It means to consciously only have in your life what you want to have in your life and be aware of everything you have. So it can be a lot or not much, it depends.
This includes material items, habits, friends, relationships, jobs, surroundings and anything you can think of.
To become a minimalist you have to consciously choose what to keep in your life and discard all the rest. Decluttering does not work! It really is about consciously choosing what to keep.
To maintain being a minimalist you have to make conscious decisions about what to invite in your life and treasure and look after it the best you can. Only buy what you love, only spend time with people you love. Take conscious actions, maintain those habits you want in your life.
Learning to let go is very important for a minimalist. If you have negative emotions for instance: How long are you willing to hang on to them? How soon are you able to let them go? Train yourself, become faster at it. The better you manage to let go of anything that comes your way that you don’t want in your life, the better you manage to create chain of happy moments, the more successful you are as a minimalist.
It is important that you only choose to surround yourself with beautiful and necessary things. What you have around you defines you and the other way round. The better you master this skill the easier it is going to be to deal positively with whatever is thrown at you and you struggle to deal with. You will be so full of positive energy to share with the world that people will just want to be around you.
Live being aware of who you are, what you need and want and only have that and nothing else. Concentrate on the moment while still having directions – but make sure you are happy on the go.