3 Reasons Why Minimalism is Powerful
I stumbled upon minimalism by accident honestly. A couple years ago, I hit an all-time low in my life. I was dealing with my father’s death, a breakup and in the midst of processing trauma. When it rains it pours and I was a walking train wreck. As a result, I found I had a hard time making myself happy.
In an attempt to Marie Kondo my life both literally and figuratively, I started to re-evaluate everything. Not just the material things I owned, but everything in my life. Friendships, goals, habits, outside pressure I felt to fit in, the expectations that others had for me. I decided if any object, person, goal or thought didn’t add value to my life, I would get rid of it.
With that said, I sold all the things that I didn’t need for a couple hundred dollars. I let go of friendships that weren’t adding value to my life. I cancelled habits that didn’t help me. I completely recreated my goals. My apartment and life became less cluttered and filled with the things that were truly important to me. It was a very liberating experience. Since then, I truthfully only make time for the people or things that bring me joy. Here are my three personal reasons on why minimalism is so powerful.
Minimalism Provides Clarity on What makes you happy
As I mentioned before, I tried so many activities as ways to cover up how I felt instead of tackling the problem head on. However, none of these coping mechanism brought me true happiness. I asked myself: what is important to me? What do I want out of life? The list was short: family, friends, travel, food, learning, my health, my mental health and financial stability. Once I narrowed this down, I grew mindful of my purchases and focused on only accumulating things that were aligned with my values. I became selective with who I was spending my time with. Gradually, it became easy to say no to things that didn’t serve me or my goals. Most importantly, minimalism provides me with clarity on what brings me happiness. Now, I am much more intentional with my time, energy and money.
Minimalism Helps Save Money
As a matter of fact, many people live beyond their means. They do not take the time to scrutinize how a decision made today can impact their health or financial situation in the future. Consequently, many people give into the “I’ll figure this out later” mentality. But, they never really do. Get into the habit of asking yourself: “Does this support the life I am trying to create”? This will help you make the right decisions for your wallet. I’m not gonna lie, treat yo’ self is definitely a lot more glamorous than practicing self-discipline. However, asking ourselves “Does this align with my goals” is much more powerful. I’ve completely transformed my life and my financial future because of this small habit.
Minimalism Helps Create Clear Boundaries
Not only has minimalism been a key component to my mental health but it also taught me to say no. I learned to say no to toxic friendships in my life. I started saying no to things that negatively impacted my health, like binge drinking with friends. I began saying no to boys who wanted to waste my time. I started saying no to things that didn’t align with my financial plans or goals. I grew comfortable in shamelessly saying no to the people in my life who didn’t deserve my time. I became unapologetically real and found more of myself through it.
In addition, the more real I was with myself in asking and answering the tough questions of value, the easier it got for me to let go of toxic people, bad habits and negative self-beliefs. I started to create the life I had always wanted for myself.
Recreate yourself with Minimalism
Every person, friendship, relationship, activity, job should be met with the same scrutiny and question: “Does this support the life I am trying to create?”
What life are you trying to create?
