You need less than you think.
Being nearly 2 weeks into our travels on the road, a few themes have continually surfaced.
So many notable things happen each day that it’s been difficult to document and remember what I’m learning every day! I’d say this is a good problem to have.
One of the first lessons I’m learning is that we need so much less than we thought.
Material Minimalism
I’ve always thought of myself as a pretty minimalist person. Clothing, accessories, toiletries, etc… In all of these categories I keep it very simple.
As we began packing for life on the road, it was harder than I thought to keep it compact. Granted, we did a fairly good job packing our life into a VW van. BUT my wife and I will both admit that we’ve touched only a fraction of what we packed for our trip.
We never thought that would be the case!
For example – I brought ~8 pairs of socks. I’ve used 2 pairs in 2 weeks, haha! Realistically, a few shirts and a couple pairs of shorts is all that I’ve really used and needed so far.
You can always do laundry to replenish your goods!
But it’s not all about clothing, and it’s not even about material things. Minimalism can be applied in any area of life.
Minimalism in Mind
The less things I have, the less clutter I feel in my mind. There will always be things that distract us. Worries, stress, bills to pay, appointments to attend, meetings to have, and tasks to complete.
What if there was a way to be minimal in these areas of your life? Would this allow you more freedom to focus on what really matters in your life? How could minimalism help your daily life?
Although I am just learning about the benefits of the simplicities of life – I challenge you to think about what things you could weed out to help simplify your life.
These are questions I’ve covered before on the newsletter, but they always hold true:
- What is causing you stress today, or this week?
- What “things” are getting in the way of you working on what you really want to work on?
- If these “things” didn’t exist, how would your life look different?
- How can you work on rescheduling, cancelling, or delegating these things that get in your way?
For you, it might be clothing. It might be belongings. It might be unnecessary meetings. It might be distracting apps or shows. It might be wasted time.
Think about what these things might be, and how becoming a “minimalist” in those areas might positively impact you!