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Step one of starting a more minimalist lifestyle doesn’t actually require diving in headfirst and immediately eradicating half of your possessions in one sitting. No. The first step is finding your priorities.
Today, you don’t actually need to do anything: all that we are going to do today is to think. Today is about making a decision for your lifestyle.
If you’re here, it is probably safe to assume that you’re already interested in the minimalist lifestyle. In finding a way to enjoy living with less and to really focus your energy on things that bring you more happiness, more joy, and less time worrying about what you think you should be doing.
Today’s task is this:
Simply ask yourself: what do you want your life to look like?
Finding your priorities
What are the things that make you really happy? What are the things in your life that leave you feeling fulfilled content secure and satisfied? How much of your day or your week do you actually spend doing those things?
On the flip side, how much of your life is currently spent doing things that you find draining that makes you miserable, tired and stressed . How often do you feel unorganised and tidy overwhelmed with life?
Of course, in life, we will have to spend time on things that we don’t love to do: for example, in some cases, it’s going to be necessary to do a job in order to make money and that might not always be your dream job. Likewise, I think it’s safe to say that no one really wants to be paying rent or bills or doing all that generic life admin that is necessary.
However, a huge step towards successfully redistributing your time, energy, and money is by first actually bringing awareness to how you spend it.
Once you’ve completed that task you should have a list of the things in life that are your real priorities, the things that bring you joy, that you would really like to bring to the forefront of your lifestyle. On the other hand, you should also have a list of the things that you that spend too much on for what you get back.
How can I have more time for my priorities and less for everything else?
So your next job is to look at these things and ask yourself: what can I do to place more emphasis on my priorities and less on the things that drain me?
For me and I think many other people that actively pursue this type of lifestyle, finding your priorities in life and really bringing your awareness to them has been one of the most transformational things you can do.
When you are actively aware of what you want your dream life to look like, you can be far more aware of what you need to do in order to get there – whether that’s to empty your life of the clutter and overwhelm, to actively work towards changing careers so that you are happier in what you do for a living, or whether it’s to create more loving and kind friendships and relationships in your life.
On the flip side, perhaps your priorities mean moving away from slightly more toxic relationships, or to redistribute the way you spend your money towards things that actually make you happy and away from things that leave you feeling unhealthy and broke.
Small, consistent habits
Whatever is you’ve identified as your priorities, you absolutely do not need to have transformed your life in the next 7 days, or even in the next year.
This first step is simply about bringing awareness, mindfulness, and consciousness to your priorities in life. As you slowly build those more mindful habits you can make that transition to get to a point where the majority of your life is spent doing the things that do bring you joy – and less time on the things that might be draining – or at least, distribute so little of your time to these things that it doesn’t really affect you.