10 Minimalism Life Lessons I’ve Learned | Minimalist Lifestyle

It’s been more than 2 years that I’ve begun my minimalist journey. 

And today, I wanted to talk about all the lessons that I have learned since then. 

During this time, minimalism has helped me grow, see things differently, and change my perspectives. It also has helped me to save a lot of money and to improve my lifestyle in general. 

So here are the lessons that I’ve learned since I’m a minimalist.

We don’t miss what we decluttered

Decluttering is a little bit tricky. It’s challenging to let go of objects and especially sentimental objects. But I’ve learned as and when I decluttered that I don’t miss the objects I decluttered. It happened one time that I missed a book that I wanted to reread, but actually, it was the only time I missed something. And finally, I forgot about the book. Most of the time, I don’t remember what I decluttered, and I don’t try to find something I forget I decluttered.

I didn’t tell myself, “Oh, I wish I kept that.” 

So be confident when you do your declutter; you will feel in your body if you need or not decluttering something. Don’t force yourself to declutter things that you don’t want to declutter “because it’s great to declutter this thing.” 

But really, I realize that when it’s gone, I don’t remember it. 

You can have your own journey 

You don’t need to follow and do the same as other minimalists. You can have your own minimalist path and create your own lifestyle. 

When I begin my minimalist journey, I found a lot of inspiration on Youtube, and it’s ok when you begin too. It’s like when you start to learn a musical instrument. In the beginning, you need to learn certain things, but in the end, you can create your own songs. 

So it’s ok to be inspired by others, to understand some principles. 

After watching many videos and reading a lot of books, I’ve decided to integrate some principles into my own lifestyle. In the beginning, I didn’t find myself as a real minimalist because I had more than 30 clothes in my closet, and my apartment was sometimes a mess. But I realized it was not all the material things that made me or not a minimalist but more my way of thinking. 

So if you like clothes, if you like your books and you don’t want to let them go, don’t worry. 

Do the minimalism the way it makes you happy. Do it to improve your lifestyle. 

But it hasn’t to be a competition; it doesn’t have to be challenging for you. 

It makes me want to learn more 

After the University, I wanted to shut up my brain and not learn anymore. It was challenging studies (I’m a pharmacist), and I thought I had too much in my brain to learn more things. So I spent almost one year after my studies, wanted to learn nothing more because I thought I was exhausted with all this knowledge. I know it’s totally bullshit. Finally, one year later, as I was at the beginning of my minimalist journey, I wanted to learn more. I wanted to learn more about minimalism, personal development, and myself. In the past few years, I became interested in Youtube, in side hustles, in personal finance. It was things that I never considered before. 

Having more time and having a clearer mind helped me want to learn more and improve myself in a lot of domains. 

We consume a lot 

Minimalism made me be aware of what I bought, and it’s pretty scary! Our consumption is maddening. It made me realize that we are constantly urged to buy something that would make our life better, making us prettier, more fashionable, happier…

I used to buy so many things without realizing it. And what made me realize this was when I decluttered a ton of things every single year, even being in the smallest apartment. I asked myself how it was possible to buy so many things and accumulate so much in such a small space. 

Now, I like to look at the things I want to buy and finally don’t buy them because I don’t need them. I feel like I have a strong mindset, and I’m proud of that.

The second thing is that buying makes a huge hole in your bank account over the years and has a deleterious environmental effect. That’s why I now try to shop second-hand things. It’s been a long time that I didn’t buy something really new. 

I’m really glad minimalism makes me open my eyes to my consumption and the environmental impacts. 

Quality over quantity

This is something I told you a lot in my previous videos. You know, when you bought something from fast fashion and after washing it once, you can throw it away. It’s something that I don’t want anymore. Minimalism’s helped me save a lot of money, and thanks to that, I prefer to invest in quality rather than quantity. I bought some really great second-hand pieces, a little more expensive than fast fashion, but it lasted so much more. 

It’s something that took me a long time to understand and to learn. Still, a year ago, I bought a lot of bad quality clothes. 

And I have to say that all the trendy and cheap clothes I bought are not in my closet anymore. 

So yeah, quality over quantity and having just one really great and quality piece rather than ten cheap clothes. I assure you, it will serve you more. 

Less is more 

Now that I did a big declutter, I really realize that less is more. When I have to dress in the morning, I only have clothes I love. Everything I possess makes me happy. I’m more aware of what I have, and it makes me fulfilled. 

It wasn’t like this before. I always needed to have more more more. Having less stuff makes you more grateful, makes your home tidier, makes your life simpler, saves you money, 

Decluttering is fun

I’m a huge fan of decluttering. I thought I was weird, but it was always one of my favorite days of the year! And now that I don’t have anything to declutter in my apartment, I like to do it with my mom’s clothes. 

It’s so satisfying to get rid of things; you feel lighter the second after decluttering something! It made me feel so peaceful. It’s also satisfying to have a clean apartment, not because you find a place for everything you have but because you have fewer things, so it’s easier to organize and know where your items are. 

In the long run, I realize that decluttering has more effect than shopping. Because you decluttered stuff, you don’t want to have more clutter and maybe declutter even more.  

You have more time 

It’s not really that you have more time because everyone has the same amount of time for a day. But it’s more about time management. You have more time for yourself because you know what’s important. Before I wasted so much time, it was crazy. When I was in college, I didn’t have classes every day, but I don’t remember what I did all these hours. I wasn’t really intentful with my time, and I regret it now. 

Now it’s different; I’m more aware of my time, I’m more productive when I need to do something. Minimalist helps me to do so because I have less clutter in my apartment and less clutter in my mind. And I know what’s important. 

Slowing down

It’s something I recently realized, even if it’s been years since I’m a minimalist. It’s about slowing down. It’s tough for me to slow down, but I realized it was necessary. 

I always pushed myself, saying yes to everything and everyone and doing everything I can. I wanted to do it all. 

But I need to learn to slow down, I’m learning to do it now, but it’s really difficult. I’m trying to say no to things; I’m trying to find balance in my life. I’m trying to find time to just be. 

We tend to forget about minimalism because it’s not always about stuff but about life too. In a world where it’s always on the go, in which you always hurry, minimalism helps you to slow down to enjoy your life.

You know what you truly want 

When you want to have more stuff, when you want the last thing, when you want more money, you lose sight of what you truly want. 

And it’s even more obvious when you listen to all of the marketing campaigns around you; it’s really difficult to know exactly what you want. 

It was my case; I thought I needed a lot of money to be happy, I felt I needed more clothes, I thought I needed to live in a big city to be happy. I always compared myself to others, and when I was looking on social media, I thought I needed to be like this model or this celebrity because she was smiling and she had it all. But no. With minimalism and self-discovery, I realized what I truly wanted, and I made decisions toward it.

I managed to do this introspection at the same time becoming a minimalist. Because I started to let go, to declutter this idea of what I should do with my life rather than what I really wanted to do with my life. If you want to have a clearer idea of what you want in your life, don’t forget to download the free guide of self-discovery. It’s ten questions you absolutely need to ask yourself to know yourself better. These questions changed my life, guys! 

Ok, guys, I hope these lessons will help you to be more interested in becoming a minimalist, in your own image, of course. Tell me in the comments below if you have learned another lesson from being a minimalist. I see you at the next one. Bye!