Hello everyone and how have you been? This question was asked “what does it mean to be a minimalist? Let’s get right into it already.
It’s common knowledge that everyone wants to live a productive lifestyle and make more out of life while having to put in less effort. If you happen to be one of such people, you are at the right place.
If on the other hand, you are not one of such people, just read through and by the end of this article I’m very certain I’ll be able to convince you to want to make more out of life.
My standpoint concerning helping you become more productive and make more out of life in this article is by teaching you how to be a minimalist and answering the question “What does being a minimalist say about you?”
There’s a lot of speculation around what it means to be a minimalist, how minimalists live, how they view life, the kind of decisions that they make, things that matter most to them, etc.
However, it’s in our best interest to not judge a book by its cover but rather take a deep dive into the philosophy surrounding such a lifestyle.
The foundational philosophy surrounding a minimalist lifestyle is that “less means more”.
Sounds like a weird way to see life and doesn’t even make any sense, however, when you sit back to think more about it, you’d see the sense in it.
Deeper
Every one of us wants more time to do the things that we believe matter most in life, however, our capacity to pursue that dream has been made inconsequential because we have so much on our plate that we can’t find time for the things that matter most in life.
The understanding that drives a minimalist lifestyle is that when you have less to do when you set your priorities straight and cut off excesses from your life, you have more time and energy to focus on the little things that matter and achieve more at them, become better then, and better results.
This is opposed to the mindset of casting your grains on every soil by focusing on a lot of things that are not a priority. This is how a minimalist lives.
Ways to know you are a Minimalist?
It’s a proven theory that “too much” substantially reduces focus. Scientific evidence points to the fact that clutter elevates cortisol levels and disrupts focus.
The effect of these can be seen more clearly in the difference in productivity on days you use a to-do list versus a day you don’t; there’s no mix-up, and the to-do list is more effective.
I believe it’s most expedient that will understand a minimalist lifestyle doesn’t just have to do with money and other physical possessions; it cuts across everything, cuts across all activities, cuts across every decision taken.
Starting with the places to go to, the conversations we have, the people we spend our time with, the things we choose to spend our resources on, and every kind of activity that we perform throughout the day.
The most productive people in the world are arguably minimalist and we could go on and on mentioning names like Warren Buffet (though most will disagree), however, we’d be sticking to how to be a minimalist and the perks of living a minimalist lifestyle.
The main argument of most of the advocates for a minimalist lifestyle is that you get only what you need, cut-off unnecessary activities, set your priorities straight, and have more time to do other things that bring more flavor to life, like exercise, meeting with loved ones, going on vacations, and living the life that you’ve always wanted to live.
HOW TO BE A MINIMALIST
In handling the subtopic of what does it mean to be a minimalist?, we would be shattering some myths along the way. These myths include misconceptions about how to go about your journey as a minimalist and what people think about you as a minimalist.
The first place to start if you want to live as a minimalist is your home. Many people think living as a minimalist means you have very few things in your house and you sleep on a mattress on the floor, however, it’s not exactly so.
The degree to which one chooses to go in their journey is entirely up to them and there isn’t a hard and fast rule to how to start or go about it.
6 Qualities and Characteristics of a Minimalist
A minimalist lives a straightforward, uncomplicated existence. They only maintain items that are actually significant to them; they don’t believe in collecting things just for the purpose of collecting them.
The pursuit of meaningful relationships and activities brings happiness to minimalists, who are frequently exceedingly organized and effective.
Despite this, minimalists are generally perceived as cold, wealthy, uninteresting, extreme, and clinical.
However, some of the most fascinating and vibrant people in history were minimalists. Steve Jobs and Mahatma Gandhi both aggressively pursued simplicity and transformed the world.
So how does someone who lives simply look? What characteristics best describe this kind of person? I outline six traits that minimalists have in this essay.
What Does It Mean To Be A Minimalist?
1. Everything Doesn’t Go Into The Trash
The first thing to consider is how to have a minimalist home. Downsizing your home is the first thing to do as a minimalist before every other thing. The main thing is to learn how to live off of less, being content with small and remaining content with small.
Now mind you that this doesn’t mean you should throw everything away; you don’t gain anything by throwing away everything.
This movie is more about learning what is most important to you, rediscovering your interest, and living by them. Everything doesn’t go into the trash.
2. Shopping Isn’t A Taboo
Many people believe that living as a minimalist doesn’t involve getting new stuff; this is a lie.
Buying new stuff isn’t a crime if you are buying to replace things that you already have rather than adding to them.
In some situations, you could also buy to add to the things you have because you believe you need them. However, this kind of buying is not impulsive rather, it is very much considered and calculated spending.
Another principle around your spending habits as a minimalist that solves a lot of problems is that you only buy things that are of high quality and we will last, so you don’t have to keep buying to replace them.
3. There Is A Pattern To Being A Minimalist
As I already mentioned earlier, there isn’t a hard and fast rule on how to become a minimalist.
There are no regulations, pathways, or patterns written on stone. Some people do say it takes a while for you to get a hang of it, on the other hand, we have people who say it happens overnight.
They both are right but they are as right as they are wrong.
For some people, it takes a while for them to get a hang of it but also for some other people, it looks more like it comes naturally to them. No hard and fast rules, you grow into it at your pace.
4. Discarding Emotions Is Not Part Of The Lifestyle
But I talked about not throwing everything into the trash, I never said anything about not throwing anything into the trash at all.
Some people look at minimalism from afar and believe they’re emotionless and they’ve lost every trace of human feelings, but that’s the wrong way to look at things.
Trashing things that hold sentimental value to you doesn’t mean you’re also discarding the memory that it holds.
The memory stays with you for as long as it can, but that doesn’t mean you need to keep objects that constantly remind you of the memory. Clean up your closet and take out the trash, that’s the way to live.
5. It’s Not A Hack
If you are at any point considering how to be a minimalist and you see it as a hack, then you never have a full experience of it and at the end of the day, you won’t go through with it.
Living as a minimalist is more of a mindset than a hack, it’s a lifestyle and there’s an entire community around it.
It’s more about living a life of simplicity and efficiency rather than a quick way to save resources.
Don’t treat it like your hack, it won’t pay off.
6. It’s All About Deprivation
Just to say I had said earlier, The perks of living a minimalist lifestyle are all about simplicity and doing less to achieve more and have nothing to do with depriving yourself of necessary things.
According to The Minimalist Vegan, “this paradigm was sparked in a conversation we had with Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist.
By pairing down our schedules, commitments, toxic relationships, and things, we free up our capacity to dream, play and be of service”.
Conclusion
To me, when faced with the question “What does being a minimalist say about you?”, I believe it speaks more about setting your priorities straight rather than a mere bid to deprive yourself of what many terms to be a luxury.
Simply put, it’s more about productivity and efficiency, and the simplicity that comes with it.
I do hope you had a nice read, now understand how to be a minimalist and have been motivated to leave a minimalist lifestyle. If you have, please do well to follow through with it.
What’s it like to be a minimalist?
A minimalist lives a straightforward, uncomplicated existence. They only maintain items that are actually significant to them; they don’t believe in collecting things just for the purpose of collecting them. Minimalists frequently exhibit high levels of organization and efficiency, and they like pursuing meaningful connections and pursuits.
