Joshua Becker's Blog, page 137

Happily Welcomed Side Effects

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Markus Almond of Brooklyn to Mars.

I paid off my last credit card today. I didn’t feel relieved or excited when I serendipitously eliminated my credit card debt. Nor did I flirt with the idea of buying useless things with my freshly available credit. ‘It is what it is,’ I thought as I clicked ‘confirm payment’ and watched the stressful balance disappear to a big black zero.

When I started jettisoning my belongings last year, I didn’t do it for financial reasons. I was in the process of moving into a new apartment. I was tired of lugging around so much stuff. I was tired of unpacking, cleaning, organizing and shopping. I started getting rid of things. I found Joshua’s book Simplify and came across excellent websites like Becoming Minimalist and The Minimalists.

From these inspiring people, I not only learned how to declutter, digitalize and simplify, I also learned how to focus on art, savor healthy relationships and embrace meaningful experiences. There are enormous benefits to living a simple life – financial independence is one of them. But I was unaware of these benefits when I began dragging expensive furniture, clothing and stereo equipment down two flights of stairs to the curb last winter. I just knew that I wanted it gone.

I discovered that once I got rid of stuff, I had very little desire to buy more. Financial independence was a happily welcomed side effect. It was the result of my newly formed skepticism towards material consumption. I now cringe at advertisements and avoid shopping malls. Since my outlook has changed, I’ve watched my debts slowly vanish.

Today I’m sitting in Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City, NY. I’m surrounded by willow trees, wild flowers, and the occasional little kid bumping along the boardwalk on a scooter. There are water taxis and fishing boats coasting in the East River and above them is every building on the east side of Manhattan. When the sun starts to set, the greens and browns of the cityscape will gradually fade into a billion dollar light show – a universe of tiny windows flickering on and off as workers leave, lovers come home and janitors shuffle from floor to floor turning lights on and off as they enter and leave.

It’s all beautiful and I haven’t spent a dime today.

If you look closely, you can see little flashes popping on the observation deck of the Empire State Building – tourists too caught up in forgetful excitement to disable their flashes. I hope we can all experience that overwhelming wonder and excitement. I hope we all forget to disable our flashes. Life provides many gifts. Most of them are free.

***

For more words by Markus Almond, visit brooklyntomars.com. You can also find him on Twitter.

Image: Markus Almond

New Resources for Your Simplicity Journey

I am excited to see some wonderful new resources become available encouraging simplicity. And because I know some of you look forward to help, I thought I’d mention a few:

Simplify Magazine. Simplify Magazine is a free, digital, monthly magazine created and edited by Faith Janes. Faith has been writing about simplicity for a number of years. Her new magazine is being produced to help reach more people. You can find the first issue (released this past week) on their website. You’ll find it to be very well put-together and extremely practical.

You Can Buy Happiness (and It’s Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too. I’m glad to see Tammy Strobel’s new book selling so well since its release three weeks ago. Her story and her husband’s story of voluntary downsizing provides inspiration for so many others who are living beyond their means… working jobs they don’t enjoy… pursuing things they don’t need.

Happier at Home. Gretchen Rubin is the author of several books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller The Happiness Project. Her books encourage a rational approach to minimalism recognizing happiness is not found in possessions. Her writing argues for intentional living in all areas of life. And her new book offers practical thoughts on the most prominent areas of the home including possessions, marriage, time, and parenthood.

Simplicity Essays. Earlier this week, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus released a collection of essays from their website (The Minimalists) in an intentional presentation. The book is designed to encourage readers to think critically about the excess in their lives and, ultimately, to take action towards living more intentionally.

Becoming Minimalist Facebook Page. The Becoming Minimalist Facebook page has grown by over 3,000 fans in the past month. To accomplish this, we have changed our strategy in how we utilize it by providing more frequent posts: encouraging quotes, inspirational images, and helpful back links to this site. It appears to be resonating with many as we add close to 100 new fans each day. You can join and help us spread the word.

