21 Lessons from The Minimalists: Less Is Now this 2021
I have been a minimalist for two years now and this is one of the best lifestyle changes that made a significant change in my life.
Here are the 21 lessons from Less is Now that might inspire you to try minimalism this year.
1. We buy stuff because we’re trying to buy something intangible — solutions, self-image, fame, success, happiness. Once we got that stuff, we will soon realize that it’s not true and we try to solve this by buying more of that stuff and so the cycle of discontent continues.
2. One of the tricks that are being used to us is deficit advertising. Companies use advertising that makes us subconsciously feel like we are inadequate if you don’t have that product. “I will not be loved if I don’t have this toothpaste”; “My children will not value me if I don’t have this dish soap.”; etc. We’re getting messages over and over again that we’re not enough — our hair, our skin, our body, our clothes are not enough.
3. Our stuff became our idols with their wonderful if-then happiness promise. “If I just had that phone then I’ll be happy”. “If I just have that car, that house, that sofa, etc. then I’ll be happy”. You know by now that is not true.
4. Selling is not bad. Everyone is selling something and what they are selling might be valuable but it’s not always compatible with what we need. They’re just doing their job and our responsibility is to determine whether we need them.
5. When you’re poor (even if you’re not based on experience), you tend to accept everything that is given to you even if you don’t need them.
6. Unhappiness is a result of an endless horizon of aspiration — “I just need a bit more of this or a little more of that — more success, more income, more wealth, a bigger house, a bigger car.” A constant chasing due to and that results in discontent.
7. Real freedom lies in the spread – when you identify your needs and have a buffer of savings so that if you want to change a job, a residence, you can because you’re not deep in debt.
8. We have buyer’s remorse (regret after purchase) for the things we thought we needed but we don’t. But sunk cost plays a part. We feel that because we already spent money on it, it’s better to keep it even if it no longer serves us.
9. We try to fill the void in our lives with stuff. I’d like to add that we do this because it’s easier — we get a sense of excitement and thrill but it’s happiness that is fleeting — for gadgets – a month as a maximum.
10. We buy stuff to fill our houses then our houses get filled up so we buy a bigger house and then it feels empty so we then fill it with more stuff.
11. We own stuff we don’t even use, we don’t even know we bought, we don’t even know we have. Why?
12. The best way to know if you have too many things is not when you run out of rooms to store them but when you run out of purposeful things to do with them.
13. The reason we are so depressed and so empty when we have so much is that when you get more of the wrong thing, it becomes less.
14. Our memories are not in our things. Our memories are inside us. Most of the sentimental things that we have are not even being opened anyway. The lesser sentimental things that we have, the more we enjoy them.
15. The stuff that we don’t use can serve a more meaningful purpose to other people if we’re just willing to let go.
16. The kind of debt that created the most problems in our society comes from a felt need to keep up with appearances — placing unnecessary burdens to maintain some kind of image. If I cannot buy a BMW, I can go on debt acquiring one so that I can be seen as a certain kind of person.
17. After our basic needs are met, we determined what is enough based on the people around us. Social media expanded that reference group. Now, we’re comparing our house to Kim Kardashian.
18. We’re more stressed and discontented before because we’re constantly comparing our lives to other people’s lives.
19. Our generation needs to learn how to manage our attention because so many people are competing for this. “Look at this, it will make you happy.” “Buy this, this will make you happy.”
20. When you start minimalism, the question is not “how to” but “why to”. You can try a lot of decluttering methods, gradual or not, but you need to be clear why are you decluttering because if not, you will just fill up your space again with new purchases.
21. There is nothing wrong with owning stuff. Stuff can improve our lives only if we know its purpose and use them for that purpose. They are tools to use not to love and to be attached to. We need to be more intentional with our stuff so that we can have more resources and time for the things that really matters.
Learn more about minimalism here.