Becoming a Minimalist – What’s the Hold Up?
3 years ago, I downsized from a 3000 square foot home to a small apartment. I had to clear out 15 years of “stuff” and it was a struggle. Now I am moving in with my boyfriend and I need to downsize even more because we don’t need two of everything and then some.
🤔 Why am I holding on to so much “stuff”?
🤔 How did I accumulate so much after I already downsized?
🤔 Why do I feel such an attachment to these possessions?
My boyfriend is already a minimalist and he is setting a good example for me. However, I have to mentally balance my mind and emotions surrounding my attachments so that I can clear out and move on to bigger and better things.
It’s not just me. I was talking to my cousin and she struggles with clutter and attachment as well. In fact, many who live in the United States have a high standard of living but rank relatively low when it comes to satisfaction. Compared to most other countries, we have larger homes, higher rates of vehicle ownership, and possess more television sets. But obviously, there’s more to life than owning things.
I know because I took a hard look at my collecting habits in order to make some major changes in my life. My collecting “stuff” mentality started with in childhood watching my mom collect “stuff”. My mom was about quantity over quality. There was quite a bit of clutter in our home. As I got older I started to fall into the same habits I had seen in others like my parents and other family members. Before I knew it, I had amassed extensive collections of Betty Boop and Barbie along with what I thought were the normal things I needed. But did I? Absolutely not!!
It took some mental work during each purge to be able to let things go. I had to balance my emotions surrounding the items I needed to declutter. Why was I emotionally attached to an item? How did the attachment benefit me? How did it not benefit me? Why did I feel a certain way about an item? How did feeling that way serve me? How did it not serve me? I had to do this and be thankful for all aspects of my emotions surrounding the items. Being thankful for the items and how each had served its purpose in my life but knowing now its purpose was complete. I began selling my items, giving them away and trashing those that were broken or just unusable. I also began to purge commitments as well. Freeing my calendar was as liberating as reducing my clutter. As I did this, I felt lighter mentally!
Like myself, many are realizing the benefits and are trying to shift to a minimalist lifestyle. They find it to be a more satisfying way to live.
Minimalism doesn’t require that you live in a cave and sleep on the ground. You simply purge your life of items and commitments until you’ve reduced your distractions to an optimal level. You’ll experience a greater sense of freedom when you free your life of debt and clutter.
Let’s talk about the benefits you may not have thought about that come with a minimalist lifestyle:
🎯 Fewer possessions equal more freedom.
Our society creates an unhealthy desire to accumulate as much “stuff” as possible. It’s almost like a competition. But limiting our appointments and commitments has many advantages.
🎯 Time available for hobbies and other meaningful activities.
You’ll have a lot more free time. There’s less time spent running around shopping, watching TV, and maintaining all of your possessions. You can finally write that book, enjoy nature, or spend time with your family.
🎯 More meaningful work.
Instead of salary being a primary concern, you’ll find far more employment opportunities that you’d enjoy.
🎯 Fewer bills and expenses will make it much easier to find a job that you love.
Waking up each day and looking forward to work is priceless!
🎯 Opportunities to be creative.
You’ll have the space and the time to indulge your creative capabilities. And you’ll need them from time to time. When you don’t own every appliance and tool under the sun, you’ll find new ways to make use of what’s available to you.
🎯 Less to clean and maintain.
Few of us enjoy cleaning and maintaining homes and cars. With less furniture, fewer cars, and a smaller home, you can spend less time cleaning and maintaining your possessions. What would you do with all that free time?
🎯 Requiring less money to live.
A smaller home, less expensive car, and fewer items equals lower living expenses. You can have more money to spend on trips and activities that result in lifelong memories.
🎯 Having more space.
It’s not just more physical space you’ll enjoy in your home. There’s greater mental and emotional space, too. Room to breathe creates room to live fully.
🎯 A less stressful lifestyle.
Lower living expenses, more free time, and a more meaningful life all result in less stress. You can get more sleep and spend more time on enjoyable activities. You won’t need to compare yourself to the Joneses. That’s certainly a less stressful way to live.
🎯 Minimalism is better for the environment.
The amount of trash the average person accumulates each year is incredible. Less consumption results in utilizing fewer resources. You’re leaving more for others and generating less waste.
🎯 Gain more confidence.
Being able to extract yourself from the rat race and becoming more self-reliant will boost your confidence.
Are you working too hard to enjoy your life or do you feel frustrated by all the clutter underfoot?
A minimalist lifestyle might be the solution.
Think about what it would be like to eliminate a few possessions and commitments that are more grief than they’re worth. Maybe you just need some coaching on balancing your emotions so you too can move on to bigger and better things!
Love, Light and Success to you! 🙏🌈🙏
Dawn-Marie
Your Mindset Transformation Virtuoso & Nature Goddess Guide
Written on 12 August, 2020
Biography
Dawn-Marie P. Dalsass, President of Livelihood Spirit Balance is a Stress Management Maven. She’s a Stress and Anxiety Expert for Middle Managers. She started her career in Corporate America while she was in high school and worked her way up the ranks finding herself in middle to upper management for most of her corporate career. She loved what she did but along the way she battled stress, anxiety and depression. When work and life were more than she could handle she planned her suicide in detail. Fortunately, she didn’t go through with it when she saw her 2 little boys on her way to get a knife with a plan to end it all. It was in that moment that she vowed to pull herself together and begin a new journey.
In 2015 she started her own business called Life Coach DM. After several years of working with clients, she realized that the majority of her clients were in middle management just like she was. She had helped most go from being stressed, anxious and / or depressed to being more balanced, aware and dynamic while guiding them on their own journey to achieve life goals including work life balance.
Dawn-Marie has since become a Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide and teaches individuals how they too can annihilate the stress, anxiety and depression (aka S.A.D) that middle managers and working parents can face through a process called equilibration (the balancing of the mind and emotions) along with the healing benefits a deep connection to nature (both indoors and out) can bring to become fully balanced, aware and dynamic (aka B.A.D).
Through her own practice, Dawn-Marie discovered what she calls Livelihood Spirit Balance where how one lives their life is in alignment with their authentic self, their B.A.D Ass-self. With Livelihood Spirit Balance, Work Life Balance and everything else just falls into place.
Based on her years of work and client success stories, Dawn-Marie changed her business name to Livelihood Spirit Balance to align with her teachings, mission, vision and purpose.
Dawn-Marie offers online courses, personal and corporate development coaching, workshops and seminars. As the owner of Total Convalescence – Nature & Forest Therapy she also offers public and private Nature & Forest Therapy Walks.
Dawn-Marie is a:
- Certified Mindset Transformation Coach
- Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide
- Certified Law of Attraction Wealth Practitioner
- Certified Fraud Examiner and
- Certified Internal Controls Auditor
