Maximize Your Life With Minimalism

By Kathryn Robles

I'll be happy when____.

 

When I get my own room….When I have a driver's license...When I graduate from college…

 

I'll be happy when we buy our own house.  I'll be happy when I have my own children.  I'll be happy when my husband has a better job. 

 

How many of us have said these types of statements to ourselves?  I'll be happy when ____.  What if we stopped deciding to wait to be happy?  What if we were just happy now?  Like right now!

 

Do you know how to be happy where you are?  Are you able to make happiness a choice?  It's a skill, but you CAN do it. 

 

Minimalism in the design world means sparse, or simple.  Minimalism as a lifestyle means choosing the things that matter most to you.  We strip down the excess.  Remove the bits and pieces that don't really matter. 

 

When you take away the stress, the clutter, the distractions, what's left?  Love.  Peace.  Joy.  What if you could align your life to have more of these things?  By consciously deciding each moment to focus on your values, you can see them become more prevalent in your life. 

 

You truly can maximize the quality of your life by minimizing the excess. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kathryn Robles
• Release date: May 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201875688

Book preview

Part One

I’ll be happy when____.

When I get my own room....When I have a driver's license...When I graduate from college...

I’ll be happy when we buy our own house.  I’ll be happy when I have my own children.  I’ll be happy when my husband has a better job.

How many of us have said these types of statements to ourselves?  I’ll be happy when ____.  What if we stopped deciding to wait to be happy?  What if we were just happy now?  Like right now!

Do you know how to be happy where you are?  Are you able to make happiness a choice?  It’s a skill, but you CAN do it.

Minimalism in the design world means sparse, or simple.  Minimalism as a lifestyle means choosing the things that matter most to you.  We strip down the excess.  Remove the bits and pieces that don’t really matter.

When you take away the stress, the clutter, the distractions, what’s left?  Love.  Peace.  Joy.  What if you could align your life to have more of these things?  By consciously deciding each moment to focus on your values, you can see them become more prevalent in your life.

You truly can maximize the quality of your life by minimizing the excess.

Of course, if you have a full life of things you love and you don’t feel a need to streamline feel free to carry on!  Just because many people prefer having less doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing for you.

However, if you have ever felt overwhelmed in your home by trying to keep it all looking nice and keeping your calendar and to-do items straight, keep reading.

There is a better way to live!

Decluttering

When people think of minimalism, one of the very first things that comes to mind is decluttering.  Decluttering, or purging, is taking the items we no longer need or use and getting them out of our space.

Decluttering means to get rid of clutter, but I like the visual of purging.  To purge something means to remove or eliminate.  We can purge many things that aren’t clutter.  We can purge bad feelings.  We can purge too many to-do list items.  We can purge a lot more than just physical items.  If you’re feeling like you need to declutter, the very first thing you need to purge is whatever habit is leading to having too much stuff in the first place.

Where is all this stuff coming from?  Did you buy it?  Do you shop for fun?  Are you a big thrift store seeker, always finding amazing deals?  Maybe you have family members who like to give gifts and it’s just getting to be too much. 

If you don’t deal with where things are coming from in the first place, you will find yourself on an endless cycle of bringing stuff in and sending stuff back out.  Some people do that, and it’s certainly preferable to having everything piling up in your home and personal space.  However, it’s not a sustainable way to live for the environment, your time, or your money.

Why To Declutter

Why would you want to declutter in the first place?  Well, for one, it makes your space feel much larger.  When you move things out, it gives you more elbow room for the things you’d like to keep.  Whether that’s more space in a pencil cup, or opening up a room with less furniture, decluttering can make a difference. 

If you have a lot of decluttering to do, you may even find that you can be perfectly happy in a smaller home than you expected.  My family was able to live quite well in less than 900 square feet for more than 10 years (with four kids!).  This worked for us because we only kept what was essential.  Our home now is slightly larger, our family has grown by a couple more kids, and it is actually too big for us in some ways!

Another reason to declutter is simply because we change.  We change our