Minimalism is so important because it forces you to really examine the choices you are making in
your day-to-day life. Consumption takes up a large part of our lives but consumption on the whole
obviously doesn't improve the quality of our lives. One of the best changes you can make today
to improve the quality of your existence is to minimize your consumption. It's going to make
you freer and give you more time to invest into meaningful moments of life. Here are 10 things
I no longer own or spend money on, all in the name of minimalism. Video games. Believe it or
not I used to play a lot of video games, so consequentially I used to buy video games,
but now I make the conscious decision to not play or purchase video games, or any
games for that matter. Video games feel like an escape, and life is best lived or experienced,
not escaped from. Will the moments playing video games be moments you remember? They're addictive
and fun, and this means they can consume a lot of time. But the reward from playing video games,
for me personally, is very low and there are clearly more consequential things I can do with my
time. Sentimental things. Before going minimalist I used to have this general habit of safe keeping
everything that was mine, holding onto sentimental things is a really strong manifestation of someone
who is scared of impermanence, scared of death. Things, and especially sentimental things,
often function as physical statements reinstating that your story matters, and in my experience
life only gets better the more you can see that the whole concept of the importance of the ego
is unessential. Tech and especially new tech. There is this mass hysteria or momentum of
buying the latest tech, including tech you don't need. You or I probably don't need a smart watch,
a new laptop, phone, or gaming console. These things aren't making your life better anywhere
near as much as they promise, and this is why minimalism matters, because tech
has a detrimental effect on the environment. So I choose to only buy tech second hand. Just existing
has a cost, so who's going to pay for that? How do you justify your existence if every moment you're
alive you put a strain on the environment, and as a flow on consequence the conscious quality
of the people making these things? New clothes. I no longer buy new clothes and I don't have a
large amount of them either. I used to have so many tops that could only be worn under certain
circumstances, but minimalism has changed my wardrobe to be more practical and versatile.
There's now also a decreased opportunity to waste money because my wardrobe is so versatile
that if you show me another piece of clothing I most likely don't need it.
If I need a new item I will look for it secondhand and the t-shirts I own are handmade by myself and
my partner. This way I'm no longer feeding into the disaster of fast fashion. Hobbies
and activities. It's possible to feel completely fulfilled doing stuff that doesn't cost money and
that doesn't require things. Instead I enjoy hiking, sightseeing where I live, and spending
time with the people I care about. And all these activities have very minimal requirements.
Gifts. I no longer spend money on gifts. Mot for my parents, not for my partner, not for my friends
or distant relatives. The thing that someone needs is rarely more stuff, so if you're in my life our
relationship is about the quality of our moments together, not about stuff. It's not about what's
been marketed at us. Haircuts. Out of all the savings in my life not having to pay for haircuts
is the most obvious. My partner does it we long term borrowed her Swedish grandfather's scissors.
It's quick, free, and above all I get the haircut I want. A monthly phone plan. I own my quite old
secondhand phone outright and I only put money on it if i miss a phone call,
which happens maybe once a month. I realized that I don't call people and wi-fi works pretty much
everywhere. I have wi-fi at work and at home, if I'm anywhere else I don't want my phone there,
so why pay for it? Traveling. O will and have traveled, but I do it without spending money
on things I wouldn't normally spend money on. I also only travel in the country in which I live.
I will try to stay with friends or family and if not rent a place,
but I will still cook food whilst being away and not spend money on unnecessary things. And I don't
go traveling abroad. If I go abroad it's to move there. Unhealthy food and drinks. I no longer
spend money on eating out. Buying unhealthy food, alcohol or soft drinks. If you learn how to cook
and eat whole food plant-based meals this is a no-brainer. This skill can take a bit of time,
but honestly once you realize how good those meals are and how bad those other meals are. I
have nothing more to say. I hope this video inspires you to examine the things you own
and the money you spend and hopefully leads you to make some changes in your lifestyle to live a more
responsible and conscious life. More importantly getting rid of stuff is not acquiring new stuff.
Minimalism really helps with this. Not having stuff has made me calmer.
More than anything it's made me calmer, and I really like that. That might sound
simple but the quality of my life is all that I actually have. How do I want this journey to be?
Yeah, calm with the clarity to experience meaningful moments. Thank you so much for
watching and I'll see you next week with a new video. If you like this type of
content please give the video a thumbs up and subscribe if you haven't already!