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. In this list of resources, I wanted to include this book by Christian author, Jen Hatmaker… though I have to admit I have not personally read it yet. The book, released earlier this year, came highly recommended to me last weekend by a good friend I trust in these matters. Following Hurricane Katrina, Jen took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence. It is on my short list of books to read in the coming weeks.

I hope you have a most wonderful weekend.

Image: Ben Fredericson

Joy is Experienced to be Shared

Ten years ago, my son was born. I remember the morning well. Like every proud parent, I distinctly recall picking up the telephone and calling each of our family members and closest friends to share with them the exciting announcement. The joy in our lives was bubbling over. And I could not wait to include others in the moment.

I learned a valuable life lesson that morning: Joy is meant to be shared with others. In fact, our joy becomes more complete when it is shared with others. The moment was one I will never forget… but having others to share in it brought even more excitement.

This truth about the important of sharing joy with others can easily be seen in life’s most exciting moments. But the experience of sharing joy can also be seen in smaller moments:

When we find a great new restaurant, we recommend it.
When we read a lovely new book, we share it.
When we discover a better way to live, we invite others.

The practice of sharing new things with others improves their lives. It allows them to discover the same joy. But it also enhances ours as well. It makes our joy complete. It bring new fullness to our lives. And it is one of the reasons I included an entire chapter about sharing our story with others in our book, Simplify.

Simply put, joy is meant to be shared. It is unselfish on every level to invite others to experience the same.

When we began intentionally living with fewer possessions, we discovered a better way to live. We discovered less debt, more time, more freedom… more joy. And we love the opportunity to confidently invite others to discover the same. Their lives can be improved. And our joy is made more complete.

***

The Becoming Minimalist Newsletter is dedicated to this pursuit. It is written for those who have discovered the joy of living with less and desire to invite others to do the same. Our hope is to provide a committed team with tools and a unified voice to encourage simplicity and minimalist living. J oin us:

Subscribe to the newsletter with e-mail

Image: Steve

We Are All Minimizing Something

“The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it.” - Plutarch

“Oh, I could never be a minimalist.” I’ve heard it a thousand times.

When I do, I first ask myself, “I wonder what misconception would bring someone to think that?” And second, I think to myself, “But you already are a minimalist. We are all minimizing something.”

Our resources are finite. We can’t have it all and we can’t do it all. Everyday, we trade our lives for something.

When I became minimalist, I found more time for the things that I love.
When I became minimalist, I found more money for things of true worth.
When I became minimalist, I found more energy for things of lasting value.
When I became minimalist, I found more focus for things that brought real meaning.
When I became minimalist, I found more opportunity to pursue my greatest potential.

Intentionally or unintentionally, we are all minimizing something. I just chose to minimize the physical possessions that were adding no value to my life.

Image: visual panic

Embracing Commitment for Lasting Change

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Lorilee Lippincott of Loving Simple Living.

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.” – Peter Drucker

Many of us (including myself) are looking for lasting change in our lives. Lasting change is more than a great idea or a quick fix. Lasting change is change deep inside us building habits out of what we want our life to be. It is changing who we are and how we respond to the world. And many of us are searching for lasting change in our homes, lives, relationships, personal growth, or health. Even though it often isn’t easy or quick, finding lasting change does not have to be difficult.

Lasting Change Needs Commitment

Commitment is harder and harder to find in society. It seems our lives change so quickly we have learned to only ‘dip a toe’ into an idea before we begin to watch for the next thing to show up. We test it, try it for a few weeks, and hop off to the next thing. Often, people aren’t committing to a job, or a church, or even social groups. Add to that the changes in society around us with ideas, fads, fashion, technology and much more. And it becomes easy to see we are becoming a society of the uncommitted.

However, we need to learn commitment to find lasting change.

A commitment is bigger than a goal. Goals are great but they are often affected by life’s circumstances – which can lead to discouragement. On the other hand, commitment is the idea, the principle, that carries us through setbacks or day-to-day troubles and keeps us steered in the direction we choose to head.

