Why I’m Letting Go of Even More (Extreme-ish Minimalism)

For the past month I’ve had the summer off work. Long days in the sun have given me even more time to reflect on what I want in life and where I want to focus my energy. The answer? On slowly building a business from what I’ve always loved (writing) so I can fully dedicate myself to guiding people to a simpler, more authentic life. 

Being surrounded by things I don’t really need and silent to-do’s are a constant distraction, so I’ve been decluttering my way towards extreme-ish minimalism. I say extreme-ish because I can only focus on my own stuff, and I don’t want to let go of my Nintendo Switch or the PS5. 

A while back, I did an experiment where I put almost everything that wasn’t essential up into the attic and tried living with far less. It was one of the most eye-opening experiences and I found I didn’t miss most of what went into storage. 

The only non-essential things that didn’t go up there were the game consoles because the whole family, including myself, is passionate about videogames. However, I’ve made gaming the lowest priority in my life so I can focus on what I feel is my life purpose. 

Yesterday, I took a small pile of DS games and one Gameboy Advance game to the market and sold the lot for £6 in total (around $7.66). Crazy, right? I could have made more had I waited longer to sell them on ebay or Facebook Marketplace. The trouble was that they were taking up so much mental energy and causing a distraction every time I checked for interest or sales. And did I really want to spend ages queuing in the post office for the peanuts I would make by the time postage costs and ebay fees had been taken? 

Nope. 

Then there’s the endowment effect where the value of objects goes up in our minds simply because we own them. Had I stubbornly held onto the games because of that, they would have continued to take up space, time, and my peace of mind. No object is worth that. 

Of course, my fantasy-self piped up and tried to convince me to keep them. 

“But you could pull out your DS and play these for nostalgia!”

“You love puzzle games and The Sims! You can totally sit down and make time to play these!”

“You spent money on them so why not enjoy them?”

Of course, this reasoning was utter bull. I haven’t played the games in years and there was less than 1% chance of ever picking them up again with the rest of the games in my backlog waiting to be played. Especially with prioritising my writing. They’re also easy to find again should I ever change my mind (which is unlikely). 

Some people have expressed fear that I’m going ‘too far’ with minimalism. I say I’m not going far enough. 

Minimalism is a counter-cultural lifestyle, so there will always be naysayers and people who feel threatened. I’ve said it before, but you must have a steadfast belief in why you’re doing what you’re doing, and be laser-focused on your goals. When your self-belief and your why is unshakeable, it will make projected fears and negativity from others meaningless. It may even inspire them in the future!

Here’s some of my whys: 

• So that all my time and energy gets laser-focused on my craft 
• Less cleaning and maintaining 
• Not worrying about what happens to everything when I’m gone (Swedish Death Cleaning). 
• Spirituality – I want to honour my soul’s purpose and be satisfied from the inside instead of seeking fleeting external sources. 
• Removing limits and attachments: I want to learn what’s possible for my life
• To remove ‘I can’t’, from my vocabulary and live by ‘what if’, and ‘I can’. 

Only when we are unapologetically ourselves can we inspire the same in others. Only by letting go can we find and start to nurture who we really are and what we really want.