7 Ways to Challenge Material Consumption and Declutter Your Mind and Soul
If you want to find more meaning in your life, don’t think that material possessions and consuming more is the answer.
Stuff doesn’t bring happiness and happiness certainly is not determined by how much you own.
Many of us work more hours and earn more than our parents yet have fewer savings than them.
We live it large, with larger cars, larger homes and larger debts compared to previous generations.
Often the pressure to present an image to impress others is at the route of our spending. Images on social media of what we should aspire to become is often at the heart of much of our materialistic pursuits. When we mindlessly spend to keep up with our peers, we consume unnecessarily. By spending more, owning more and trying to impress more people, we put undue stress upon ourselves financially, socially and on our wellbeing too.
Owning more does not create freedom, it ties you to more debt, more cleaning, more maintenance and less contentment and pursuit of memorable experiences.
We become desensitised to the simple pleasures of life when we constantly pursue the next best possession to gain a sense of temporary satisfaction.
We are meant for better experiences than material possessions. We are all consumers, however some of us are more excessive and needless in our consumption than others.
7 ways to change your mind set on materialism to declutter your mind and soul:
Contribute more to your world: Take your focus away from getting and turn it more to giving. Just this attitude alone can help you in your process to move away from consumption to contribution. What can you give to others? Start with the simplest of actions, such as smiling and listening more. Then think of what you can give to your wider community.
Create Challenging boundaries: Earn things through discipline and you will appreciate them more. I will reward myself with a shop bought coffee at the end of a week’s work, rather than every day. I make my own coffees every other day. Create sacrifices for buying. I will only buy a new item of clothing if I donate 3 other clothing items that are currently hanging in my closet.
Know that what you buy has a whole history behind it: Be aware of the manufacturing costs on the environment and the possible exploitation of your fellow human beings. Cheap items are often so because of a more expensive cost to our world.
Live your life doing more that makes you feel happier: This does not mean indulging in self-destructive habits. Life is a balance and is best lived in moderation. A materialistic life will not make you happy. Happiness through consumption is brief and addictive and cannot satisfy you in the long term. Experience happiness through appreciating the simple things in life, such as contributing to your world and enjoying time with you family and friends. Look toward the awe of nature and enjoy the sound of the wind and rain or the warmth of the sun on your face.
What are your consuming triggers? Work out what behavioural triggers cause you to spend your money. What do you reward yourself with by purchasing? What shops do you turn to for the experience of spending? What entices you to spend, e.g., sales and discounts? What feelings cause you to spend? Loneliness, boredom, restlessness?
You are your own person, stop living up to another’s image of how life should be: Choose for yourself. Don’t be part of the herd and pursue what others claim to be the way to live or what you should own. Many of us are guilty of living as a brand label to impress others. You don’t need to drop your kids to school in a large, black SUV to fit in, or display yourself at a certain café or shop to get attention. It is best to choose friends and peers who don’t expect you to be anything other than your true self.
Your current situation is a reflection of all your life choices: What burdens have you chosen to carry that are weighing you down now? Consider what to offload to free up your joy for life. The things you buy can always be sold or given away, and the situation you find yourself in can always be improved by making new and better choices.
Choose to not consume so many materialistic goods and you won’t be consumed by the debt and guilt that often follows.
If you enjoyed reading this blog, please consider my books, “Mindful Minimalism” and “Be Happy more often” available here.