For me, minimalism has become a big part of my life. I committed to simplifying my life about a year and a half ago. I became committed to that principle because of the larger commitment to have more time and control in my life. This intentional commitment has slowly made minimalism a lasting change in my life. During the process, lots of goals have been set, met, and changed, but it was the commitment that continued to make it real in my life.

So what lasting change are you looking for in your life?

Are you adopting minimalism? Working on a hard relationship? Trying to lose weight? Something else? Decide to make the commitment for lasting change.

And then, begin implementing these strategies to create lasting change:

Expects set-backs, plan for them, and push through them (in sickness and in health… better or worse…).
Tell others about the end result you are working toward. Instead of saying ‘we are going to go through and clean out some clutter’ say ‘We are becoming minimalist to really simplify our life. We aren’t sure exactly what it will look like yet, but we are excited.’
Make small goals. And then routinely reevaluate to make sure they are still moving you towards your desired lasting change.
Own it. Live like you have already achieved it. If you call yourself a minimalist, you will begin to think and act differently. Avoid words such as “thinking about,” “working on,” or “trying out.” These are ‘toe in the water’ words. The power of positive speech can make a huge difference.

Lasting change will always require commitment. The intentionally-lived life is not always the easy life. But commitment muscles get stronger as you exercise them. And committing to live the life you believe in is always worth it.

***

Lorilee Lippincott helps families simplify at Loving Simple Living. She has just released Simple Living – 30 Days to Less Stuff and More Life. It is on sale this week for only .99. You can also find her on Twitter.

Image: Bryon Lippincott Photography

Bring Minimalism to Your Community | Book Joshua to Speak

“Joshua Becker’s message has been a powerful influence in my life. I was inspired and engaged at his presentation.  He spoke directly to my heart.”

- Courtney Carver, Salt Lake City, UT

INTRODUCTION

My name is Joshua Becker. I’m a writer, blogger, speaker, youth worker, husband, father… My passion is to inspire and encourage others to find more life by owning fewer possessions.

Funny thing is, I didn’t start out this way. I spent most of my life caught up in the endless pursuit of material possessions. I didn’t really believe possessions were the key to happiness, but you wouldn’t have guessed that by looking at my checkbook. Fortunately, a conversation with my neighbor changed my life forever when she introduced me to intentionally living with less.

My wife and I immediately cleared the clutter from our home and life. As a result, we found a valuable new way to live centered on our most important values. It has been a journey of discovering the counter-cultural truth that abundant life is found in owning less.

Following that decision, we began encouraging others to do the same through our writing and speaking. We began noticing an entire society around us wasting finite time, energy, and dollars chasing temporal possessions… possessions that never brought the full joy they expected. Becoming Minimalist soon became a source of inspiration to millions around the world. Our story has been seen on the CBS Evening News, NPR, The Guardian and countless media interviews around the world. Our books (Simplify / Living with Less) have sold in the tens of thousands. Our website is read by over 100,000 visitors each month. And we have had opportunity to share this message publicly to thousands at various venues all across the country.

Joshua Becker speaks from the heart sharing his experience with honesty and passion. If you ever wanted to know how minimalism can bring more value into your life, Joshua is the person to learn from as his message is not just inspiring but applicable. I could have listened to his story for hours.”

- Nina Grenningloh Reyes, Los Angeles, CA

Joshua’s stories are entertaining, his speaking style is unique, and his approach is simple yet engaging.

- Joshua Millburn, Dayton, OH

TOPICS

I have spoken to groups of various ages, various sizes, and in various venues for the last 13 years. I have spoken to audiences of 50, 500, and 1,500. I have spoken at churches, public schools, training events, industry-specific functions, and conferences across the country. Some of the recent venues/conferences include:

World Domination Summit, Portland, OR.
Double Your Impact Conference, Omaha, NE.
Every Woman’s Cafe, Essex, VT.
Okoboji Lakes Bible Conference, Okoboji, IA.
Mothers of Preschoolers, Peoria, AZ.
LIFE Student Conference, Phoenix, AZ.

