All the critics of minimalism would have you believe we are absolute crazy people for becoming a minimalist. I’m not a minimalism coach to convince anyone to become a minimalist. My role is to help guide people who have already decided this is the path for them.
Before deciding to embark on this life changing path it’s natural to have some questions. One key question might be, what are the benefits of becoming a minimalist? Totally reasonable question and one with monumental answers.
More Time
Firstly, becoming a minimalist takes an upfront time commitment. However, the time you re-claim in the future can be priceless. All the years you will save spending less time cleaning, organizing, and maintaining your things.
For example, the average woman spends 11 minutes per day putting on makeup. I haven’t worn makeup in nearly 3 years. Assuming the average woman only wears makeup on weekdays, I still have saved 143 hours of my live over those three years by forgoing makeup altogether. That’s virtually 6 solid days of extra time I’ve had to travel, sleep, play with my kids, have sex, or create minimalist content.
All the time you gain back from your minimalist lifestyle empowers you to spend more time on what’s important to you. Your energy will increase because you aren’t spending time doing things that drag you down. It will feel like you’ve got more hours in your day, but really you’ve just cut out all the wasted time you didn’t even realize was optional.
Financial Power
Your financial well-being will improve in two dramatic ways right away. Initially during your big purge phase there will be a lot of items to sell that will free up some cash. Don’t think of this money as income. You are selling everything at a loss, but it creates a cash influx nonetheless. Secondly, your expenses will decrease as you get a handle on your consumer expenses, streamline your budget, and stop all the spending leaks.
Creating more intention in your finances allows you to find creative ways to use your money on what’s most important to you. Now I’m not going to tell you that you can budget your way out of an income problem, however minimalism reduces the fear of facing your budget in the first place.
Freedom
With fewer possessions to tie you down, you can be more spontaneous. It becomes easier to travel, relocate, or pursue opportunities you otherwise wouldn’t. Previously, your stuff was an obstacle that felt insurmountable and overwhelming. Without the stuff your mind is free to see yourself in new situations without the stress.
The biggest reason behind the sense of freedom is because you’ve untangled yourself from the constraints of societal expectations. Not feeling obligated to conform with what you’re supposed to do gives room to simply do what you want to do. There is no greater freedom than just doing what you feel like with no regard to judgment an expectations.
Happiness
There is a massive difference between settling with what you have and the happiness you feel when you’re living your ideal life. Most people stop trying to level up their life once their situation is tolerable. That’s not enough, you shouldn’t settle for tolerable. Being at your peak happiness means you’ve found your purpose, ignited your soul, and feel supremely content.
Achieving satisfaction in your life comes from deeply understanding your desires and then doing the work to make them happen. Letting go of all the buffer stuff you keep between you and connecting with your life is a critical first step. Life gets clearer when you no longer let your mind and space be overwhelmed with stuff.
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