{"id":27900,"date":"2023-03-15T22:25:07","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T05:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/?p=27900"},"modified":"2023-03-15T23:41:11","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T06:41:11","slug":"minimalist-mistakes-youre-probably-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.becomingminimalist.com\/minimalist-mistakes-youre-probably-making\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Minimalist Mistakes You\u2019re (Probably) Making"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Note: This is a guest post from Sophie Clarke of Intentional View<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve grown to embrace failure on my journey towards minimalism. It gives me valuable clues as to where I still have work to do, helps me course-correct when I start wandering in the wrong direction, and constantly realigns me with my personal values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are definitely a few pearls of wisdom that would have made my budding minimalist journey a whole lot easier. So I want to take this opportunity to celebrate my mistakes with you and what they\u2019ve taught me\u2014as silly, frustrating, and blindingly obvious as they may be.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimalist Mistake #1: You\u2019re stuck in a neverending cycle of decluttering<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Five bags of clothes are prepped for the charity shop and two are already on Facebook Marketplace. Everything left is ordered, tidy, in its right place. You breathe a contented sigh of relief. This is your minimalist life now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or so you like to think. Because bits and bobs start creeping back in again after a week or two. And before you know it, six months have passed and you\u2019re staring in mild disbelief at the exact same overflowing wardrobe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sound familiar?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve certainly found myself in the decluttering rut<\/a> more times than I\u2019d care to admit. What I\u2019ve learnt is that it\u2019s easy to focus all of your attention on treating the symptoms rather than diagnosing the root cause. This means that you\u2019re constantly firefighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was wildly optimistic that I could maintain a minimalist lifestyle without critically examining my buying habits, or in effect, what I was actually bringing into my home.<\/em> But to make lasting changes, you\u2019ve got to address your addictive compulsion towards owning more stuff. This is the real work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimalist Mistake #2: You don\u2019t fully understand your \u2018why\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The benefits of minimalism are lucrative: the promise of a simpler life, a tonic to the destructive effects of modern-day consumerism, and reclaiming your most precious resource\u2026 Time.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, I speak from experience when I say that sticking with minimalism for the long haul can feel hard. <\/em>And this is why I\u2019m a big believer in taking the time to really boil down your ‘why.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that as much as you want to embrace change, your habitual thoughts and beliefs have been hardwired over time. This blueprint is established by your parents, well-meaning teachers, friends, and further cemented by society at large. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimalism is counter-cultural. In a world where you\u2019re routinely judged on your possessions\u2014the make of your car, the size of your house, and whether or not you\u2019ve upgraded to the latest iPhone\u2014it\u2019s a long road to stop seeking external validation and turn inwards for approval.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you need to be 100% sure of your own individual reasons for pursuing a minimalist way of life. You\u2019ll likely be revisiting them often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimalist Mistake #3: You think you have to go extreme<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re sleeping on a mattress on the floor because you sold all your bedroom furniture then\u2026 I sympathize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, so I\u2019ve never actually gone this far! But if you disappear down enough YouTube rabbit holes of extreme minimalism, you\u2019ll probably end up watching a guy explain how he sold everything in his house apart from a duvet and a frying pan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joking aside, I have every respect for people who choose to live in this way. What I would say, is that minimalism isn\u2019t a competition as to who can own the least amount of stuff possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimalism has a somewhat extreme reputation to the uninitiated. But you don\u2019t have to live in an empty apartment, own a prescriptive number of items, or go off-grid and take a vow of silence for a year as a Tibetan monk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still own enough things that people may question my minimalist credentials. And it\u2019s taken me a while to arrive at a place of acceptance with this. My version of minimalism will be different from yours, but that doesn\u2019t make it any less valid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimalist Mistake #4: You\u2019re imposing harsh restrictions on yourself<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Leading on from the last point, minimalism doesn\u2019t need to feel like a punishment or a death sentence. I promise, it can actually be enjoyable!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hands up if you\u2019ve ever introduced a 3-month shopping ban and you simply can\u2019t WAIT until it\u2019s up? In your mind, you\u2019re already planning what you\u2019ll spend all that money you\u2019ve saved on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\u2026 isn\u2019t this missing the point? As Socrates so eloquently puts it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a restrictive mindset will only cause energy blocks and make you pine for your old consumerist ways. So try to think instead about how you can focus all of your attention on the new. For example, you could look to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n