I am experienced and available to speak on the following topics:

Living With Less: An Unexpected Key to Happiness.
Finding Simplicity In A Culture of Consumption.
A Fresh Look at Jesus’ Teachings on Money and Possessions.
How Minimalism is Changing the Landscape of Entrepreneurship.
Building an Audience Through Writing and Social Media.

Each topic is presented in a highly relevant, immediately practical way that seeks to connect with the listeners’ heart through humor, personal stories, sound reasoning, and practical steps of application. Example.

“Booking Joshua as a speaker was totally smooth; he was an absolute pleasure to work with! He was highly organized and willing to tailor his talk to our particular audience of 250 women. He exceeded all of our expectations!”

- Lyn Nash, Every Woman’s Cafe Conference Organizer, Essex, VT

COST/AVAILABILITY

I made an intentional decision early in my speaking career to not charge a fee for my public speaking other than basic travel and lodging expenses. My heart is for the message of living with less. My desire is to intentionally remind others there is more joy in pursuing less than can be found in pursuing more. My truest passion is to extend this life-giving invitation to as many people as possible. My current level of income supports our lifestyle. And to that end, I currently offer my public speaking bookings free of charge.

Again, my heart is for the life-giving message of owning less. Unfortunately, not all requests can be accepted. But I do work hard to accept as many reasonable speaking opportunities as possible. To request my availability or references, please e-mail or complete the form below.

SPEAKING REQUEST FORM

[contact-form-7]

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

October 2012 – Peoria, AZ.
November 2012 – Omaha, NE.
November 2012 - Dayton, IA.
March 2013 – Austin, TX (hopefully)
August 2013 – Okoboji, IA.

MORE PRAISE

“Joshua was a riveting speaker with genuine presence. He told stories about his family, spoke clearly, and answered questions from the audience, all with a great deal of good humor, but also with grace and humility.”

- Jackie Shelley, Morgan Hill, CA

“When I first saw Joshua Becker speak publicly, the first thing I noticed was his ability to engage the audience. Joshua’s message encourages others to look inward and apply it to their own lives.”

- Ryan Nicodemus, Dayton, OH

“Joshua’s presentation became the culmination of a journey I had been on in my life.”

- Robert Murphy, Omaha, NE

How to Negotiate Downsizing

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens.

A lot of friends, family members, and blog readers assume that I was the one to suggest downsizing our lives. Believe it or not, my husband, Logan was the one who brought up the idea of downsizing. At the time I was working in the investment management industry and was extremely unhappy. I wanted to go back to school and start a new career in the social service sector, but, we were stuck and couldn’t figure out why. We felt stuck because we didn’t have enough time or money to follow our passions.

When Logan pitched the idea of downsizing we were having a conversation about why we were not going to buy a traditional house. We basically gave up on buying a traditional house because we were having money problems and realized that we could never afford a dream-home in the suburbs. And frankly, we were starting to wonder if we really wanted a traditional house because the interest on the house payment would have been more than our rent.

Logan said, “Why don’t we try moving into a one bedroom apartment to save money? Then we can use the money saved towards whatever we want, like education for a new career or a house in the future?”

With my hands on my hips and a snarky look on my face, I replied: “We can’t fit into a one bedroom, we have too much stuff. Plus, where am I going to put my parents when they come to visit us. On the couch? I don’t think so!”

If you’re in a relationship with someone who isn’t keen on the idea of downsizing, try some of these ideas:

1. Communicate. Talk about all the costs and benefits of downsizing together and make your intentions known so there is no room for assumptions. In my experience, communication is key to any successful relationship. While you’re talking make a pro/con list together and ask each other a lot of “why” questions, like:

Why do you need to keep a particular item?
Why not try something new?
Why are you feeling so freaked out by this idea?

2. Encourage your partner to read inspiring books. While I was trying to decide whether or not downsizing was the right option I read a number of life changing books, including “Your Money or Your Life.” Reading books convinced me that downsizing was the best action to take.

