La Ivana Cert. Life Coach & Human Design Guide

I started my minimalism journey a few years ago after discovering Rachel Aust, MuchelleB, Jenny Mustard and some other YouTubers in minimalism niche. According to my mum, I always enjoyed throwing things out. But only after creating my own definition of minimalism, have I consciously applied it to some other areas of my life, as well. And, here is how minimalism changed my life.

1. making decisions

“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” 
― Roy Disney

The majority of people start their minimalism journey by decluttering their clothes. In my experience, throughout that process, I asked myself questions like
Does this item spark joy? (Marie Kondo concept) Do I like this item? Do I feel good wearing it? As I was decluttering and asking myself all those questions, I realized that soon enough I started to apply the same mindset to all the other areas of my life.

I wasn’t thinking for hours on end should I go out with certain people or should I eat this or that for lunch. I would ask myself what’s best for me, i. e. what sparks joy and simply do that.
In the beginning, it can be hard realizing what items to keep and what decisions to make. As with most things in life, this too takes practice, and what’s a better way to start than with decluttering your environment.

 

2. values

As you’re getting rid of clothes that don’t fit anymore, you gain clarity on what you actually want to keep in your life. Minimalism changed my life by making me realize what brings joy to my life and what really matters to me. When it comes to clothes, you are going to start to think about how do you want to create your personal style. You start thinking about how you want to present yourself, how do you want to feel. You start to realize what are your core values because now you’re not keeping anything that you don’t see any value in. So the question is, what brings value to your life? How can you live your values?

 

 

3. priorities

 

“The Principle of Priority states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what’s important first.” 
― Steven Pressfield

Minimalism changed my life and had a huge impact on setting my priorities. I used to put on my to-do lists whatever I could think of. It was more of a brain dump than a list of things that are important for me to get done. Additionally, minimalism changed my life in this area is by increasing my productivity level. I don’t find myself procrastinating while thinking about what should I do next.

A part of my night routine is making a to-do list for the day ahead. I stick to 1-3 main things that I want to get done and when the morning comes, I jump straight to the task(s) ahead. Mind you, there are also days when I’m not in the mood to do anything and on those days I… don’t do much. Because obviously, those are the days I need to put rest as my top priority.

 
 

4. time

 

I started valuing my time more. And other people’s time i. e. I started showing up on time for appointments etc. In college, I developed a habit of always being late. It started as being late on purpose. I had some classes with heaps of people and professors were used to students being late because a lot of them had earlier classes in different locations so they just couldn’t arrive exactly on time. The point is, professors were focused on their lecture and they didn’t care if you were late. And, as I wasn’t even interested in any of the classes, I would always show up late (if at all).

Eventually, I stopped caring about being on time. I was late when meeting my friends, I would procrastinate with getting ready, and then I would rush and stress out how I’m going to be late. I was late even when the meeting point was my kitchen and the only person I had to meet was my roommate. (Yes, it is possible.) Then, after quitting college and learning about minimalism, I applied it to this area of my life as well. I started being more careful about other people’s time and not making them waste their time while waiting for me. And I started being more mindful about ways I choose to spend my time.

In addition to that, the fewer things I have, the less I have to clean. Therefore I spend less time cleaning and I gain more time in that aspect as well. And I don’t spend as much time on shopping. Plus, I don’t spend money on the things that I don’t need. It’s safe to say that there are more ways minimalism changed my life than I intended to mention when I made a concept for this post.

 

 

5. quality over quantity

 

When it comes to shopping (which I rarely do), I focus on purchasing quality items rather than piling up things I find at discounted prices. This is the perspective I implement in every other area of my life in the same way. Just last October and December I saw a lot of bloggers doing Blogtober/Blogmas and publishing a blog post every day for a month/until Christmas. On the one hand, I think it’s a great challenge to keep yourself accountable, but on the other hand…

I actually saw some YouTubers doing it on youtube and a lot of viewers commented on how their content during that time dropped in value. And I think it makes sense because for that period of time, putting out daily content is your priority and you want to make sure there’s a video/blog post up every day. Often times, it could mean that you’re not providing value that viewers/readers expect. All because it takes a lot of planning and organizing to get the content up on time, which is the process that is easily rushed then.

