Trust me, when we first started down our path into minimalism, I had all of the same questions and doubts! A complete lifestyle change is always intimidating when you zoom out and look at the big picture. That’s why it’s so important to break it down. To anyone who is intrigued by the prospect of simplifying their life, but feels overwhelmed about where to start, I would say this: minimalism isn’t all-or-nothing. Embracing it is a process that looks different for everyone - but trust me, it’s worth it!

If you’re wondering how to become a minimalist, I’ve put together some simple steps that will help you break down your process into something manageable and, ultimately, freeing!

What Is Minimalism?

If you’re interested in how to become a minimalist, let’s start with the basics! More than a trendy buzzword, 'minimalism' is a set of values that helps you to govern your choices. Ultimately, it works on the principle that reducing the unnecessary objects, decisions, and pursuits in your life will actually release you to make the space - metaphorically and literally - to invest in what truly matters to you and brings you joy!

Minimalism is about freedom. It’s about eliminating the things that keep you from the life you want so that you can embrace the future on your terms. For us, leaning into minimalism unleashed us to pursue a life of adventure! We downsized our life into a renovated school bus and took our family on the road for our Great American Roadtrip.

This incredible experience would have been impossible if we had held on to all of the ‘stuff’ - possessions and commitments - that were making the life we left behind feel so cluttered and stressful. Letting those things go allowed us to live according to what was most important to us - our family.

What is considered the most important to you? To help you find out, here are our 5 steps for how to become a minimalist!

How To Become A Minimalist

As you learn how to become a minimalist, you’ll realize that everyone ends up in a slightly different place depending on the kind of life they want. Some people live out of a tiny capsule wardrobe, but have a kitchen full of appliances that support their passion for cooking. Others have pristinely simple home interiors and a flamboyant sense of style or a shed full of gardening supplies. Here are some steps for how to become a minimalist, your way!

Step 1: Write Down Your ‘Why’

This might not seem like the obvious first step in how to become a minimalist - no Marie-Kondoing towels or rushing to Goodwill - but it might actually be the most important one.

If you’ve ever made a big life change, you’ll know that once the initial burst of enthusiasm wears off it can be incredibly difficult to sustain that momentum. If the slump hits you in the middle of going through every old knick-knack and scrap of paper you’ve got in your attic, it’s going to be pretty tempting to give up. This is why you need to stay connected to your purpose - the reason you want to simplify your life in the first place.

The point is that the decisions you make about what to keep and what to lose will be dictated by your ‘why’: the kind of life you want to live. That may come in the form of practical goals (eg ‘clear countertops’ or ‘X hours a week playing basketball’) or more intangible aims about how you want to feel. So, decide what these are and write them down and return to your vision to guide your decisions on how to become a minimalist.

Step 2: Use It Or Lose It

As you begin to simplify your life, you probably have some clutter to clear out. For us, that looked like getting rid of (or putting into storage) everything that couldn’t fit with us on the road. A key principle here is to keep what you need and not what you might need.

If you’re anything like I was, you have cupboards and drawers full of the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘one days’. These things may seem like good ideas - but the truth is that, realistically, these things sit there, unused, far longer than we like to admit.

One easy step in how to become a minimalist is to round up your duplicates. Anything you have more than one of (the same novel, the same spatula) could likely be more useful in someone else’s home than yours. Here’s a helpful list of the best ways to donate your old possessions.

If you’re undecided, a good test is to put things in storage for six months. If you don’t need them during that time, the odds are that they aren’t adding anything to your life.

Step 3: Rules For New Purchases

This is one of the simplest and most effective tips for how to become a minimalist! Regulating what you are bringing into your life is a huge way to live simply and to make sure your money is going towards creating the life you want to live.

Everyone’s guidelines will be different, but figure out some ground rules to abide by for a set amount of time and then reassess how helpful they’ve been. You might decide that you want to spend one month considering any purchases over $100, or you might give up online shopping, or only buy things you will use at least once a month.

Whatever you settle on, your guidelines shouldn’t simply be restrictive - they should be building towards new habits and fresh mindsets.

Step 4: Selective Nostalgia

Sometimes people are intimidated when they look into how to become a minimalist because they worry about parting with sentimental objects and memories, but minimalism doesn’t require you to get rid of absolutely everything non-useful.

When we simplified our life, we gave each of our kids a box that they could fill with sentimental or favorite things. This helped us to choose the objects that meant the most to us, and part with the things that were nice, but we never actually looked at or used.

You might decide to scan your photos instead of printing them, or display a few special things instead of having boxes of items you don’t ever delve into. The point isn’t to eliminate all sentiment, but to keep only the things that really enrich our lives. 

Step 5: Narrow Your Choices

Every decision you make requires energy. When you reduce the number of options you have to choose from, you actually free up energy to invest in things that matter most to you!

One thing I discovered when I was looking into how to become a minimalist was that simplifying the choices in my wardrobe was very helpful. In our family, we chose to dress in a monochromatic color palette because it made choosing what to wear and how to dress the kids really easy!

Pick a few areas of your life to start out with and begin to eliminate the options. Your wardrobe, your snacks, the shows you watch - all of these could be places to narrow down the available options and make things really simple. You’ll be surprised at how much this can impact your sense of wellbeing.

Final Thoughts On How To Become A Minimalist

I hope this has helped give you some ideas on how to become a minimalist! This has been an incredibly rewarding journey for our family and I would encourage you to take the plunge towards a simpler, more purposeful life.

For more ideas and inspiration in your own process of minimalism, follow us on Instagram and check out our blog, ‘A Minimalist Lifestyle: 6 Things You Need To Know.’

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