3. Talk about the financial benefits of downsizing your abode and what you can do with the money you save. Crunch the numbers with your partner and show him or her how much money you can save by living in a smaller place with less stuff. With greater savings comes freedom and flexibility to make choices.

4. You can always move. While change is scary, it’s always good to experiment to try new things. And if you don’t like your new living situation, you can always move.

5. Compromise. If you don’t want to sell your house or commit to a new lease, try treating your current place like a smaller home. For example, I didn’t believe we could fit into a small one-bedroom apartment. So we did a test run by clearing out all the stuff in the guest bedroom and locking the door. Basically, we treated our two-bedroom apartment as a one-bedroom apartment for a few months. By taking that step, I was convinced we could start going smaller and smaller.

6. Start small. Remember you don’t have to declutter your whole house over night. Set manageable goals based on your life circumstance. When I started to simplify my life, I felt like I was in a competition. I kept looking at what other people were doing, in both blogs and books, and I tried to model those folks. There is nothing wrong with modeling and I learned a lot of valuable tips through reading and research. However, I finally realized that I had to start small, with one shelf at a time.

7. Take action! Now it’s time to take action. Keep talking to your partner about the benefits of downsizing and start the decluttering process.

No matter how small your accomplishments are, start celebrating them. Take a deep breath and admire the simplicity of your clutter free home. Living in a small space with less stuff is one path to creating space and a very happy life.

***

Tammy Strobel is a writer, photographer, and tiny house enthusiast. She created her blog, RowdyKittens.com, to share her story of embracing simplicity. Since then, her story has been featured in the New York Times, The Today Show, USA Today, CNN, MSNBC, and in a variety of other media outlets. Tammy writes regularly at Rowdy Kittens and her new book is called, “You Can Buy Happiness (and it’s Cheap).” I’m proud to contribute an official endorsement to the book. You’ll love it.

From the book “You Can Buy Happiness (And It’s Cheap).” Copyright 2012 by Tammy Strobel. Reprinted with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA. www.newworldlibrary.com or 800-972-6657.

Image: Rowdy Kittens

Discovering a New Question to Ask

“We thought we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong.” – Bono

People sometimes ask, “How do you keep from wanting the stuff that everyone else has?”

To be honest, I rarely struggle with that desire anymore. But when I do, I try to remember one thing: Since deciding to live with fewer possessions, I have…

more time for my family.
fewer things to worry about.
more money in savings.
more energy to pursue my passions.
less clutter in my home.
fewer distractions in my mind.
more intentionality in life.
more generosity in my spending.
more contentment in my heart.
more gratitude in my soul.
and far more opportunity to pursue things of greater worth.

Suddenly, the desire begins to fade away. And as it does, a new question begins to emerge: Why would I want all the stuff everyone else has when they all want what I already possess?

Image: Eleaf

Our Resources are Finite. And It Matters.

“There is just one life for each of us: our own.” - Euripides

Four years ago, we removed the unessential physical possessions from our lives. At the time, the decision was based on two surfacing realities: First, I didn’t have enough money to sustain my current lifestyle. Second, I was beginning to fully realize how much of my time and energy was being given to my possessions. I understood my resources were finite. And I simply didn’t have enough to be wasting them mindlessly chasing possessions. Removing them proved to be an entirely life-giving decision.

Since then, I have begun to understand even more the reality that we are indeed finite creatures on this earth. We receive only one life to live with a limited number of days and a limited number of resources with which to accomplish our purpose. Almost all of the resources we consume during our journey are finite:

Money. Time. Energy. Attention. Physical Space. Relationships. Mental Capacity. Body. Talents. Natural Resources.

This reality of our finiteness is an incredibly important truth. It is one we should intentionally choose to focus on each day. Because when we do, it changes our actions, our motivations, and our pursuits. It changes us.

