Striving for Minimalism and Essentialism

Minimalism= intentionally promoting the things we most value and removing everything else that distracts us from it ( Malama Life)

"Without a clear mind, we are not able to see our reality and appreciate it for what it is, wherein minimalism comes into play by emphasizing the importance of getting rid of clutter in our lives"

For a couple of months now, I have set for myself the rule of not using my phone just before going to bed and right after I've just woken up. This has proved to work successfully in some days; in some other days, however, not as successfully as I've planned. During these days, I keep asking myself "Why do I feel this urge to constantly go online and being in this repetitive game of online and offline mode throughout the day?" Then I would proceed by thinking deeper and by asking myself this "Whatever my reasons for feeling quite low and without energy on this respective day, would I truly heal or feel better by spending time scrolling on social media, following and watching people's lives and stories, but not bother to do that with my own, especially when I'm not at my best?" If you put it this way, of course it doesn't make any sense to disregard your own well-being on the motive of you being too caught up in the external world and its influences that come along with it. We never really think this far, do we? I look at myself and I can say this from my own perspective: I grab my phone, go on social media, see whether I have some new messages, check what's new, scroll a little bit, and after a couple of minutes, I funnily decide to turn off my wi-fi. After I jump out of bed in an attempt to "proceed" with my morning routine, I look at the clock and see that a good amount of time had passed already since I woke up. I think this is the moment when I start to get less excited and energized as far as my morning routine and day is concerned. Whereas, I should be more mindful and clear with my intentions and priorities for the day from the beginning and solely focus on that, thus devoting my attention span and energy to the things I've set out to accomplish and that matter to me.

"We could never completely get rid of the noise from our head, yet there are some tactics that simplify the things going on" When trying to steer clear of social media, it is yet very tempting to the extent that you find yourself doing the same thing you were doing a couple of minutes/hours ago. No wonder that you'll start calling it an unproductive day or even yourself; so what is there to be done in this sense?

"Do you ever feel like you're getting pulled from so many directions and not quite being able to focus on one task?" How about focusing on your goals for the day and on your plans for the entire week with no external influences around? You are in full control of these goals and plans, provided that you allow no distractions along the way. Should this happen, you are not as focused and as motivated to get things done, because of allowing several external factors to distract you, hence not paying attention anymore to your plans, desires and needs, hence diminshing your awareness of what is important to you to be eventually thriving with a satisfactory mood at the end of the day; that of having done somehting productive and fulfilling.

"We fail when we let others define success for us"

We should never be seeking validation from others as far as our life choices goes, nor attempt to live other people's lives just because they seem to have better or cooler lives on the outside. Most often than not, this kind of people who are permanently thirsty for doing and having more in life, experience short-term happiness and satisfaction, for they could never be content with what they currently have; they could never be happy with enough, nor understand why having little is enough to be innerly happy and at ease. So, live the life that you want and learn that there's no rule as to how to live a meaningful life, as long as you design it on your own terms that bring meaning according to your description of "meaningful life". And most importantly, never assume that your life is boring or mundane upon seeing how much of something some people have; most probably, it is just an act of showing off from their behalf, when in reality their reservoir of self-happiness and self-peace is quite empty.

Essentialism=the power of focus; how to do less & have more impact ( Lavendaire)

"Anyone can be busy, but busy is not always productive; it's about what you work on, rather than how much you work". "Where focus goes, energy flows" (Tony Robbins)

Have you ever felt like you're taking on way too many tasks and responsibilities than you can handle? That could potentially occur as a result of your nature to always be active and up and doing. Yet, are you in truth devoting your best interest and energy into the things that actually matter to you? By doing too many things at once, this energy of ours is normally spread in multiple directions, thus not channeling our energy accordingly, but chaotically; to put it shortly, we do not make use of our time, efforts and energy in an impactful way, whereas we could focus on one thing and do it very well

"Only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, can you dedicate your time to the things that actually matter"

Allow yourself room to breathe and space to perfom at your best behaviour. Don't be so harsh on yourself by exhausting your resources with not so significant things, but try to look more from a long-term perspective and decipher how such things could benefit you in the long-run, thus adding value.

"Living by design, not by default"-less, but better. By working on the right things, we can achieve the doing less & more impact concept: try to set a list of priorities and observe which areas count as highly significant, significant and less significant; choose what matters to you the most, decide what is valuable and what will bring you the highest return for your time and efforts

Don't let yourself carried away by things which only bring you short-term and inefficient quality time, but try to seek out for efficient and long-term alternatives that can boost your productivity and your mood as well in your own way, to ultimately achieve an ideal balance as far as minimalism and essentialism goes.