4075: How to Achieve Your Minimalist Dreams by Sarah Moss with No Sidebar on Minimalist Living

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[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_02] Tomorrow starts with a good night's day. Just search for good sleep. Just search for good sleep in your podcast app and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily. It's a Minimalist Monday edition of Optimal Living Daily. How to achieve your minimalist dreams by Sarah Moss with nosidebar.com and I'm Justin Malik. Happy Monday and welcome to one of the only podcasts in the world where blogs are narrated to you for free. That's with permission from the authors.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_02] I don't keep this intro short, so let's get right to it and start optimizing your life. How to achieve your minimalist dreams by Sarah Moss with nosidebar.com. When I was in high school, I always thought that when I reached adulthood, I'd have it all figured out. I'd have a job I love, a group of close-knit friends, and a cool place in some eclectic neighborhood with a corner grocery store.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_02] I'd know exactly what style of clothes I preferred to wear and what type of furniture I wanted in my house. I'd have a plan and a dream. I'd be happy. I'm in my late 20s now. I don't live with my parents. I have a full-time job, and I own a car. For the first time in my life, I'm starting to feel like an adult. But when I look back at my teenage dreams of what adulthood would look like, I see a lot of holes.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_02] And it's not just that I don't live in a hip neighborhood or frequent the most Instagram-worthy coffee shops. When I look at the life I lead now, I feel like it doesn't quite match up with who I now dream of being. I read minimalism blogs and dream of ridding my home of clutter. However, my house is in shambles. We have piles of laundry in our bedroom, stacks of dishes in the sink, and papers scattered on the kitchen table. During the day, I make plans to get away from all the screens after work,

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_02] but at night, I sprawl in front of the television and scroll mindlessly through social media feeds until bedtime. I want to be content with the possessions that I have, but last weekend, I wandered aimlessly through the mall and obsessed over what style I should wear as a 20-something. Am I still a wannabe hippie or an 8-to-5 professional? This has been a wake-up call for me to live more intentionally. And I believe minimalism is an important way for me to become the person I want to be.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_02] How can I do a better job of having my dreams or intentions match up with my actions? Perhaps you're like me. You think that a minimalist lifestyle will help you to be the person you've always wanted to be, but you find it difficult and scary to take that first step and make a change. But what if we looked at it as tiny steps instead of as giant leaps? If you're struggling to become your best minimalist self, here are some ideas that have worked for me as I've moved toward putting my dreams into practice.

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_02] Number one, envision your future. When I was a teenager, I had a clear vision for what I wanted my life to look like. As an adult, that dream has changed and is a lot murkier than it once was. I've realized that it takes a lot more effort to be the person I want to be. Now that I'm engaging in a minimalist lifestyle, I want to be more like my teenager self and envision what my life will look like in the future. I know that this will help me to match my insides to my actions.

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_02] I've started asking myself, what type of a person do I want to be? How do I express my interests and values? Am I living a life that's true to myself and not the life others expect of me? By spending more time dreaming about what I want for the future, I've started to form a better idea of who I want to be and where I want to go. Number two, pick a priority and stick with it. What's the first thing you want to accomplish through minimalism?

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_02] Sure, there are plenty of things we should work on that relate to the minimalist lifestyle, from decluttering the email inbox to ridding our homes of unnecessary items. But what one thing do you want to make a priority? Once you choose that priority, focus on it. Ignore all the shoulds that distract. Number three, start with one drawer. Once you've picked your priority, start small. I started with a single drawer of clothes, sorting out the shirts and pants that I hadn't worn in years

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_02] and putting them in a bag to take to goodwill. It took me less than ten minutes to accomplish this task, and afterward, I felt much better. It may have been a small change, but I felt like I was aligning my actions with my values. If I take small steps like this every night, I'll slowly get closer to the minimalist lifestyle I envision for myself. Number four, make appreciation a practice. In The Soul of Money, author Lynn Twist says,

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_02] The seeds that grow are the seeds we tend with our attention. Our attention is like water and sunshine, and the seeds we cultivate will grow and fill our garden. End quote. Society calls our attention to what we don't have. It tells us that if we buy more, do more, are more, we'll be happier. Instead of focusing our attention on what we don't have, let's spend time appreciating what we already have. You and I have the opportunity to make changes.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_02] We can dream up new dreams, discard what no longer works for us, and live lives filled with intention. Let's practice growing the seeds of appreciation for what we have instead of what's lacking in our lives. And number five, give yourself some grace. It takes time to pare down your belongings, eliminate unnecessary social media feeds, and refocus on what matters to you. I have dishes in the sink and a pile of laundry to sort through, but I know I'm doing a better job of living an intentional life

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_02] than I was a couple months ago. Cut yourself some slack and just take the first step. It's tough to take action and go after our dreams. However, no one will do it for us. We have to be intentional about it. I've learned this the hard way, but I'm slowly finding my way to the person I want to be. You just listened to the post titled, How to Achieve Your Minimalist Dreams by Sarah Moss with nosidebar.com.

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[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_02] Thank you to Sarah, a guest author with no sidebar. I'm sure we could all relate to that first paragraph, that feeling of being younger and thinking, when I'm an adult, I will have done this, this, and this. Things will be better. I will have achieved this and I'll be happy. Like we reached some level in a game or something where we have now arrived at happiness. But if you've been listening to this show for not even that long, you'll probably recall the episodes talking about how happiness,

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_02] minimalism, all these things that aren't really things, they're not destinations. You don't just have a span of happiness. Things don't work out that way, even if you reach some arbitrary goals that you had previously, money or weight, career, whatever. It all becomes normalized if you reach those goals and you go back to your average day being whatever it normally is, like a five or seven out of ten. That's just human nature. We're always striving to achieve more and grow

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_02] and growth is a good thing. That's why you're here. So try not to get stuck into that pattern of thinking of if I get this or I achieve that or get promoted or lose X amount of pounds, I'll have happiness. Because at that point, you'll have your sights on the next thing, which is okay. Because again, happiness or minimalism, peace, these things aren't destinations, but journeys. So with that, have a happy start to your week and I'll see you tomorrow

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_02] where your optimal life awaits.