What is the Minimalist Philosophy?

The philosophy of minimalism is typically the act of simplifying something back to its basic elements. Minimalism is a movement seen early in art and architecture. It was thought that unnecessary aspects retracted from the value or functionality of a piece. By removing those elements you allowed it to reach its fullest potential. This same benefit can be had by using the philosophy as a perspective with which to view your life.

A social movement

The current social movement is similar. Many people want to simplify their lives by reducing their belongings. The KonMari method is a popular form of decluttering that applies to your physical belongings. It focuses on reducing your things down to those that bring you joy. Some have even taken this a step further and are challenging the generational belief that bigger is better. The millennial generation is moving in numbers to smaller homes and disposing of the many belongs that don’t serve purpose.

Minimalism lifestyle perspective

There is an increase in desire by this generation to “do what you love” and readjust that work/life balance. To that point, minimalism as a lifestyle perspective is more than just a checklist of what to keep versus discard. It is a mentality, a process, and a state of being. It focuses is on simplifying back to the basic elements. This allows yourself to focus on what really matters to you. Living with this mentality gives you the time to live the life you want to cultivate.

What’s makes a lifestyle?

Your lifestyle is how you (as an individual, household, and/or society) live on a day-to-day basis in order to cope with your physical, mental, social, and economic environments. It includes the things you do at work and at home. Your lifestyle encompasses your interests, values, attitudes, even the way you use your money. It is a reflection of your self-image, as well as how you’d like to be perceived by others. 

I think each of these categories are fundamental to a full perspective of life. This blog will include each as it’s own area of focus with many more posts to come. Under the following sections I’ll link the category page and intro posts as they become available. If you are particularly interested in that topic be sure to check those out. Also, if you comment below this post or shoot me an email I’ll make sure to add more of the content you’d like to see!

My 5 lifestyle categories

Wellness

Your wellness is who you are physically and mentally. It is how well you are able to function as a human being going through life. I would say it is a marker of how capable you can be in your pursuits. Wellness includes aspects such as your nutrition, exercise, mental health, and personal development.

Living with a minimalism perspective on your wellness is about focusing on what’s important to you. It allows you to more effectively strive to be your best you, physically and mentally. True improvements are found in looking at the root of the issues and obstacles standing in your way. I believe true health comes from getting back to the core of what it means to be well.

Category Page | Intro Post

Relationships

Another important aspect of your lifestyle and identity are your relationships. This includes the people you choose to do life with and the quality of those relationships. The relationships that are often most influential on us and in our space include your:

1. Spouse
2. Children
3. Your own family and in-laws
4. Friends; and
5. Community as a whole.

A minimalist perspective on relationships serves to reduce conflicts and misunderstandings. It helps you learn how to co-exist as two individuals who respect one another. So often problems are rooted in trivial things external to who you are together and your mutual goals. It is so much easier to identify the issues worth fighting for when you refocus your attention.

Category Page | Intro Post

Environment

Your environment, the world you live in, is often a lot more in our control than we acknowledge. Your lifestyle and perspective influence many aspects of your environment. These aspects can include:

1. The atmosphere you create at home
2. The type of job you do
3. The businesses you frequent
4. The kinds of belongings you have (the most common topic in minimalism)
5. How you keep and use those possessions

To me, the minimalistic mindset on environment is about creating spaces that build you up. Your environment should enable you to live the life you so desperately want. Keep only the items that help you be what you want to be. Organize your house to remove obstacles that prevent you from having the daily habits that make you YOU. Take responsibility for the world you create so you can take charge of who you are going to be.

Your time // Productivity

I truly believe you are what you do. How can you claim to be something that you don’t actually engage in on a regular basis? What you do with your time is a huge facet the lifestyle you live. It’s also a marker of who you are trying to be. How do you use your work time? Your down time? Your family time? Are you using your time effectively to reach your goals and the live abundantly?

Using your time like a minimalist is something that gets me excited. Who you want to be seems to fall into place when you are more aware. Aware of how you use your time and when you’re intentional about where you want it to go. That’s not to say it’s always easy! But, it was definitely an area I felt ruled by before I took responsibility. It also gave me the most freedom when I finally accepted control.

Finances

Finances are another big one. Your finances are often the limiting reagent in doing what you love. Part of that is so many of us accept the burden of our materialistic society. When your goal is to have all the toys you have to work super hard to have enough. The minimalism perspective on money is learning what things that are important to you. Life is simpler and more joyful when you bring your finances back to the basics of needs and wants.

You’ll find the need list is shorter than you think and the want list is all up to who you want to be. I find that freeing. Minimalist finances is about acknowledging what your real needs are and how much they cost you. It is evaluating the excess spending you were doing and embracing the desires you have for yourself and your life. It is about appropriately budgeting and saving for those things. It’s about making the life of your dreams come to fruition.

One of the things I find most fascinating and motivating about minimalist finances is financial independence. If you don’t know what it is, be looking for my upcoming posts about it. It changed the way I live my life. It’s also safe to say, it was one of the biggest motivators to learn more about minimalism.

Minimalism in review

Minimalism is about being you to the core of what you value, your very essence manifested. Some of the very best parts about minimalism as a lifestyle perspective is that:

1. It’s Not A Sales Pitch: You don’t have to buy anything or subscribe to a monthly fee. It’s just a philosophy, a perspective to life that you can choose to take for yourself. Free.
2. It Simplifies The Chaos: Life is often so cluttered with excess that it’s hard to see anything through the mess. It was leaving me feeling without direction and purpose. Minimalism is about simplify the excess and living abundantly with enough.
3. You Don’t Have To Know: Who you are and what you want to be isn’t something that we necessarily know instinctively. Some people know, others don’t. Getting back to the essence of what’s important to you can be category-by-category. You don’t have to have an over-arching identity that you’re striving towards. In fact, I urge you to use this perspective shift to evaluate your values as they are inherently. Learn about who you are and not what you’ve been told to be.
4. It Fits Everyone: It’s not really conditional to the individual factors. It will be different for each person because it is a perspective, a lens through which you see the world. Your life will still be you, doing what you love, with the people you want to do it with. It will just lack the confusion and misdirection that comes with the excess swirling around, clouding your vision.