Congratulations on taking the leap and adopting a minimalist lifestyle! Embracing minimalism means so many positive changes in your life. You’ve freed yourself from the control of consumerism and focus on what truly matters in your life. Now, you’ve entered the maintaining minimalism era of your journey.
The decision to adopt minimalism is the most agonizing part of the process. But, once you’ve decided to become a minimalist it is a series of exhilarating tasks as you fully welcome the lifestyle into your life. After the big steps are all checked off, it can be difficult to know what to do next.
Entering the maintenance phase of minimalism has a lot less excitement and therefore causes a lot of people to abandon the lifestyle. Let’s prevent you from jumping ship by giving you ongoing goals to keep that feeling of accomplishment going. Maintaining minimalism doesn’t have to be boring.
Set New Goals
Let’s be honest, your life is different now than pre-minimalism. It’s hard to accurately anticipate who we will be on the other side of a rigorous minimalism journey. Creating new goals based around the person you have become is critical to staying invested.
For example, my initial goal as I pursued minimalism was to reduce the overwhelm of overseeing a house with kids. Later, I went deeper into minimalism when we decided to abandon the house in the suburbs lifestyle in exchange for a nomadic life.
Re-Evaluate Your Possessions
The one-time event fallacy of minimalism needs to stop. Your decluttering journey goes on in perpetuity. There will always be new items that age themselves out of relevancy in your life. Don’t take your eye off the goal of simplicity and clutter free spaces.
Pick areas to spot check for minimizing potential. Your game closet might have games with missing pieces or that have fallen into disrepair. Manuals for electronics or appliances that have been purged might still be taking up space in a drawer. Toys your kids no longer play with or have become worn over time may need to be retired. There is always something new to purge.
Invest in Quality
I don’t meet a lot of minimalists who get to start their minimalist home from scratch with an unlimited budget. Everyone starts with some version of accumulated stuff that came into their possession over long periods of time and may not be items that suit your space or style.
Gradually begin replacing items with high-quality items you love. Invest in furniture you pick specifically to spark joy in your space. Retire hand me down items you kept because they did the job and replace them with the items you feel thrilled to use.
Seek Out Experiences
Use your new time, money, and energy to create enjoyment through experiences. Most minimalists find themselves with less busy work to fill their weekends because constant re-organizing of clutter is no longer a concern. You’ve likely sold items along the way, which freed up some cash. Plus, your mental burden from the stuff has made you far less stressed.
Find a hobby to fill your time or do the thing you’ve been putting off because you created excuses that have now been eliminated. Take the trip, create the memory, and don’t regret living in the moment.
Create Routines
Thriving within a routine framework is common. What often throws off routines is all the overwhelm that makes us procrastinate and execute the routine poorly. You will find that because of minimalism your life is less chaotic and routines are realistic again.
Figure out what your ideal day looks like and create a low key routine to do more of those things. Leave room for the unknown but allow yourself to take action instead of staying stagnant in the state of overwhelm that used to make you shut down.
Find Other Minimalists
Surrounding yourself with like minded people gives you such a sense of belonging. So many people start this minimalist journey with enthusiasm and gusto despite being totally alone on their path. After the big minimalist objectives are overcome you’ll want to decompress with people who get it.
Come hang out in our free Facebook group and share your story. We value a diverse range of experiences and want to support your unique path. >> Messy to Minimalist FB Group << I can’t wait to virtually meet you!
Focus on a Niche
I hesitate to compare minimalism to a religion, but there are countless different sects of minimalism similar to any religious entity. You can find deeper meaning for minimalism in your life by embracing one or multiple factions of minimalism.
Maybe sustainability becomes a central focus of your minimalist journey. Becoming more present by going all in on digital minimalism could be your jam. If you’re into adventure then becoming a full-time traveler like me could be your new pursuit.
Give Back
Consider sharing your minimalist journey with the world. I know that my first few years as a minimalist I used to call myself, ‘Minimalists Un-Paid Spokesperson.” Minimalism had done so much for me personally that I wanted to scream it from the rooftops.
Maintaining your love for minimalism could be as simple as sharing your story to inspire others. You lived your journey so it likely doesn’t seem that remarkable to you, but to others it can mean the world.
Remember Your Why
If you took the Messy to Minimalist E-course you know a significant effort is put into clarifying your why. That’s because most people have their why entirely wrong. You wanted to start this journey for some reason and you saw it through because of something compelling.
Reconnect with your original purpose for this dramatic life change. See if your original driving force is still relevant now that you’ve come this far in your journey. Messy to Minimalist students should re-watch the section about identifying your “why” to see if modifications are necessary.
Every step of your minimalist journey from decision to maintenance is covered in detailed video lessons. Understand the psychology of your accumulation and work through your mental blocks towards minimalism.
9 Practices for Maintaining Minimalism
You call yourself a minimalist and you checked off all the boxes on your minimalism to-do-list. Now you’ve entered a lull phase in your minimalism journey. Maintaining minimalism is constant but often overlooked when people learn about this lifestyle.
Use these additional steps to keep your journey fresh and fulfilling for your life. Becoming a minimalist is not a one time event it is truly a lifestyle.
One note I want to stress is that you don’t need to keep becoming more and more minimalist over time in order to consider your journey a success. Some minimalist influencers use their platform to keep pushing the boundaries of their minimalism to more and more extreme behaviors. You do not need to be like them. Your version of minimalism is wonderful and hopefully aiding you in creating the life you deserve.
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