Without further ado, or the way of a minimalist - Style and personality. Step towards yourself

Joshua Becker

Less is more

Minimalism as a path to a conscious and happy life

THE MORE OF LESS: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica Inc. ® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotes marked (msg) are taken from The Message. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

This translation published by arrangement with WaterBrook Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC and with Synopsis Literary Agency.

Series “KonMari Method. Japanese secrets of perfect order"

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Book reviews

“I was incredibly inspired by this wise and very timely book! Like many others, the idea of minimalism now attracts me, but I must admit that I myself am mired in collecting and accumulating things. So I’m very grateful to Joshua for writing so clearly and accurately about how our lives can improve by surrounding ourselves with fewer things, because by getting rid of them we free up space to live and dream.”

“Joshua Becker is one of the most influential representatives of the minimalist movement. The book “Less is More” is written in a fascinating way, and I liked the fact that the author does not judge anyone, but simply expresses his opinion. Overall, the book perfectly describes all the benefits of a life when a person has less things, but more joy.”

Joshua Fields Millburn, creator of theminimalists.com

“Joshua Becker is just great! If you feel like you have too many things and too little happiness, be sure to read this book.”

“Joshua Becker offers readers a new approach to solving a variety of issues and problems related to work and life schedules, a sense of well-being, and relationships with people. Don't be intimidated by the word "minimalist." Improving your life doesn't require any drastic changes. Just open a book, decompress your life, and have more time and energy for the things that matter most to you.”

“I've been reading Joshua Becker for a long time, and this is by far his best work. He gives practical advice on how you can get more out of life with less stuff around you. The book contains simple examples from the lives of real people who freed their lives from excess things, and all this information stimulates the reader to change their lives for the better. I am simply in awe of Becker's consistent, step-by-step explanation of what minimalism is and why and how this philosophy can help us."

“This book will change your life in the simplest way. Less is more, much more!”

“Joshua Becker will teach you step-by-step how to achieve the life you want by solving the major problems you face. This book is a guide to action for all those who want to live simply and richly.”

“Often what prevents us from living with fewer things is the fear that we will lose something. Joshua Becker clearly explains that the minimalist lifestyle is not something to be afraid of. The book contains many ideas on how you can begin to apply the basic principles of this philosophy today. "Less is More" is a book that strikes a balance between inspiration and practical advice."

“Joshua Becker promotes a very attractive lifestyle. He offers simple changes that can radically change your life.”

Jeff Shinabarger, founder of Plywood People

“Joshua provides practical advice and relatable stories that will help readers transition into a new lifestyle with family and friends.”

“I approached reading this book with skepticism, but after reading it to the end, largely thanks to the convincing and simple style of presentation, I began to completely share the author’s ideas and threw out a bunch of unnecessary things from the house.”

James Wallman, Publishers Weekly

Dedicated to the minimalist movement. Your support has been an inspiration and has made this book possible. May the ideas of minimalists continue to change lives, making them happier.

Chapter first

How I became a minimalist

Memorial Day weekend in 2008 saw beautiful weather in Vermont, which doesn't happen often at this time of year. Together with my wife Kim, we decided to devote Saturday to various family and household activities. Spring cleaning of the garage was on my agenda.

Early Saturday morning, while Kim and our little daughter were sleeping, my son Salem and I woke up and I made us bacon and eggs for breakfast. I thought that if I fed my son well, he would be in the mood to help his dad. Remembering that day, I don’t even know why I thought that after a hearty breakfast my five-year-old son would want to help me sort out the garage, but nevertheless, then this logic seemed ironclad to me.

Our two-car garage was packed. On the shelves, one on top of the other, there were boxes that seemed like they could fall down at any moment. There were several bicycles standing against the wall, the pedals of which were caught in the chains or wheels of each other, causing all the bicycles to become, as it were, a single monolithic mass. In the corner of the garage, a garden hose curled up like a huge python; in another corner, rakes and brooms stood in disarray. To get out of the car in the garage, you had to squeeze through and walk sideways so as not to drop things standing against the walls.

“Salem,” I told my son, “this is what you and I need to do.” Over the winter, a lot of different things have accumulated in the garage that we need to sort out. To do this, first take everything out of the garage outside, then take a garden hose and wash the garage. And when everything inside is dry, you and I will carefully arrange all the things that we took outside. Understand?

