MINIMALISM SERIES | 5 MISTAKES ALL BEGINNERS MAKE & HOW TO AVOID THEM

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[carolinej]

For me, I use 'minimalism' to make my life easier.
Less clothes= Less laundry
Fewer ornaments= Less dusting
Having less stuff just makes me feel better and more in control of my personal surroundings, plus I always know where things are now!
Totally agree with buying something because you really love love it, it makes you really appreciate and enjoy treats! :) x

[yasminabarkallah]

The biggest mistake I made was get rid of my books, I really regret it and now I understood that minimalism is a state of mind, and its not about owning nothing

[danihaupt]

I've found that the easiest way to declutter is moving because you have to look at everything you own and just realize how much unnecessary stuff you have and most of the times you can't take everything with you either 😄

[dawngorman]

I have a very boho style apartment...my walls are all painted bright colors and I have tapestries and lots of crystals, candle holders and Buddha and elephant statues! But I have pared down so much from five years ago! I also love books and writing journals. But my wardrobe is small, I don’t have lots of furniture and pictures, my hair and makeup routine is minimalist and my kitchen is small on gadgets etc. not on spices though, as I love cooking more and more as a vegan! I have anxiety, and I have found the less I have in my home, the less anxiety I have. I like my home to be cozy but not overwhelming! I like things simple! I love all the points you have made! They are good ones. Sometimes I let myself get overwhelmed because I want to get rid of a lot more and want it to all happen at once. It’s important to stay present and grateful and take things one step at a time! Thanks Maddie! 🙏🏻💜🍵🌱

[hooklineandinker]

I got bored and decided to transcribe your video below:

Grab yourself a cup of tea and get cozy. And let's have a chat about minimalism mistakes.

So I made a video recently all about the reasons why I'm not a "minimalist, " and sort of why I don't fit into the stereotype, and I encouraged you to talk to me in the comments all about why you aren't a "minimalist" as well. And this got me thinking about the traps that I'd fallen into when I'd begun minimalism and the ideals and the high standards that I set for myself. And I wanna do a video about this so that I can help those of you who are beginners and who have maybe fallen into these traps as well, 'cause it can be easy.

So here are 5 mistakes that a lot of beginners fall for and how you can avoid them.

So the first thing is try not to lose yourself by copying others. It's an amazing thing, the internet, social media, we can be inspired by people and their lifestyles. And, that is amazing. I've definitely been inspired by a lot of people on here, but try not to lose yourself and your own individuality in the process. So, for example, if you're watching my minimalism videos, don't compare yourself to me or copy everything that I do. Do it in your own way that makes sense for you, because you're totally different to me, your life is totally different to me, and you're going to use minimalism in a different way. One person may thrive travelling around the world with just a backpack, and another person may thrive living in quite a big house with lots of books and lots of memories. And, they may just use minimalism in a different way. So realize how you can use minimalism as a tool to enrich your life, and to help you in your life, rather than as competition or a way that you can determine your worth on how little you own.

So, number 2 is to take it easy. I definitely fell into this trap. I'm the sort of person who wants things done straight away and I wanna go for it full force. It is important to remember that you need to take it step by step. It's not going to happen overnight. If you have a huge wardbrobe full of clothes that you've been collecting for 10 years, you're not going to be able to get rid of, you know, most of them overnight. It's going to take time and it's going to take learning, and actually that whole process is the best part because you learn so much. I learnt a lot. I got frustrated that I didn't have less things straight away and I wanted my house to be decluttered and empty and organized and it took time and it was very frustrating. But, in the process I learnt so much about myself, I learnt so much and reflected so much on my past and thought about how minimalism would help me in the future. So I think it's a really good idea to take things step by step in an order that makes sense to you. So, for example, if you have loads of clothes, start with your wardrobe. Go through it, declutter, do just a preliminary declutter of your wardrobe. Get rid of everything that you haven't worn in the last year or so, and go from there. If you have a garage that is (do they say garage in America?) Garage? Ummm...yeah, if you have a garage filled with clutter and stuff you've had, maybe even handed down from family, then go in there and delve into a few of the boxes and donate them to charity. Just start where it makes sense for you.

