Have you seen that 30-day minimalism challenge floating around Pinterest and the rest of social media? You know the one, it promises you can become a minimalist in 30 days with 30 short challenges.
If you’ve ever seen it and wondered if you could do it. Or if you ever tried it and wonder why you failed. Don’t worry, you’re in good company, I was right there with you.
Keep reading to learn my story of how I completely failed on day one and made a bigger mess instead. Then see how I still managed to accomplish the challenge and what my version would look like instead.
The problem with day one
I was standing at the doorway to my future happiness, I was armed with my three boxes and ready to tackle the challenge. I was ready to finally stop being a pack-rat and start the famous 30-day minimalism challenge to becoming a minimalist.
The only problem was day one. I failed before I even started. “Purge your closet” – had they seen my closet? This was a one day project. This should have been the whole thirty days!
Where was I supposed to start? I was overwhelmed before I even got off the ground. Have you ever felt like that??
I started pulling everything out of my closet. All the shoes I had drooled over in the store and then only wore once. All the clothes from previous years, and various sizes. Some dresses, some less formal, and of course all the tee-shirts. And should I pull out the tub in the kid’s closet with all my purses? Did that count in purging my closet? Do I wait until I purge their closet? I was lost.
Now, not only was I lost and overwhelmed but our bed was buried in all the contents that had previously been tucked away in the closet. It felt like I had gone backward instead of marching steadily towards my dream of a newly found minimalist.
Where we should start instead
I have grown to love the 30-day minimalism challenge. But that first day, that first very overwhelming day, I hated the infamous project. It had led me down a dangerous path and the only way to recover was to shove it all back in and pour myself a margarita.
Who was I kidding? I would never be a minimalist. My home would never look like all those pictures I had pinned on Pinterest.
But what I found, as I plowed through the other days in the challenge, is that my home didn’t need to look like those pictures. Because those pictures probably didn’t have two boys living there who like to turn their living room into a parkour course. Or if they do, they weren’t doing while that perfect picture was being taken.
So, my suggestion momma, if this story resonates with you is to skip day one in the challenge and start on the inside instead. The rest of the challenge really was beneficial and I learned so much about myself during that challenge.
So, don’t box yourself into someone else’s version of becoming a minimalist. Just because the person creating this challenge seems to think we can purge our entire closets in one afternoon doesn’t mean you’re bound to fail the entire challenge.
The rest of the challenges are either quick or mental exercises that are incredibly helpful. So start there and then let’s come back to purging our closets when we’re less overwhelmed and ready to tackle such a huge project.
What I have found is that when it comes to purging, slower is better. That’s why I love the 27 fling boogie challenge. It is a slower and less intense way to get to the same destination.
If I ran the world….what my challenge would look like:
So, if I ran the world, this is what my 30-day minimalism challenge would look like. I would make it much more forgiving.
And most importantly, I wouldn’t take such a huge undertaking like “purge your closets” and give it one sentence on one day.
No, you deserve a much more forgiving and less overwhelming method for making your house a home everyone can feel comfortable in. Even those parkour masters!
