- Hey guys I hope you're having a fantastic day today. Today we're going to be talking about how to maintain minimalism and I know that for a lot of us we've gone through and we've declared our lives. We've gone through our closets and our homes and donated a lot of the items that weren't bringing us joy. But the question then comes once we've created these beautiful deep cluttered spaces how do we go about maintaining those. It's a difficult question and it's exactly what we're going to be talking about today. I've got a few tips and tricks that I want to share with you that will help you to maintain minimalism in your home and in your life. And the first and most important tip that I can give you guys in this area really has to do with more of a mindset shift than anything else in the western cultures specifically the United States. We can get so caught up in what we want and what we need. And we spent a lot of time thinking about that rather than what we already have. And if we can kind of flip that script and stop thinking about these hypothetical things that may potentially add value to our lives and begin focusing on all the things that already are present in our lives and adding value whether it's the people of relationships or even the things in our lives we can begin to live in a state of gratitude of thankfulness of fulfillment and satisfaction.
- And when we're not focusing on what we need and focusing instead on what we have it can help us to curb the desire to constantly be bringing new things into our lives. And so if we can focus on what we have and the fact that we really especially in the United States don't need anything or then able to live a lot more intentionally and without the desire to always be bringing new things in. So if you can flip that script in your head go from a state of need to a state of having and really just focus on what blessings you have in your life whether it's like I said the people the things the opportunities that you have if you can focus on those things that's going to reduce your need to bring new things into your life. And it's definitely going to help you to maintain minimalism by simply not bringing extra things. And so shifting our mindset is the first and most important thing that we can do that alone is going to help with the majority of maintaining minimal of them in your life. But I have a few practical tips as well. I want to share in this aspect. And the first one of those is to try a shopping ban in shopping malls are fantastic for really being able to help you to break any compulsive spending habits that you might have whether that's thrift shopping addiction or simply mindlessly buying things that kind of creep into your life and do eventually add clutter so try and get a shopping ban whether you want to swear off buying clothes for month six month a year or maybe you want to do a no spend challenge which is a version of this where you're buying nothing but essentials for a month once again or six months a year.
- There are so many different ways that you can tailor this to your lifestyle the habits that you want to break but doing a shopping down of any kind is a fantastic way really to be more mindful of the way that you're spending your money. And also a lot of us do have built up addictions and compulsive buying habits that we've just kind of not really paid attention to but are so pervasive in the American culture. So if we can go ahead and really be mindful of what we buy and even restrict our buying for a period of time through something like go shopping then it allows us to kick the habit that are going to be huge contributors to keeping us from being able to achieve our goal of maintaining a declared space. Number three is to keep a donation box handy. So if you've already declared your life that's fantastic.
- I'm sure that the majority of things that weren't adding value to your life are now out of your house. And that's wonderful. But it is also important to keep in mind that oftentimes even when we've gotten rid of all the things that don't add value as we continue to live our lives we might discover additional things that simply stop adding value over a period of time. So keeping a donation back somewhere in your house allows you to just cut this kind of mindful nature as you're going through your daily life to just if you see something that's no longer adding value that maybe you haven't used in a year or two or even six months or so you can go ahead and declare those items. I think it's a fantastic way to go about it because if you've declared ones chances are you'll never have to do a huge clutter again. But if you can just be mindful of the things that you have by keeping a donation box handy it allows you to evaluate the things in your life as you go and just donate them as perhaps that box fills up every few months or however long that is for you. And this really ties into the next tip which is to always be evaluating whether or not the things in your life continue to be used by you and loved by you.
- Often times things come into our life for a specific period of time. We love them and use them in that period of time. And then after that we cease to get value from them and we cease to use them. That's perfectly okay. It's just good to recognize that fact and be willing to declare those items as we go about our lives. And those are great candidates for the donation box. And so as you're just going through your life you don't need to consciously always be like oh do I still need this do I still need this. Do I still need this but rather just be mindful of the space around you. And if you notice something that's not adding value anymore do you willing to declare it. And finally this is a tip that I find particularly helpful especially when you're just beginning to create that deep cluttered space. And it's to use the one in one out rule and the way that this rule essentially works is if you're going to bring in an item into your life get rid of an item at the same time. And this is a great way for maintaining those cluttered spaces because it allows you to bring new items into your life while also not increasing the amount of items that you own. This is definitely a rule that I frequently incorporate especially when it comes to something like my wardrobe.
- If I want to bring in an item into my life that's been tested and I'm okay with that song. That's a well thought through purchase. But my only stipulation is OK if I'm going to be bringing something new in I'd prefer something leave at the same time. And that way we're able to ensure that we're not having clutter creeping back into our lives and we're able to maintain a status quo that allows us to live with an amount of things that our life that's comfortable for us that makes us happy. And that really just adds value to our lives in a functional way as well. Well there you guys have it. Those are my personal tips on how I maintain minimalism and I hope that you can apply it whichever of these really resonated with you to your personal life as well. Also if you guys have any tips that I perhaps missed on how you can maintain a declared environment I'd love to hear about those so come at those down below.
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