There is a great saying, “Minimalism is not a lack of something; it’s simply a perfect amount of something”, which is SO true! The biggest misconception in the minds of people about this term is to make them feel deprived of material things. It can be easy for a beginner minimalist to have a false idea about a minimalist life. So what exactly is ‘Minimalism’?

The term refers to a balance between something and nothing. Expressing it in another way, living a minimalist life means being happy and content regardless of what the situation is and what you have. It is the joy of freedom and getting rid of the valueless things but keeping the things of importance.

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A minimalist life begins when you are comfortable in accepting the ‘less is more’ concept. This means, beginning a lifestyle that inspires you to live more happily with less. Before making a decision for being a minimalist, you might have questioned yourself about the greatness of minimalism. Well! There exists a single word answer for this – Freedom!

How freedom is connected with minimalism?

The moment you start accepting the ‘less is more’ idea i.e. figuring out what possessions are most valuable and giving up the useless things, you will feel a great sense of freedom. This simply means the less possessions you will have, the more freedom you will gain.

But how do they relate? It is natural that when you have immense possession or wealth, you will always have a fear of losing them. This will ultimately not let you live a free life, a joyful life. Sometimes, when you -have an expensive possession that means a lot to you, for example a car - you would not like to see it damaged. If that happens, you could find yourself in great pain or distress. Therefore, the more possessed life you live, the more you will be trapped by the emotions and fear. You will be less relaxed and more anxious. An excessive amount of possessions can control you - physically, psychologically and financially.

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How Physically: When you have a lot of possessions and there is a need of moving them it can make you physically tired. For example, if you have lots of clothes in your closet, well beyond what you need. When there is a need of moving to a new place for any reason, you will only get exhausted with so much stuff. The alternative of owning a limited amount of possessions could make you feel less controlled and even more physically free.

How Psychologically: It is not just your body but also your mind will also be influenced and get enslaved due to these excessive possessions. Your possessions can take your focus and attention, causing a distraction from achieving your goals or doing anything really important.

How Financially: Of course, you don’t buy anything without paying. Sometimes, when a thing is beyond the budget and still we love it, we don’t mind going in debt and paying later. This way, if this habit speeds up and we owe more money, we start having disturbed days and restless nights. This can even force us to work harder or to do have more jobs to deal with the financial stress.

Imagine less freedom can be a direct result simply by having more and more possessions. So, it is quite simple – acquire freedom by discarding unwanted possessions. You will soon realize how this very notion will become the reason for your smile, joy, satisfaction, better experiences and relationships and again FREEDOM!

Some tips on giving your life a minimalist touch!

If you wish to have a pleasurable life by being a minimalist, here are a couple of things you should keep in mind….

Prepare First! First of all, ask yourself if you are really ready to begin a minimalist lifestyle. Then jot down why you want this lifestyle - followed by writing down all the items of prime concern to you and what are your most necessary possessions. The best way to do this in the beginning is to travel with fewer items. In other words, pack your bag with fewer useful items than you generally do. This way, you will be able to figure out what you need the most and what you can manage without. It will help in removing unnecessary things from your life.

De-clutter is the Formula! The primary focus towards having a minimalist life would be de-cluttering duplicate things from home or the things you don’t need any more. Try giving 10 minutes a day to inspect your home and collecting the unnecessary things. Try to remove items from containers like your wardrobe or drawers. Instead of keeping those unneeded things, donate them. This will also create good feelings.

By doing away with one by one the unwanted and unused items and welcoming only what you find essential little by little you will gain freedom. You will have more money to pursue hobbies that make you happy and discover more of what interests you. In other words, you will be a free soul that has acquired its freedom free from worry and anxiety.

As the age old saying goes….less is more.