Since 2015, I’ve been inclining to live my life as a minimalist.
The first time I know about minimalism (or at least that’s how I remember it) is from the minimalism subreddit.
Instantly I liked the idea of minimalism (mainly because I have OCD and always been a very organized person).
At that time, the reason I practice minimalism is to be frugal and more stress free (financially speaking).
Here are some things I like about minimalism.
1. It helps me declutters my life, mentally and physically.
When I had a lot of stuff, it not only takes up space in my room (physical space), but it also makes think about the items constantly (mental space).
We think about the items we have, because if we don’t have an item, how can we think about it?
The more items you have, the more you think about them.
By removing some stuff (either by selling them or donating them), the number of items processed by my mind is also decreased.
2. It helps me create a very simple life.
Life is much simpler now.
Do I need it? Do I really like it?
That’s the two questions I always ask before doing or buying something.
While I’m still doing or buying things to impress people at certain level, now I care less about what other people think of me.
Moreover, minimalism also thought me that if I want to impress people, do it in the right way.
Most people buy things to impress other people.
The problem with this method is, it’s cringy and it costs you money. Lot of them.
I want to impress people not with my stuff, but with my achievements.
Why?
Because you can borrow, ask, or steal materialistic things, but you can’t do the same with achievements.
3. It helps me to save money.
This is very obvious. And I think this is one of the main reasons I practice minimalism.
With minimalism in my mind, I no longer buy unnecessary items just to satisfy my illogical desires.
And because I sell some of the stuff that collecting dust in my room, I also make some money.
Now I value money more than ever (mainly because I went ‘bankrupt’ LOL).
And if I ever want to spend some money (impulsively) I tend to choose to buy experience rather than materialistic things.
For example, instead of buying a game accessory, I prefer to hang out with my friends, having a great fun and laughing together.
Instead of buying a new pair of jeans, I rather go traveling with my friends.
4. It helps me on achieving my goals.
One of the core principles of minimalism is to remove what is not important and focus on the essentials only.
Will it help me achieve my goals? What if I don’t do it? What is more significant in achieving my goals, this or that?
By asking those questions I can evaluate whether or not I should do (or not do) something.
In my business, this mindset helps me focus on the most important thing ever, which is creating great and useful content instead of chasing social shares and backlinks and tweaking designs.
5. It helps my websites to load faster and provide better user experience.
After looking at the data, I found out that people in general don’t click the social share buttons I sprinkle in my articles.
So I removed it.
And it turns out that people are not using the search bar in the sidebar.
So I removed it.
And people don’t really care about the fancy related posts either (because it’s not relevant).
So I removed it.
And I don’t need any contact form plugin. I just use an email link so people can contact me directly.
So I removed it.
And I’m suck at doing email marketing, at least for now. And the subscription pop-up made my site loads slower.
So I removed it.
There are many plugins that I removed, and my sites has increased in performance and that is good for the visitors.
6. I do things more efficiently now since I now can prioritize what’s important and what’s not.
For example, when working out, I do the core exercises first, such as bench press and standing press.
Other exercises, like the dumbbell lateral raises and the rope push down are additional, I only do them if I had energy left.
That way, my energy is reserved doing the most important exercises that contributes the most to my overall physical change.
In creating content, I do all the research and formatting, but left the content to my freelance writer.
Wait? Isn’t the content the most important part?
Yes, but I don’t have the time to write the content. In fact, only me can do the research part, and I can outsource the content to anyone.
If other people can do it, let them do it.
7. I live a happier life since I no longer crave for items that are not ‘essential’.
I used to want to collect a lot of games, like the Final Fantasy series, Gran Turismo series, Need for Speed series, and many others.
I also used to want to collect original movie blu-rays like the X-Men series, Jurassic Park series, Star Wars series, and many others.
But after drawn to minimalism, I thought to myself, “Do I want these things because I REALLY want them, or do I just ‘kinda’ want them because they’re cool items?”
Another thing that prevented me from collecting those items is, they cost me a lot of money, time, resource, and since they don’t have the same ‘box/packaging/edition’, it makes my OCD brain anxious.
After all, those movies can be accessed legally via streaming services.
I also decided to ditch my physical copies of my PS Vita & PS4 games and went fully digital.
8. It’s easier to clean my room since there are fewer items now.
Very obvious, less items means less time and energy to clean and reorganize your environment.
In my parents’ house, there are lot of ‘junks’ that regularly get cleaned every year (mainly before the Eid al-Fitr).
And guess who’s get ordered to clean those junks?
Me!
And my brothers.
This is why I even hate more having stuff that you don’t care about and that is why I also hate impulsive shopping.
Luckily, I already made a habit to not buy anything that I will not use regularly or even care about.
9. It’s also easier to travel because I don’t carry so many ‘must-have’ items.
This is one of the perks of being a minimalist.
You will not bring many things when you travel.
When I went to Bali with my friends, I think I’m the only one with a regular backpack.
I don’t bring toothbrush, soap, or shampoo because I know the hotel will provide them for us.
I also don’t carry excessive outfits because I know we’re only there for a few days.
My friends carry heavy bags and lot of items that are sadly not used at all.
The less you carry in your journey, the more enjoyable it becomes.
10. My willpower is now reserved to make more crucial decisions.
Remember those articles explaining why Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and many other billionaires dressed so simple?
Yes, they were right. Willpower is like muscle, it can be fatigued.
Making decisions requires brain power and a lot of calculations.
By making my life as simple as possible, I can use my willpower to make more decisions that are more significant in changing my life.
I no longer spend 10 minutes to choose what to wear today, because my wardrobe is so simple. Just a pair of jeans, a plain T-shirt, and a pair of Converse shoes.
In most days, I no longer think about what to eat for this noon, because I already have a meal plan for my physical needs.
The Greek God Program is a workout program I used to build my physique, and the reason I like it is it’s using minimalism as its core.
To think about it, the founder, Greg O’gallagher, is also a fan of minimalism.
I don’t have to do various complex additional exercises that doesn’t provide significant results anymore.
I just do the main workouts that are proven to be effective at gaining muscle.
Should you be a minimalist?
I think most people will benefit from some of the basic principles of minimalism.
If you at least practice the basic minimalism principles, you will have more money and more stress free.
Just don’t take it to the extreme, chances are you will become obsessed with it and it will ruin your life instead of improving it.
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