Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

You can’t be a minimalist without a growth mindset

I got an email today from one of my clients basically telling me that I won’t be able to get as much work from them as I thought I’d be able to. Although this isn’t necessarily a bad thing (I also won’t need to spend as much time writing for them), it had me worry a little.

I got used to having that extra income and so, suddenly having it withdrawn meant that I had to reconsider a few things. Sure, I may have to cut back a little until I find something else. This of course isn’t a problem. After all, it’s not like I lost them as a client completely, and it’s not as if I don’t have other opportunities too. But even the fact that I felt a bit disappointed made me wonder: if it’s all not that bad, why did I feel a tinge of dread?

Talk about first world problems, but I digress. It’s all a matter of mindset.

I realised that for some reason, my default mindset is a “minimalist” one ie. I tend to look for ways to cut back on things that don’t serve me, as opposed to cut forward. By cutting forward, I mean develop myself. And this I feel has been responsible for some of my recent bouts of depression and existential crises.

It makes sense. For sure- when opportunities run out, go stale or go on hold, it can seem like the world is caving in on you, and there’s little you can do. When being laid off, losing a gig or not hearing back from jobs time and time again is seen as a final judgement of your potential and capabilities, it’s easy to feel discouraged, frustrated and depressed. After all, you’re just not good enough. If you’ve been rejected downright for your absolution, what more is there that you can do?

This is where a minimalist mindset by itself becomes a huge problem. But before we get into that, let’s not forget where it can be beneficial.