3 Tips To Making Lifestyle Changes Easier
There are so many lifestyle "movements" around health and wellness, environmentalism, simplicity, decor, and more. The inspiration is endless. It can also be extremely overwhelming at times too!
Once you've discovered something that resonates with you, it takes time to bring your current life into alignment with this new way of living. This was my experience beginning a minimalist lifestyle. I knew that it was going to be life changing in the best way possible. I also knew that it wouldn't happen overnight since at that time I was a shopaholic in debt. This has also been my experience embarking upon living a life of zero waste. Here are three tips to making new lifestyle changes easier.
1. Keep Your Excitement To Yourself
One of the most difficult aspects of changing your lifestyle is not allowing others to discourage you during the beginning stages. It’s in the beginning stages that we are usually the most vulnerable and insecure about making a change. This is why I believe it is crucial to keep your excitement to yourself while you are becoming more familiar with a new way of living. Despite how moved you are by what these new changes will bring to your life, allow others to witness your process versus speaking too much before you've even began the journey.
2. Do Your Research
Whatever new lifestyle change you are embarking upon, do your research. If living with less resonates, research decluttering and even read one of my favorites The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo. The more you can equip yourself with the mental perspective to clear out your clutter, the easier the process of downsizing will be. This is also true for living a more environmentally friendly life. Reading books such as Plastic Free by Beth Terry and Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson have provided me with so much priceless insight and helpful tips.
If you desire to eat healthier, start using a nutritional website or app such as Cronometer and become your own nutritionist. Watch documentaries about nutrition to keep you motivated while eliminating sugar and processed foods. The more information that you have, the easier it will be to deal with naysayers.
3. Stay Positive & Don't Give Up
I wish change was easy. It's not, yet it isn't impossible either. It simply takes a lot of motivation, and also positive self talk especially on those days when you just aren't feeling it. No matter how much positivity is in my writing, or in the things that I say, there are so many days I want to throw in the towel, curl up, and disappear. I call this being human. Life is frustrating at times, and it gets extremely old having to pick yourself back up.
Just know that everyone goes through this. Even the ones we look up to are very human with their own struggles. The beauty that we see in those that motivate us are that they don't give up. I'm sure they have their own drama, but they keep pushing forward. If I were born a minimalist, I would have never had to declutter and change my perspective around possessions. If I was born only eating healthy whole foods, I would have never had to transition to a new way of eating while being aware of all of the processed foods everywhere. The same goes for choosing any lifestyle which benefits your health, finances, others, or the planet.
It's A Journey
It's the transition that makes the journey a true journey. It is easier to just keep things exactly the same, yet that often doesn't bring joy or personal growth. If personal growth is something that you desire, you must go through the process. No one is exempt from this, and everyone will have their own unique experience along the way.
It's this journey that creates character. I'm honestly not sure if today's article was more for me or for you, but I do know I’m beyond human all the time. I wish things could often appear smoother, yet I also know it’s my perspective I am holding onto more than anything else. It’s that perspective that needs to be decluttered. Regardless I keep pushing.
Much Love!
Image by Dawn Michelle