Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life

Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus — 2015

Minimalism is the thing that gets us past the things so we can make room for life's most important things—which actually aren't things at all. At age 30, best friends Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus walked away from their six-figure corporate careers, jettisoned most of their material possessions, and started focusing on what's truly important. In their debut book, Joshua & Ryan, authors of the popular website The Minimalists, explore their troubled pasts and descent into depression. Though they had achieved the American Dream, they worked ridiculous hours, wastefully spent money, and lived paycheck to paycheck. Instead of discovering their passions, they pacified themselves with ephemeral indulgences—which only led to more debt, depression, and discontent. After a pair of life-changing events, Joshua & Ryan discovered minimalism, allowing them to eliminate their excess material things so they could focus on life's most important "things": health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution.

Reviews

Radimir Bitsov@radibit

Jul 31, 2022

Essential book for me!

Lauren@oceanvoices

Oct 27, 2021

I put it down halfway through. I thought this book would be more about minimalism and less about their personal lives. I understand that things go hand in hand but i didn’t really need a guide to tell me to eat healthy and work out when i was more interested in decluttering. Not a fan of this book.

Max @cozylittlepapers

Sep 27, 2021

The book largely started out as an autobiography for these two men, and it came off as a bit pretentious with the constant praise of themselves. Things got better after the first section of the book and I genuinely found the questions asked to be thought-provoking and I will definitely be using these to better my life. I would say that this book’s title is a bit misleading, though. The book is about mindfulness rather than minimalism. As they say, it goes hand-in-hand, but I feel as if it’s still misleading. If you’re looking for a thought-provoking book about getting rid of the crap in your life that you don’t need and doesn’t add value, I recommend!