Womens Fashion

How to shop like a Minimalist

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It might sound like a contradiction, how is one supposed to shop like a minimalist? A large part of what a minimalist does is reduce their consumption.

Shopping would be counter-intuitive, surely?

Minimalism is about distilling to the essential.

It is not about getting down to Zero.  It’s not cutting away for cutting aways sake. Minimalist or not, we all need to consume to some degree.

Practicing minimalism helps us to cut out what isn’t needed so that we can focus on what is most important.  Giving you a hint, that’s not having this seasons wardrobe.

Minimalists look within, identify what really matters to them and will purchase items & shop inline with their core values.

The rest of society tends to look externally and shops according to what is on trend at the moment.

So, the first step to shopping like a minimalist is to look within.

Know your values

Every single being on this planet has a core set of values.

Our values are choices we have made about how we want to live our life.  With so many distractions going on, it is often very hard to live by those values.

Many of us haven’t actually sat down and written those values out, or spent any time working with them.

We may have some vague notion about what we really care about, but do we let our values become the driving force of our life?

Before you even think about shopping like a minimalist, you have to have your core values written down.

Next, we are going to take you through an exercise which will help you tap into your intuition & pull out your core values

This isn’t a task to be rushed, so save this post and refer back to it later.

Finding Your Values Exercise

Make sure you have a pen & paper, take yourself somewhere where you can spend some time relaxing.  Whether that is down the beach, at your local park or lake, just go somewhere you feel calm & at peace.

When you are ready, come to your center and begin.

At the top of the piece of paper write: What is truly important to me as a man / women / person?

Close your eyes and read aloud this statement, breathe and see what comes to mind.  You might see images or moments from your life flash in your minds eye, you might remember a conversation or a moment where you felt truly happy and at peace.

Write down these moments, capture as many as you can.

Once you have a list go through each of those moments and ask.

 

Why was this moment so important to me?
How did I feel in this moment?

Write the words that come next to these moments.

EXAMPLE:

Moment:

Touring in Australia with the window rolled down, the sun in my face, listening to Sweet Disposition blasting out with my partner at the time driving and with me feeling no care in the world, perfection.

 

Why was this moment so important to me? 

This moment was a perfect combination of freedom, security and joy where I felt like nothing else mattered but being in that blissful free moment.

How did I feel in this moment?

Free, Content, Secure, Peace, Joy?

The values one might take from this example:

Freedom
Security
Peace
Joy

Once you have a list of values the goal is to start to prioritise which you think is most important to you.  There is no right or wrong answer here, aim to get your top 3 values in priority order.

Now you have your core values, let’s look at we can apply it to your shopping habits.

Aligning your shopping habits to your values

The goal of a minimalist is to align their external world as closely as possible to their core values.   There is no one size fits all for this, it is up to you to interpret how you might do this with your own values.

Once you have your core list and have stepped away from the exercise for some time. Come back to your list and once again find somewhere calm and peaceful to work through the next exercise.

Ask yourself:

  1. What changes do I need to make to my shopping habits so I am in more alignment with my values?
  2. How can I more closely align my external environment to my values?
  3. Is there anything I need to take away so I can live more closely inline with these values?
  4. Is there anything I need to add so I can live more closely inline with these values?

As you ask yourself these questions, again go quiet, breathe and wait for the answers to come from within instead of forcing an answer out.  This is how we tap in to our inner intuition and get answers which are more in alignment with who we truly are.

Write down anything that comes back and use these answers to create an action list for changes you can make to your shopping habits & the things you currently own.

Additional tips for shopping like a minimalist

Always Pay Upfront

The first piece of advice is to always stay within your own means.  Avoid getting in to debt by paying for whatever you want to purchase in full.  If you are making a large purchase, this means you will need to spend more time saving for it.

In this process of saving you will have more time to think about whether this item is really something that you need or want.

It is more illuminating for us to expend the energy needed to create the savings in order to buy the item, than just to buy it with a credit card and worry about the cost later.  By paying upfront you will be more invested in making the right purchase decision and ensuring it is in alignment with your values.

Don’t shop it – Atlist it

Atlist is a free conscious shopping platform which will help you reduce your consumption and create a more minimalist lifestyle.

Download the free chrome addon on, next time you are online shopping late at night and find yourself at the checkout, save your items to Atlist instead to a wishlist with one clicck.

Your items won’t be lost and you can come back and review them a few weeks later and check in with yourself, are these items that I really need or want in my life?

It’s the online version of window shopping and it really helps to reduce the impulse to buy now think later.

Ask yourself these questions before purchasing an item

  1. Would I buy this product or service if it wasn’t on offer or in a sale?
  2. Can I afford to pay for this item upfront?
  3. Am I buying this item for a hypothetical situation (i.e. buying a smaller size in order to motivate myself to lose weight)
  4. If I buy this item what can’t I buy – and am I okay with that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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