sure you help others by providing them with what is no longer valuable or important to you, and you will be doing good twice and simultaneously.
Do not consume so much information:
Do not be alarmed, you do not have to disconnect from daily events to adopt a minimalist lifestyle, but spend your hours growing, evolving, and living now with total fulfillment and happiness, instead of spending the whole day immersed in your smartphone, computer, or tablet.
Consume less information or content on social networks, watch less television, and focus on sharing your time with your loved ones, or performing actions that allow you to feel free.
Meditate:
Don’t worry, to meditate you don’t need to sit cross-legged on a blanket or listen to audio with sounds of animals or nature. Meditation is a state of consciousness and you can practice it wherever and whenever you want.
This relaxation technique will allow you to be in tune with your inner being, with your strength and your peace, which is essential to make your energies flow and get rid of psychological or emotional burdens that you cannot control or change, but that still overwhelm you…
In conclusion…
They sold us the idea that happiness was found in the goods we had; that when we bought a house, cars, and how much luxury we imagined we would be happy.
The thing is, this turned out to be false. If you had all those objects, would you really be happy or would you still feel that emptiness in your life?
Many think that living with little is spending necessities, but this is not what minimalism is about. Nor is it that we live in the dark or stop buying what we like.
Rather it is a proposal for you to live consciously, in such a way that you have the space, time, and freedom to follow what makes you truly happy.
Start today, and adopt a minimalist lifestyle that focuses on your well-being and real, constant, and sustainable growth.
Continue reading: How to be a better person: 35 Decisions that will make you improve every day
