The Simplicity Journey: Be Gentle with Yourself Along the Way
You don’t need to do everything overnight… take it as it comes
There’s a lot more to the journey of simplicity than just decluttering. In previous posts, we’ve covered: mindfulness, social media, gratitude, setting one goal, and morning and evening routines amongst other topics.
When I first started my own journey six years ago, all I wanted was a cleaned out closet and physical space. However, as I’ve learned through experiments and trying different concepts, decluttering is the very beginning, not the end goal.
The process has been slow and steady. If I had rushed everything and tried too much at once, I wouldn’t have the grasp on my own simple life that I have right now.
That’s what I want to encourage today. Not taking too many of these concept and trying them all at once.
Take it slow and be gentle with yourself on your journey. This isn’t a race. In fact there’s a lot of advantages to gently trying different things:
- You can experiment for a period of time, decide if it’s right for you or not
- While experimenting, try a different tweak if you think it will help
- You have the time to determine if something is right for you by the data you pick up and analyze
- Trying too many things at once is the opposite of simplicity
- Reflections also lead to trying different ideas or seeing alternatives if we don’t love the experiment
- By trying something for a period of time, you allow yourself to learn from it. Even if that concept isn’t right for you, you’ll learn.
Start with what you feel you need most. If you feel closet overwhelm, experiment with a capsule wardrobe. If you need more down time during the day, try take 5.
Try each concept that speaks to you for a little while (30 days can be eye opening) but try only one. Let yourself figure out if this concept will really work for you.
Be gentle with the process and before you know it, you’ll know what the right methods for you are.
