At the end of September of this year, I attended the Annual Congress of Personal Organizers and had the opportunity to attend a talk by Joshua Becker* on minimalism.
I realized that minimalism is not just a style of decoration, but also a philosophy of life. And that, in a way, is very much in line with the organization's principles.
In the organization process, one of the most important stages is disposal, when we reflect on the destination of our belongings.
In the minimalist philosophy of life, the proposal is to keep only what is essential for our lives and get rid of everything that does not serve us. Thus, we make our home a more pleasant place to live.
According to Joshua, the first step in becoming minimalist is our process of convincing ourselves that we want a simple life.
This philosophy of life has some interesting benefits that I share with you:
1 – We spend less
As we live a simpler life, we spend less: less time, less energy, less money…
2 - Financial freedom
When we live in a minimalist way, we acquire financial freedom, precisely because we spend less…
I confess that, for me, this benefit was a paradigm shift, because in my mind it was just the opposite: the more financial gain I have, the more freedom I acquire. However the more I have, the more I consume and the more I need. In this way, the cycle is maintained, that is, I am never satisfied with what I earn.
3 – Less stress
The less we have, the less visual pollution or chaos there is in our home and, consequently, we are less stressed.
In addition, it is easier to clean and take care of the house.
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4 - Freedom
We are able to have more freedom because, instead of wasting time taking care of our belongings, we have more free time to do the things we really like or we can spend more time with the ones we love.
It even has an interesting phrase: “The more stuff you own, the more your stuff owns you” (“The more stuff you own, the more your stuff consumes you”), great point of alert!
5 – Good for the environment
With the minimalist lifestyle, we consume less, which ends up being good for the environment, as we generate less pollution or encourage less “destruction”.
6 – Be more productive
We become more productive as we need less time to take care of our belongings. In this way, we manage our time better to accomplish what really matters to us in this life, such as spending more time with our children.
7 – Becoming an example for your children
With this philosophy, we teach our children in practice that the greatest value is in being, not in having.
8 – Acquire items with better quality
By consuming less, we can choose better what to buy and have the opportunity to acquire better quality items. After all, we don't need to have five watches, just one, right?
9 – Being able to fund other causes
We have the opportunity to invest our money in other causes and help people with fewer resources than we do.
10 – Less work for someone
When we disincarnate, we will certainly give less work to those who stay, as we won't have to spend so much time taking care of the belongings we left behind.
Regardless of any philosophy, my intention with this text was to show that it is possible to change deep-seated habits, as well as reflect on our lives and the path we want to take.
*Creator of the blog https://www.becomingminimalist.com, he is the author of several books on the subject.
