Minimalism has become trendy, even though it\u2019s a concept that has been around for centuries.
\nIt\u2019s all over mainstream media and it\u2019s used across various industries, including fashion, design, food, technology, beauty, housing, and more.<\/p>\n
But when the hype settles, what is a minimalist lifestyle?
\nA minimalist lifestyle is the process of identifying what is essential in your life and having the courage to eliminate the rest. When you remove the unnecessary, you free up your time and capacity to focus on the things that truly matter in your life.<\/p>\n
Less is more.
\nOur modern lives are far from minimalist\u2014perhaps maximalist or mediumist?
\nWith so many distractions around us, we often find it challenging to create time and space to enjoy the simple things in life, like spending time with our loved ones, exercising, getting creative, cooking, or just doing nothing.
\nWe\u2019re too busy being overwhelmed by physical, digital, and mental clutter, leading to increased anxiety and an overall sense of dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n
The life-changing benefits of having a minimalist mind set (including some examples)
\n\u201cMore\u201d is what we\u2019re up against as a society. This constant desire for more is something we call \u201cThe More Virus\u201d.
\nWe often associate more with status, security, comfort and control. But the more you externally desire, the further you get away from yourself, and the more you have to lose.<\/p>\n
Instead of thinking more will make you feel better, minimalism helps you to go small instead.
\nWhen you\u2019re small, you can go deep with what you already have. When you\u2019re small, you\u2019re more nimble, agile and responsive to change. When you\u2019re small, you have fewer responsibilities and commitments, which frees you up to have richer experiences with less pressure. When you\u2019re small, you\u2019re limited by constraints, creating opportunities to innovate and have breakthroughs. When you\u2019re small, you can take more risks. Small is beautiful.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re big, on the other hand, you have dead weight and can\u2019t move as quickly as you would like. When you\u2019re big, you have to make more decisions. When you\u2019re big, you have less opportunity to change. When you\u2019re big, you have more to lose.<\/p>\n
Being small and staying small is an art. It involves fighting social pressures and advertising to maintain your liberty. It means being content with less. It also means being confident in what you already have. This is the minimalist mindset.
\nSome people believe minimalism is a weird religious cult, while others think it\u2019s too extreme.
\nWe therefore take a look at some of the misunderstandings that some people have.<\/p>\n
1. Minimalism means throwing everything out<\/strong> 2. Minimalists don\u2019t buy new things<\/strong> 3. Minimalism happens overnight\u2026or must take time<\/strong> 4. Minimalism is a number<\/strong> 5. Minimalists are emotionless robots<\/strong> 6. A minimalist lifestyle is unsustainable<\/strong> 7. Minimalists have no style<\/strong> While it\u2019s true that the minimalist aesthetic is focused on simplicity, it doesn\u2019t mean that\u2019s how everyone should be. As long as everything you possess has a clear purpose, go nuts. When someone says that minimalists have no style, what they\u2019re really saying is that they do not see a style they recognise and can immediately relate to.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Minimalism has become trendy, even though it\u2019s a concept that has been around for centuries. It\u2019s all over mainstream media and it\u2019s used across various industries, including fashion, design, food, technology, beauty, housing, and more. But when the hype settles, what is a minimalist lifestyle? A minimalist lifestyle is the process of identifying what is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[43],"tags":[5476],"class_list":["post-53900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-feature","tag-special-feature"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/minimalism.png?fit=400%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-e1m","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 14:28:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nNothing is gained by throwing everything out.
\nMinimalism is more about learning what matters to you than just chucking your life into the trash. It\u2019s about rediscovering your favourite hobbies and interests and engaging with people who uplift you. It\u2019s about letting go of things that bring you stress.
\nMinimalists don\u2019t throw everything out. That would be impractical. It\u2019s also not environmentally friendly to generate so much waste. Do you know what we can throw into the bin? This myth.<\/p>\n
\nIf you are a minimalist, you CAN still buy new things. But what makes this process different for minimalists is that they are generally replacing, not adding stuff they already own.
\nAnd you know what? Sometimes they do buy new things that makes them happy. What they don\u2019t do is buy impulsively without careful consideration.<\/p>\n
\nMinimalism occurs differently for everyone. No two people will approach it the same way, so it\u2019s silly to say \u201cit\u2019s going to happen overnight\u201d or \u201cdon\u2019t shock your system\u2014take it slow.\u201d We\u2019re all different. We need to forge our path to a minimalist lifestyle. We also need time to adjust to a new way of life, and that period may be longer or shorter depending on your situation.<\/p>\n
\nPerhaps you\u2019ve noticed extreme minimalists who own less than 50 things. This trend has contributed to the idea that minimalism is about a number. The person who owns the least amount of items wins. It\u2019s a competition within the community. In some cases, people are made to feel shame for owning too many things. This needs to stop. Minimalism isn\u2019t about numbers. It\u2019s about what makes you feel productive and happy. If you own more than 100 things, so what?<\/p>\n
\nFrom the outside looking in, it can seem a little cold how easily minimalists can discard things that were once sentimental in their lives. It\u2019s for this reason that minimalists are perceived to be detached or unemotional. Treasuring a memory doesn\u2019t mean we need to keep the material things that give us that memory. Those emotions live within us, and that\u2019s something that the loss of an item can\u2019t take from us.<\/p>\n
\nSome people believe minimalism is temporary and unsustainable. Like it\u2019s just some phase that we\u2019ll eventually get over. Minimalism is a mind set, not a hack. If you treat it like a hack, it won\u2019t mean enough to keep going. However, if you feel minimalism\u2019s benefits, it won\u2019t matter who you live with, your work environment, becoming a parent, moving cities; the principles will carry on with you.<\/p>\n
\nCulturally we often associate style with having more options, being more extravagant and flamboyant. If these things matter to you, there\u2019s no need to give that up as a minimalist.<\/p>\n