I write a lot on the topic of conscious consumption, but, recalling the history of my own life, I understand that this desire developed in waves, which means that before the rise there was a very large decline. What do I mean by this? Nothing, except that I was such a crazy consumer that you could never even dream of it. This is what this post is about. I grew up in an average family, and if at first my dad was an individual entrepreneur and made great money, then by the time I was 12, it was mostly my mother (a piano teacher at a music school) who was earning money, and we all dressed in whatever we could, barely making ends meet.

Throughout my school life, I wore clothes given by my mother’s kind friends, and I thought that I would always live this way. I think that’s where all the childhood complexes and self-doubt come from. Coincidentally, the time when I could not afford to dress normally and generally influence the situation in any way coincided with adolescence, when your personality is judged mainly by your clothes. But I am writing this post not with the goal of appearing before you in the image of a victim, but to tell the whole story as it was, albeit sad in places. So, I lived in a world where what kind of person you were depended entirely on what things you had and what you wore. Sed bat tru. But I think many teenagers have gone through this, and it’s normal. It was then that I learned about the existence of second-hand stores and began to communicate with representatives of the informal community. I think that if I had been born into a more affluent family, I would have grown up as a marshmallow girl and would not have gone to a single rock concert. And here I simply found an environment where the number of things and clothes mattered much less.

That is, they served as an indicator of belonging to a certain movement, but such clothes could be found in large quantities and for pennies. With horror and slight irony I remember what I wore then, if I find photos, I’ll show you. Let's laugh, hug and cry all together. And then I became actively interested in hoarding and collecting anything. I never left second-hand stores, and this saga continued during my university years. Remembering how many clothes and things I had, I just grab my head and think how I managed to store all this in a tiny closet in my dorm room?! But, for example, I had exactly 22 bags alone! Can you imagine the scale of the disaster?) I wasn’t joking – there really were so many of them. I then actively bought them, knitted them myself or asked my mother to sew them. Another subject of my collecting were various rare things: old cameras (yes, the same ones that I gave away as part of the 100 days = 100 unnecessary things project) and objects of that era that seemed very interesting and valuable to me - cup holders, badges, and everything anything - that I found on a flea in Volgograd.

I actually went there EVERY weekend. Just crazy...

All the things cost mere pennies, but their presence in such large quantities somehow calmed and even filled my life. You know, how in India, among the lower strata of the population, consumption is some kind of proof like “I spend, therefore I exist.” That's how I was. With her unnecessary purchases, she closed the gap in the desire for safety and security. I remembered all this when I read Tim Kasser’s book “To Have or To Be,” where it is written in black and white: “It turned out that teenagers who prioritize material values are more likely to be raised in poor families than those children who prioritize values such as self-acceptance, good relationships with others and concern for the good of society.”
When I come to my old children's room in the apartment where my mother lives now, I look at the things that remain from that life and think that I would definitely throw out half of it without looking. Of course, now everything has changed, and the standard of living has become completely different, both interests and values. It was minimalism that became that saving pill for me, but I didn’t come to it right away.

I think that’s why my project 100 days = 100 unnecessary things worked out so well.

And the project continues to be my favorite, even though I am sometimes too lazy to make reports and photograph things. I understand that I have recovered from this consumer virus and now I have enough for the season. And it’s not that I threw away 100 or more things, but a more global change in my outlook on life. That is, at some point, it was as if a switch had turned off inside me, I accepted myself, my reality, and found my simple happiness and meaning. And things became unnecessary, because they stopped fulfilling their function - filling my life. They were replaced by something more valuable and important.

This turned out to be an autobiographical and slightly frank post. I would be glad if you share your evolution as a consumer in the comments.

The transition to minimalism can significantly improve the quality of life in general and everyday life in particular, but what if for several months in a row after work you have been going through the contents of your closets and conscientiously throwing out bales of junk, but there has been no change for the better? Yes, there seems to be a noticeable decrease in things, and the local homeless people greet your every appearance with a garbage bag with grateful applause, but there is no additional free time, no money, no comfort. You haven’t spent less time cleaning because you’re constantly decluttering, and you haven’t started doing the things you’ve been wanting to do for a long time for the same reason - you’re busy decluttering. Of course, everything will happen when this fascinating process is completed, and, it seems, there is very little left, but there is no end to the waste. Often this situation is aggravated by the fact that a person postpones what he has long dreamed of until the time when there is finally no distracting junk left in the house and a minimalist idyll reigns.

