Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life

by Joshua Fields Millburn

it’s what we’re “supposed” to do. We’re taught to work extraordinarily hard in high school and then college, doing stuff we don’t care about, so we’ll find a “good job,” one with reliable pay, solid benefits, and maybe even a retirement plan. And then we’re supposed to work that soul-crushing job for 40 years so one day we might be able to retire and enjoy our lives for a few years (insurance actuarial studies have shown the average life span of a retiree is often only three years after retirement).

The American Dream will not make you happy. In fact, for many, the pursuit of this set of ideals is oppressive and is guaranteed to be a losing enterprise.

Careers are dangerous because people invest so much of themselves into their careers that they establish an identity and a social status based upon their job title.

they establish “what they do” as their core identity, and they give their occupations far more societal worth than they deserve. Once someone establishes their career as who they are as a person, it is difficult to shed that identity, even if the person hates their career (I don’t want to work here, but this is just who I am!).

“That’s a rather expansive question. What do you mean by it?” or “That’s an expansive question; perhaps we could discuss it over a cup of coffee.” Another way to answer this question is by stating what you’re passionate about, instead of spouting off what your vocation is. So, instead of saying, “I’m a Director of Operations,” say, “I’m passionate about writing (or scrap-booking or rock climbing or whatever you’re passionate about).”

“What are you passionate about?” This response completely redirects the conversation, changing its trajectory from what you both do to what you’re both passionate about, which is far more interesting.

while simultaneously helping you remember you are far more than your career. You are a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, a spouse, a lover, a healthy person, a growing person, a contributing person, a passiona...

Your identity should come from your meaningful life, not from how you earn a paycheck. (Additional thoughts on this topic: minimalists.com/do.)

Joshua & Ryan's Passions

The Confluence of Passion and Mission

Rather, we believe you can be passionate about virtually anything. Consequently, any line of work can be your mission. Just because something sounds boring to one person doesn’t mean it’s not exciting and rewarding for another.

These people who are paid to do what they love tend to refer to their work as their mission.

Some days passionate people don’t want to get out of bed; sometimes they don’t feel like starting work on the new project that’s looming in front of them. Other days they jump out of bed feeling excited and motivated by their mission. In other words, passionate people are just like you.

Passionate people know what they are most passionate about, but they also know what else they are passionate about: they know what gets them excited, what gets them energized, what gets them into a peak state. Second, passion fuels more passion. Passionate people turn to their passions when they are feeling uninspired. On those days when they don’t want to get out of bed or start that new project, passionate people focus on the things that get them excited.

Using what you’re passionate about to keep you focused and fuel more passion is a critical part in discovering your mission.

As it turns out, we discovered four main anchors in our own lives that were keeping us from pursuing our passions: identity, status, certainty, and money.

Removing the Anchor of Identity Who are you?

they become problematic when we give these labels enough meaning to say That’s who I am as a person.

People get so wrapped up in their vocation as their identity that it’s hard for them to realize they are so much more—they are beautiful in so many ways. When you’re trapped in this kind of identity, it’s hard to realize you are not your job, you are not your stuff, you are not your debt, you are not your paycheck—you are so much more. You are a brother, a father, a mother, a sister, a lover, a partner, a friend, a creator, a contributor, a human being capable of so much more.

we had to publicly identify ourselves with meaningful labels such as mentor, leader, contributor, and minimalist.

phenomenon: they associate status with their vocation above anything else. They feel their career makes them important and significant. This is why so many people feel ashamed, embarrassed, insignificant, and even depressed when they lose their job.

People frequently associate an appreciable amount of social status to their employment because it’s the easiest thing to control in the moment. That is, if you work hard (even if it’s for a job you hate), then you’re rewarded with instant gratifications (awards, rewards, praise from the boss, public recognition, private recognition, coworker envy, coworker sucking-up, perceived power, additional responsibilities, and the like), as well as long-term gratifications (raises, bonuses, commissions, promotions, incentives, fringe benefits, etc.). Unfortunately, many of the most important things in life are (a) much more difficult to control than short-term hard work at your job, and (b) don’t provide the same instant gratification as the status of a career.

The best way to escape the destructive influence of status, and the cultural stereotypes that come along with it, is to turn down the volume. For the two of us, this meant placing less value on what people thought about our jobs, and showing them why they should give more credence to our new identities, which were transferable to virtually anything we did, not just our careers.

The latter group will be able to remove the anchor of uncertainly fairly easily, but the former group will need to step outside their comfort zone to remove this debilitating anchor from their lives. Certainty feels nice—it makes you feel comfortable, it makes you feel warm and fuzzy—but it’s sometimes the biggest underlying reason you don’t make the changes you want to make. That is, you’re not happy with your current situation, but you’re comfortable enough that you don’t want to sacrifice your comfort today for something that could potentially be less comfortable tomorrow, and thus you don’t change. In other words, you associate more pain with changing than you associate pleasure with the change.

two ways to cut loose from the anchor of certainty so you can change your life. First, you can find a way to associate more pain with not changing. You can do so by looking at the potential loss of meaning in your life—the loss of not accomplishing what you truly want to accomplish, the loss of not pursuing your passion, the loss of not living your mission. The reality is that the long-term pain of regret far outweighs the short-term pleasure of certainty. Second, you can associate more pleasure with the long-term fulfillment of pursuing your passions and living your mission. Either option—or a combo of the two—will give you the leverage you need.

Removing the Anchor of Money When you boil it down, money is simply another layer of certainty. But it’s worth identifying as its own anchor—because of the stronghold it places on so many people, because of the importance our culture places on money, because it’s typically the number one reason for someone to continue doing something they hate.

The best way to remove the anchor of money is to give money less importance in your life.

establishing a written monthly budget.

A few guidelines: Categories.

“Need, Want, Like”

then use your Need, Want, Like categories to prioritize and cut where you can.

Boundaries. Give every dollar a destination at the beginning of the month. By establishing these boundaries, you won’t worry about what you can and can’t purchase because money that wasn’t assigned at the beginning of the month can’t be spent mid-month.