As always, this is just my opinion based on what I’ve seen. I’m sure there are content creators who are successfully doing it and are exceeding their audience’s expectations.
To conclude this part, minimalism changed my life by focusing on the quality of it, instead of having piles of stuff and to-do’s to keep me busy.

 

 

6. people

 

“Never love anyone who treats you like you’re ordinary.”
― Oscar Wilde

Minimalism changed my life a lot in this area when I applied minimalist mindset to my social media and to my relationships with people in real life. I’m trying to look less at how other people are living their life, and focus on making the most out of my own life. I’m trying to consume less of other people’s content, and focus on creating my own content. I also rather spend time alone, than with people I used to hang out with years ago.

I realized I grew a lot in the last couple of years. Consequently, I realized that I don’t want to surround myself with the people I used to go out years ago. The reason being simply that I now have a different idea of fun, and different needs and desires. The thing with minimalism is that you create your own definition of it according to your values. During the process, you get rid of everything that is not aligning with that definition.

If a shirt doesn’t spark joy anymore, get rid of it. If a person you were close with doesn’t make you feel good anymore, let go of them. Surround yourself with people you care about, people who make you feel loved. If you feel like there’s no one who cares about you, start from within. Be there for yourself, learn to accept yourself and love yourself. Often remind yourself that you’re doing the best you can.

 

7. health

 

“When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied.” 
― Herophilus

Often when I’m in the line at the store, I look at my shopping cart and ask myself ”Is all of this healthy? Do I really need all of this?” and sometimes when it’s my turn, I say to the cashier ”Sorry, I actually won’t be needing this”. I rarely crave ”junk food”, and if I do, it’s not even junk food that I crave, it’s just something that I can eat immediately. It’s mostly crisps and cookies that are in that category.

Lately, I’m more mindful about the food I’m eating and I go to the store with my grocery list (and making sure I stick to it). Having your grocery list on hand saves you so much time because you’re not mindlessly walking around the isles and putting things in your cart. You buy what you need and that’s it. Minimalism changed my life when it comes to health because I started to simplify my approach to nutrition. I started to go back to basics and make fruits and vegetables the base of my meals, instead of adding heaps of bread, eating sandwiches or over-indulging in pasta.

 

 

8. sharing

Only recently I found so many ways to share things I don’t need. I was at my local library one day and saw a book stand where people leave their books for others to take. When I moved away for a few months, I didn’t have any books with me so I bought Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die and when I came back home I brought it to that book stand. I never read the same book twice and I absolutely loved that book. Thus, I wanted to give it away in hopes that someone else would enjoy it as much as I did.

Another example, before New Year’s Eve I did some decluttering. I ended up with a bag of cosmetics, toiletries and even a coconut bowl that I never used. A few days later my cousin was telling me how she wanted to buy a coconut bowl. She was really happy when I gave her the one I had (along with some other things from the bag). And I also left two pairs of sneakers by the trash bin in my neighborhood. Only a few minutes later when I came back, they weren’t there anymore.

So there’s an idea… Go through your stuff and consider giving others the things you don’t enjoy/use anymore. There are people that are going to appreciate it. (Or animals, if you’re giving away food/blankets to an animal shelter.)

 

9. minimalism changed my life and taught me to say no

 

“Let today mark a new beginning for you. Give yourself permission to say NO without feeling guilty, mean, or selfish. Anybody who gets upset and/or expects you to say YES all of the time clearly doesn’t have your best interest at heart. Always remember: You have a right to say NO without having to explain yourself. Be at peace with your decisions.” 
― Stephanie Lahart

Minimalism changed my life and taught me that it’s okay to let go of things that don’t serve me anymore. I learned to say no and let go of sentimental items to free my space and mind of old emotional clutter. I learned to say no to invitations of people whose company I didn’t really enjoy. Embracing a minimalist lifestyle has taught me the importance of prioritizing my own happiness in every way, shape, and form.

Minimalism is a journey of self-discovery. It’s not about the clothes you’re going to keep or get rid of. It’s about finding value in your life and learning to say no to everything that is not aligning with your values.
Find what feels good and say no to everything else. It’s not selfish, it’s necessary.

 

Until the next time,
I.

minimalism minimalist lifestyle personal growth