If this situation sounds familiar, then most likely you have fallen into a trap on your path to minimalism.

This insidious trap can devour your time, your finances and your mood, forcing you to rush around in circles, not a millimeter closer to what you want. This trap is a cycle of endless decluttering.

Decluttering is a long process, but by no means endless.

It can go on for a month, two, a year, but it still has to end. Nobody argues that your home needs to be periodically cleaned of unnecessary junk, but that same Big Decluttering, when you carefully inspect every corner of the room and rearrange your attitude towards things, has a beginning and an end. Sooner or later, you need to stop constantly rushing around the house thinking “what else do I not need”, finish decluttering and move on.

If you feel like you're stuck on regular walks to the trash can, then it's time to stop this useless tossing in circles.

First of all, you should decide on the deadlines, set the exact date when you stop decluttering and accept the result as it is. Everything is individual here. For some, it’s convenient to set aside a week for this task, but for others, even a couple of months is not enough. Everyone is free to adjust the deadlines to suit themselves, the main thing is that they exist. They can be compressed if things are going faster than expected, but they cannot be stretched - otherwise you will simply feed your procrastination. Remember, if in three months you still haven’t been able to get rid of a suitcase full of sentimental rags, then another week won’t do anything. You will simply be sorting through things for some time without results, instead of finally going to the forest/going to a museum/lecture (here you can put any task that you have been putting off).

Having decided on the deadlines, you need to understand why decluttering took so long and correct the mistakes.

I know three reasons.

The most obvious and yet very common is shopping.

You throw things away and then buy new ones, and so on in a circle. Many will say: “Pfft... Thanks Cap, but I’ve been conscious about my purchases for a long time, and there’s still a lot of junk.” What's the catch? Often we don’t even notice how we replenish our supplies of things, and we sincerely don’t understand where all this wealth came from. Yesterday the shelf was empty, and today there is some unnecessary crap on it. Let's pay attention to the little things. In order to clutter an apartment almost brought to the minimalist ideal, you don’t need to go on a regular shopping spree and bring ten bags, it’s enough to buy a couple of extra little things along with food for dinner several times a week. A magazine, cream, a candle, socks, spare sponges for washing dishes - and behold, the space that was freed up was filled again. It’s also worth paying attention to things to put things in order: garbage bags, sponges, rags, containers, which then turn out to be superfluous and are lying around the house. It often happens like this: you buy new things and throw out those you bought a month ago, but the old junk remains where it was, there is no progress, but there is a clear feeling that you are actively moving in the right direction.

The second reason may be hidden in unrealistic expectations from littering.

By ridding your home of junk, you will improve your life many, many times over, but this will not turn an ordinary apartment into a masterpiece of Scandinavian-style design. Moreover, it will not create order in the house. Yes, tidying up when there are no unnecessary things is much easier, but if things are scattered, there will be a mess, even if there are only a hundred things. If you expect that by throwing away you will achieve what you get as a result of cleaning and repairing, then you will throw away until the carrots are in your head.

And the third reason for prolonged decluttering is excessive perfectionism.

There is no point in trying to get rid of all unnecessary things at once and keep only the essentials. Allow yourself to keep some trash, as long as it doesn't get thrown away. Don’t demand that you get rid of your junk one hundred percent, do it eighty percent. Designate a shelf or three in the pantry for the remaining junk, or even a rack if necessary, and eventually stop decluttering. Move on. Enjoy life. Do what brings you pleasure, and empty the rack later. When life is filled with impressions, it will be easier to empty the apartment of the unnecessary things that remain, but for now, allow yourself to declutter imperfectly. Don't approach minimalism with maximalism.

You probably know how easy it is to fall into the trap of constant consumerism that modern society is obsessed with, when you feel like you need to wear fashionable clothes, own the coolest gadgets, live in a nice house and drive a cool car. But this lifestyle will not make you happy. Fortunately, the trend towards minimalism is now slowly gaining popularity. A minimalist lifestyle is all about simplicity or the principle of “less is more.” What steps do you need to take to start incorporating minimalism into your daily life?

1. Clean up

Clutter actually has a huge impact on your life. Look around: unnecessary things; clothes you don't wear; books you will never read; and outdated gadgets. Start small. Drawer by drawer, closet by closet, room by room, until you go through all the things and decide for yourself what you really need and what is just cluttering the space. You will feel like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders when you endure everything that is unnecessary. It will even be easier for you to breathe. Remember that clutter only distracts you, so focus your time and energy on the “physical” order in your life. And for the future, develop the habit of thinking before you make any purchases.