So number 3 is to not buy any new stuff. I have spoken about this in my other videos to do with being a shopoholic in the past. And when I first started minimalism, I stopped buying anything and I gave myself a shopping ban. Especially when it came to clothes. That was my weakness. And I said to myself "Do you know what? I have all the clothes that I need, I don't need to buy any more." And that was huge for me, 'cause for the longest time, I always had things on my want list that I wanted. And I said "you know what? I don't need any of it. I have everything that I need. Let's focus on decluttering. And then further along down the line, maybe there will be things that I need to replace. But for now, let's focus on the decluttering aspect." So this process was really powerful for me. It taught me a lot of self discipline. It taught me to be grateful for the things I already had. And when I did buy things, ('cause I'm not saying I didn't buy anything at all) I was only buying things that I absolutely needed. And I actually had this like weird flip where I became really cautious about buying anything at all because I was so adverse to it. And I'm still kind of like that. I will need something for a very long time and I will put off buying it. Because, I don't know, it's weird, I don't want to buy it unless I'm absolutely certain. So, it really flipped things for me and that's huge because I'm such a different person now than I used to be.

Number 4 is to not make minimalism unattainable. The most important thing to remember is what minimalism is about. It is to reduce and to simplify. It isn't quantified by how few items you own, how white your house is. It is a tool to use to reduce and simplify your life in the way that works for you. Don't allow minimalism to become another ideal that you've been sold that you can't live up to. There is no perfect ideal. We really need to make minimalism attainable and inclusive, as opposed to unattainable and exclusive. Which it can feel like sometimes. Instead, try and set yourself an attainable goal of decluttering all the surfaces in your home, maybe getting rid of a few pieces of furniture that you really don't like and you don't use. And that will, in turn, improve your lifestyle and will be something that will make you feel so much happier. So remember that you don't need to set yourself a goal that is extreme or say to yourself that you're never gonna be minimalist because of X Y Z. The only goals you need to be setting are ones that work for you and are within reach.

And number 5 is to not put pressure on yourself. This is HUGE, and something I 100% did. So minimalism really shouldn't end up being something that's stressful or puts pressure on you. If you go out and you buy something and you regret it afterwards, really don't beat yourself up. Just use it as a learning experience. I've done that before definitely. I've bought something or I've kept something or whatever and I've felt kinda bad about it afterwards. And I've thought "For goodness sake, why did I buy that?" Instead of beating yourself up and making yourself feel bad about it, think about how it made you feel, and think about the experience and treat it as a learning curve. We all mess up and it is there, mistakes are there for you to learn from them. And like anything in life, it isn't a destination, it's a journey. And I use that word a lot in my videos, I refer to my minimalism journey and it can sound a little cheesy. But it's so true because it isn't somewhere that you end up. I haven't got somewhere and that's it. I have to think about it and I'm still working on it every day and I'm still using it every day because it improves my lifestyle. So, take all the time that you need. Sometimes, something will happen in a day and you'll feel on top of the world. And other times it will take a month because you're really busy. Don't put pressure on yourself, learn from your mistakes, and yeah, the whole process will be incredible in the end.

So there it is, there are my five minimalism mistakes. I've definitely done them, and I have learned a lot from them in the process. Let me know if the comments down below what mistakes you've made on your minimalism journey and what you've learned from them. Because I think that that is one of the best parts of anything like this in life, is learning from your experiences.

I hope you enjoyed. Give it a thumbs up and subscribe, and I'll see you in my next video. Bye!

[anneroy]

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. William Morris

That is the kind of minimalist I am ... everything here in our house is useful and/or beautiful ... lots of books but I am taking stacks to the charity shops as I finish them & more come in the door ... whittled my wardrobe down to colours I like, that work for me ... grey, cream, navy ... the place works ... which is the point ... :-)

[npigwnl]

I know what you mean about not even buying something that you actually “need” anymore, I’ve been putting off replacing my beloved and slightly damaged denim shirt for YEARS now because I can’t find the perfect one...well there’s an actual hole in it now so I have to get rid of it...my confused husband witnessed me thanking it KonMari-style 😅

[autumnrosedearborn]

Lots of books! Yesss! That's my house. Minimal in every area except books, and with my husband it's his vinyl records. But even with my books, I only keep the books I love and will reread and the books I haven't read yet and am really excited to read. Im working on reading through my unread books this year and lowering the number of unread books I own. I want to get down to only having 10 unread books at a time, instead of the 80 where I'm at now. I buy most of books second hand except for a few new releases. I get rid of books I read and didn't like.

