Minimalism: The Question of The Biggest Misconception

There’s a confusion.

As I am focusing more to direct my life towards the lifestyle where I can thrive as a minimalist, I often reach a question like this:

“Does minimalism make you aim low?”

I understand where it is coming from. Some people think/believe that giving up materialistic possessions reduces our expectations from life. It is absolutely okay and acceptable to have certain confusions because there are so many misconceptions about minimalism.

Many people think that minimalism is a way of living that requires no emotional attachments with materials and some also think that not wanting to buy “things” decreases the drive to achieve more. But the truth is minimalism is not sacrificing everything and becoming some kind of monk.

Minimalism is all about emotions. Minimalism is based on being happy in life; happiness is an emotion. Corny as it sounds, minimal lifestyle is doing what gives you happiness. If you need to thousands of materials to be happy then it’s absolutely fine to have them. You can keep anything that has some kind of emotional values. And none can blame you for not being a true minimalist as long as you have worthy products around you.

And for the drive to achieve more, minimalism actually increases it. Minimalism talks about quality over quantity, and to have more quality products around us we must push ourselves to harder gain more. And the drive to succeed is to do the best to have the best whether it is an object or goal. The desire of having a quality lifestyle that gives you happiness instead of a headache is what minimalism is all about.

In the end, we all must remember that minimalism is not just about the physical life we have around us, it also applies to the digital, mental and other areas of our life.