2. Give away what you don't need.

Once you've sorted out the unnecessary things you know you won't miss after cleaning, it's time to get rid of them. Consider simply giving them away. Not only will you end the clutter, but you will also share with those in need. That jacket you bought four years ago and never wore could keep someone else warm.

3. Keep things organized

Once you have gotten rid of unnecessary things in your life, continue to maintain this level. Try to be organized. Find a place for all the remaining things: books - on a bookshelf, clothes - in a closet, important papers - in a drawer. It's quite simple. Such a clear and understandable organization will prevent you from cluttering your living space again. If you don't do this, the clutter will definitely return. Take 10 minutes every evening to put everything in its place. Although this procedure is quite tedious, you will only feel relief as a result.

4. Pay attention to your relationships

The whole point of minimalism is to shift your focus from what doesn't matter to what matters - like your relationships. This refers to any relationship: with friends, relatives, colleagues. They need to be constantly maintained if you want them to be long-term and successful. Recognize that you are not working on them enough, and this is noticeably harming your interactions with the people around you. It is also very important to let go of the superficial relationships in your life so that you can redirect your energy into relationships that are more meaningful and valuable.

5. Get back to real life

Don't be afraid to disconnect yourself from your devices from time to time to take in the reality around you. Yes, social media can be addictive and become a major part of your life, so cut down on your time on it. It's also unhealthy to constantly compare ourselves to others, which is what we do whether we want to admit it or not. Statistics say that people look at their phones every 6.5 minutes. Don't be that person! If you are constantly looking at the world through a screen or focusing on what you don't have, your life actually stops and freezes. Be present and live in the moment. Create a safe balance between material things and what is truly important in your life.

Annette stays in hotels and rents apartments, often with other people. She says a big benefit of living a nomadic life is that she has the time and energy to write articles and work on her website, The Times Are A-Changing, which focuses on environmental issues.

“I have friends,” she says, “whose time and money are spent on working on their huge houses, tending to their gardens and maintaining the lifestyle to which they are accustomed. And I’m quite happy that I can concentrate on what I’m writing. And I really like the fact that I can move wherever I want at any time.

I understand that you most likely do not want to live the way Annette lives. It must be said that each of us has a different idea of minimalism. We'll talk about this in the next chapter on how to live a minimalist life in a way that feels natural and comfortable.

Minimalism makes it possible to live freely. Is this how you want to live?

Now you have already gotten rid of the misunderstanding of the essence of the philosophy of minimalism, if you had one before. Now you know the truth. Minimalism is the policy of keeping all the things you value and getting rid of all those that distract you. Minimalism is a lifestyle for those who want to get the most from having a minimum of things.

Chapter Three

Choose your minimalism

When I started studying minimalism seriously, I made two small discoveries. First, I realized that a lot more people practice minimalism than I realized. Minimalism turned out to be a large and serious movement that was spread throughout the world, but minimalists are not always easy to spot. And secondly, all minimalists practiced minimalism in different ways.

Dave Bruno limited the number of items he owned to one hundred items. At that time he was working at the University of San Diego. He was featured in Newsweek magazine, and a movement called “Try Living with 100 Things Like Dave” arose and became popular among minimalists. There are also more minimalist followers who live with 75, 50 or even 12 things.

Colin Wright packs all his belongings into a backpack and moves to a different country every four months. To make it more interesting for readers of his blog, he invites them to vote for which country they want him to go to for the next four months.

Tammy Strobel lives with her husband and cat in a house with a total area of just under forty meters in Portland. Tammy's family was $30,000 in debt, so going minimalist was a natural step for them to get out of debt. But they liked the life of minimalists and did not move to a larger house after they paid off their debts and began to promote the idea of "small houses."

Leo Babauta moved with his six children from Gautamo to San Francisco. Each family member had only one suitcase with things. Leo says his new lifestyle helped him pay off his debts, quit smoking, lose weight and quit a job he was tired of for a long time.

I must name a few more people whose thoughts and considerations about minimalism influenced my own understanding of this philosophy. This is Francine Jay, Everett Baugh, Karen Kingston, Adam Baker.

These and many other people wrote online about the delights of a new and free life. I read their blogs almost every day for inspiration. And I saw that each of them achieves their goals in different ways.