Keep what you love and use, get rid of the excess.

[JazzyCrumbles]

There’s something so peaceful - like, inner-peace about taking a break from studying to watch a minimalism video.
Also, holy crap Maddie! 100k? Nice!

[shrub]

I'm trying to progress not towards full on minimalism but mostly just to de-clutter as much as possible and this video was so helpful! Your "50 things to get rid of in 2018" kick started me towards de-cluttering and I already feel much better from it, thank you!

[susi]

This video was so needed! I also fell into the trap of wanting to get rid of everything so I packed up basically all I owned into boxes to get rid of it. Luckily I didn't throw it out entirely but gave them to my parents to look through them if they needed anything. And even more luckily they didn't have the time to do so and just stored them in my old room in their house. Because after a few weeks I kept noticing that I threw out quite a lot of things I would have had to re-buy if I wouldn't have been able to get them back from the boxes from my parents. Especially clothing pieces that from a minimalism stand point wouldn't have been necessary but that I just really enjoyed wearing.

[JessicaBiilor]

As someone just starting out with minimalism, I really appreciate this video! I’ve regularly gone through my wardrobe in the past five or so years, but that’s about it... and I’m really trying to learn to not buy more things I don’t really need. Love your sentiment of making it make sense for you :)

[kscriv]

I love that it’s a journey. It’s changing my attitude to things and really appreciating what I’ve chosen to keep. I like William Morris and his quote ‘Have nothing in your house you don’t seem beautiful or useful.’ Love these videos ✨

[jayeelizabeth]

I’ve been trying to downsize my possessions for a long long time but I didn’t realise it was minimalism until the last 6 months (ish) 😊 Im 20 weeks pregnant now & for me, minimalism is helping me to be organised, get rid of things that aren’t useful to me to make sure I have room for the baby 🤰🏻 (It also makes the cleaning/tidying a hell of a lot easier) I’m also making sure I invest in items now rather than getting cheap things etc which is great 😆

[XxXx-ytrf]

One of the big mistakes I make is to judge people that aren't minimalist. I try not to, but each time I see shopping bags and my friends buying habits I just can't stop thinking that it's 'wrong'.

[theuglybookling]

It's so wonderful to see how your attitude to minimalism has changed over the time you've been on youtube! In your earlier videos it always seemed so ruthless and so 'Things HAVE to go they HAVE to', and now I feel like you have a much healthier attitude towards it!

I feel like my minimalism journey (while still in progress) is a strange one, because I've never been someone who felt particularly attached to things, or had tons of clothes. I've just been surrounded by stuff my whole life and I never realised I could do something about it. When I first did a huge declutter, and managed to get rid of about 5 bin bags of just pure STUFF it was such an amazing feeling and I have no regrets.

Now I definitely don't feel like I have everything I need, especially in my wardrobe, and I can start building up my little collection of things with more mindful and ethical purchases.

[DisorderDeluxe]

I really appreciate what you have said here. I have OCD and wanted to do minimalism to combat some of my obsessions but most videos make me feel like I am not doing it good enough.

The way you talk is reassuring and welcoming and I feel like I can use it to my advantage and not do everything at once and be overwhelmed. Thank you xx

[phyliciajoykloes]

I'm glad you posted this video. I tend to be a perfectionist, and after I decided I want to own less stuff, I've thought about getting rid of a ton, getting attached to items, and being confused. It is less clutter what I need. Not a picture perfect white wall lifestyle I necessarily need.

[sierrasnode]

These were great tips! Even though I'm not really a beginner minimalist, these are all things even the most seasoned minimalists need to be reminded of. Thank you! 💕

[jerica]

I never comment on videos ever but i just have to say. Your views on minimalism have been so inspiring. I love your emphasis on how minimalism is a tool to enrich our life and that there isnt a set way on becoming a minimalist. Please continue making these videos - or any video - youre wonderful.