On the other hand, when we lose sight of this fact, we are far more apt to squander our resources. For example,

when we lose focus on the limits of our money, we sink deeper and deeper into debt.
when we lose focus on the limits of our time, we let it slip away day by day… year by year.
when we lose focus on the limits of our energy, we spend it on foolish pursuits.
when we lose focus on the limits of our mental capacity, we fill our minds with trivial facts.
when we lose focus on the limits of physical space, we fill it with unnecessary things.
when we lose focus on the limits of relationships, we miss opportunities right in front of us.

But those who live in light of their finiteness choose to trade up. They become more thankful for the resources at their disposal. They seek to intentionally develop their gifts and invest them into worthwhile pursuits. They attempt to remove the distractions and the clutter holding them back. They simplify life to focus on the most important. They begin each day focusing on its potential. And they reorient their lives for lasting impact.

This is an important truth. Our resources are finite. And that should change everything about us.

Image: NASA Earth Observatory

8 Simple Living Blogs You Will Enjoy Discovering

“You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you.” – Arthur Polotnik

I have many people to thank over the years for the growth of Becoming Minimalist. But I typically credit this post from Zen Habits on August 12, 2009 as being the first major breakthrough for this blog. His simple link at the bottom of the post brought hundreds of new readers. And I immediately began to understand some of the key principles behind growing a blog.

On a related note, I’ve been overwhelming impressed with the quality (and number) of new blogs dedicated to minimalism and simplicity that have been emerging online lately. And as one who is deeply motivated by a passion for the message of living with less, I couldn’t possibly be more excited. The more writers, the quicker the message spreads. Keep on writing and inspiring!

If I can play a small role in helping these writers introduce themselves, I’m all in. Here then, are just a few of the blogs that have popped up on my radar (and reader list) in the past several months. There is no doubt in my mind, you will enjoy them too.

8 New Blogs on Minimalism/Simplicity You Will Enjoy Reading

Slow Your Home. Brooke McAlary, who has been writing for 18 months, authors a most wonderful blog dedicated to simple living. I find her writing to be intelligent, thoughtful, and encouraging. Her wonderful series on the A-Z’s of simple living keeps me engaged… and definitely looking forward to see what she does with Q, X, and Z.

Cat’s Meow. Vappu is a beautiful artist and photographer. Her writings on minimalism, simplicity, and family are deep, insightful, and calming. And her photos keep you searching for more.

The Minimalistas. Jill Gaupin has created a beautiful virtual space celebrating the minimalist lifestyle. Whether you are already living a simpler, less distracted, less cluttered, more meaningful life or you are just curious, you’ll find inspiration there.

Brooklyn to Mars. Markus shares his story of moving from New York to Chicago, discovering minimalism, and experiencing a fire that furthered his resolve to live with less. Markus is a writer that credits minimalism with helping him eliminate debt, distractions, and dependence on a job.

Midway Simplicity. Mohamed Tohami, a motivational author, speaker, and passionate living expert, once told me, “I noticed one thing in common with all these people living passionate lives, they all used simplicity to facilitate their lifestyle.” Midway Simplicity allows him to explore simplicity, share ideas with others, and experiment in his own life.

Value of Simple. Joel Zaslofsky is not new to the world of blogging, but he has shifted focus recently to further empower people to liberate their time, money, and talent.

Minimalist Baker. John and Dana have created a website that combines each of their passions: cooking, art, design, simplicity. Every recipe consists of 10 ingredients or less, requires a single spoon or bowl, or takes 30 minutes or less to prepare. Many recipes are also vegetarian or vegan friendly. It’s a Pinterest dream come true.

The Simple Year. A simple project by a self-proclaimed pretty normal middle class family who has set out to buy nothing new for one year. They are using their public blog/journal for accountability. And I think a bit more traffic (and encouragement) would help them with their goal.

Also, just recently, I have begun enjoying Money is Not Important and Buy Nothing New for a Year. And even though they didn’t really fit my criteria of being new, I did want to mention both of them.

Image: Travis Isaacs