Then I took one important step - I myself began to apply the principles of minimalism in my life.

Although we had no shortage of role models, my wife and I were not forced to follow one or another path of minimalism that others followed. For such a lifestyle, there was no single correct solution, but there were many possible paths. We had every right to find our own approach to minimalism that suited only us. What happiness!

...

Try to understand what kind of life you want to live, set goals, and minimalism will help you achieve them.

Perhaps you were previously wary of minimalism because you believed that someone would definitely force a minimalist lifestyle on you. But I can assure you that such a perception is not true. I hope that you have already realized that all the fears were unfounded.

Annette Gartland and Colin Wright enjoy living like nomads. And that's great. But if you don’t want to live like that, no one is forcing you.

If you have a suspicion that you will definitely need more than a hundred items in your life, great, no problem!

If you don't want to live in a small house, no one will say a word.

You don't have to ask anyone's permission about what form of minimalism you can choose. Everyone finds their own path in minimalism. However, this does not mean at all that big changes are not waiting for you in your life. These changes will inevitably happen. And they will do you good. You will definitely be happy about it.

You'll not only create a form of minimalism that suits you, but one that aligns with the goals you're pursuing. Try to understand what kind of life you want to live, set goals, and minimalism will help you achieve them.

The main thing is to avoid a situation in which you believe that you know everything and your form of minimalism is the most correct. Focus on the goals you are trying to achieve, and do not forget that each of us has our own vision of minimalism and the problems it is designed to solve.

Heuristic [Heuristic methods are logical techniques and methodological rules of scientific research and inventive creativity that can lead to a goal in conditions of incomplete initial information and the absence of a clear program for managing the process of solving a problem. (Approx. Per.)] methods of understanding reality

Some people clearly understand the purpose of their life. These people very easily find the form of minimalism that is most convenient for them. They use a form of minimalism that provides the shortest path from point A to point B - from where they are to where they would like to be.

However, most people are not so clear about their goals in life. They roughly understand what they want to achieve. Their vision of their future can be compared to a partially drawn picture. Such people are dissatisfied with the fact that they spend money on things they don’t need, of which they have accumulated a decent amount. They would like to change something in their life, but at least at the beginning of the process, they do not fully understand what form of minimalism they should choose.

To be honest, I consider myself to be in the second category of people described above. Perhaps you yourself belong to it. If you've spent half your life chasing things that don't mean much to you, it will be difficult at first to figure out what things you really need.

I encourage you to start minimizing the number of things you own. I'm quite sure that you have things that you definitely want to get rid of. As you get rid of unnecessary things, your goals will become increasingly clear, and a clear understanding of your goals, in turn, will help you continue to get rid of unnecessary things.

When looking at an item, you may ask yourself: “Do I need this item? If necessary, then why and why? Are there any principles to help decide what is needed and what is not?”

The issue here is not just that you define your goals and then do something specific to achieve them. And the question is also not that there are too many things and you are consciously trying to get rid of them in order to make your life easier. Both of these processes occur simultaneously, each in its own direction. At the same time, your goals become clearer and your lifestyle changes.

My neighbor June told me I didn't need so much stuff, so my wife and I began to get rid of the extra “load.” And, to be honest, I had a lot of doubts and hesitations about throwing away certain things.

For example, my golf clubs were in our garage. I very rarely used them. Will I play golf in the future? Should I keep these clubs or should I get rid of them? Ultimately, I decided that golf was not the most important thing in my life, and I got rid of the clubs.

We had a dining table for eight people and a place setting for eight people. But there were only four people in our family. What to do with the table? Buy a table for four people and give away part of the service? After some deliberation, Kim and I decided to leave a table for eight people in the house. The fact is that members of our community often meet at our home, so it is important for us that we can seat them all at the table and feed them. In this case, the requirements of hospitality turned out to be stronger than minimalism.

In general, the process of minimizing things happened heuristically. Or, in other words, everything happened by trial and error. We learned minimalism step by step. This is exactly the approach I recommend to all readers.

Start sorting out and getting rid of unnecessary things. This will help you understand your goals, the meaning of life and your core values. For example, you will be able to understand that instead of moving junk from one place to another, it is better to spend more time with family and friends. When you free up the time that you previously spent on shopping, you will realize that you want, for example, to change your profession. Or you might want to pay off your debts quickly so you can spend money on travel or be able to support some charity close to your heart.