Seventeen years ago, on a sunny Memorial Day weekend in Vermont, I was introduced to minimalism.
My wife and I had kept open our Saturday for spring cleaning—hoping to enjoy the holiday weekend after the work was done.
Because of the long winter, I volunteered to clean and organize the garage, hoping my five-year-old son would enjoy helping me. Ha! His enthusiasm lasted about 30 seconds and once he saw his summer toys, he quickly ran off to the backyard—asking me to come play with him as any five-year old would.
Given my plan for the day, I declined the offer and set off pulling piles of stuff out into the driveway to make room for hosing and decluttering and sorting. “It will be nice to park in a clean garage again,” I thought to myself.
As these projects tend to do, one thing led to another. Hours passed and my frustration grew. Meanwhile, my son kept coming back to see if I could finally come play. Each time, I promised “just a few more minutes,” even though I knew better.
But then, one conversation changed not just my day, but my entire life.
As I began chatting with my neighbor along the hedge line, I started to complain about the time and effort that had gone into my garage project. Observing my frustration, she said to me, “You know, that’s why my daughter is a minimalist. She keeps telling me I don’t need all this stuff.”
I glanced back at the piles of stuff sitting in my driveway. Right then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my son, swinging alone on the swing set in the backyard and suddenly realized, “My possessions weren’t making me happy. But it’s even worse than that. All the things I owned were actually taking me away from the very thing that did bring me happiness!”
To me, this has become the defining invitation to minimalism. Once we realize how much of our life gets wasted buying and accumulating things we don’t need, we understand the benefits of intentionally owning less.
That conversation set our lives in a new direction. Over the next nine months, we removed 60-70% of our possessions and discovered that owning less gave us more—more time, energy, money, peace, and opportunity for happiness.
And now today, seventeen years later, minimalism continues to enrich my life in ways I never imagined.
Each year on this anniversary, I pause to reflect (I will include links to previous anniversary posts at the end of this article).
But this year, my reflections center not on myself, but on you. I started Becoming Minimalist that very first Memorial Day weekend—and this website and community have been a part of my life ever since.
Whether you’ve been reading Becoming Minimalist since the beginning (which would be a really long time) or you just found us last week, you matter to me. And I hope, in some small way over the last 17 years, I have impacted yours for the better.
Here are 17 ways I hope I’ve been able to positively impact your life:
1. I hope I have inspired you to own less.
At first, I wrote about only my story on Becoming Minimalist—what we were keeping, removing, and learning. My goal was to play my neighbor’s role in someone else’s life and introduce them to the truth that we don’t have to own all this stuff.
If you’ve been inspired to own less through this website, I am happy because it has served its purpose.
2. I hope I have helped you own less.
After roughly 18 months of telling my story on Becoming Minimalist, I had started receiving comments and questions from people asking how to become minimalist. I felt nervous and unprepared to answer.
But after realizing I had been thinking about minimalism quite deeply for years and had implemented changes in my home, I decided that I had experience and lessons to offer. So I began writing in a way that was less about my decluttering story and not just about inspiring others to own less, but also about helping them accomplish that.
My first post was February 2010: When You’re a Minimalist But Your Partner Isn’t.
And so, if you have ever needed or wanted help owning less, I hope my writing has positively impacted your life in that way.
3. I hope I have helped you overcome consumerism.
Owning less is great, but wanting less is even better. After discovering minimalism and trying to apply it to my home and life, I began to notice that there is a difference between minimizing and overcoming consumerism. It’s why there are countless books about decluttering, but very few about how to stop shopping. It’s very similar to the difference between going on a diet and changing your eating habits long-term. The greatest benefit is found in the latter.
How to overcome consumerism has been a common theme here on Becoming Minimalist because that is where the greatest opportunity for life change exists. And I hope the common conversations here have touched your life and changed it for the better.
4. I hope I’ve helped you see the world differently.
Not all of the messages we hear from the world (and culture surrounding us) are true. Many are untrue and even harmful. A statistic I have cited countless times on this blog is that we see 5,000 advertisements every day—and each one seeks to convince us that we will be happier if we buy whatever they are selling.
In some cases, they may be right. But in most cases, they are not. And the only lives they are hoping to improve are their own.
But even more than that, we’re not just being sold products, we’re being sold a worldview about success and fulfillment and happiness that is false. So, in a world where we see 5,000 ads/day telling us to buy more, I hope I have been one voice reminding you to buy less.
5. I hope I have helped you dream big dreams for your life.
Your life is too valuable to waste chasing and accumulating material possessions. I hope my writing has helped you see that, believe that, and live it out each day. Minimalism, as I promote it, is not about believing less in yourself—it’s about dreaming bigger dreams than physical possessions can ever provide.
On July 07, 2009 I wrote these words: Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things I value most by removing everything that distracts me from it. And that sentence has defined my pursuit and promotion of minimalism ever since.
Pursuing your values and passions with your whole self is the ultimate dream and pathway to a fulfilled life.
6. I hope I have helped you live a more intentional life.
People sometimes ask, “How do you keep writing about minimalism after all these years?”
My response is always the same, “Becoming Minimalist is about a lot more than minimalism. I write about owning less and the benefits of it, of course. But I’ve always written about other topics than just physical possessions. That’s why people keep coming back to it year after year.”
Minimalism is not just about our stuff—it’s about embracing a deliberate and intentional way to live. And the truths extend far beyond our clutter. The principles impact our time, our habits, our money, our intentions, our families, our relationships—nearly every aspect of our life.
So I hope, over the last 17 years, you have seen the benefits of removing distraction from countless areas in your life. And if you live a more intentional life today than before you found Becoming Minimalist, I have accomplished something very important.
7. I hope I have helped you see and use money differently.
Money is an important topic in our lives. Some studies say that 90% of people experience financial stress and it is still one of the leading factors in divorce.
The connection between minimalism and finances is almost impossible to not see. In fact, the second blog post I ever wrote on Becoming Minimalist was about how intentionally owning less could mean we would spend less money as a family.
Over the years I have written frequently about money, but not in the typical way. Almost every blog post or article or book about money these days focuses on how to get more of it. I invite you to consider that maybe the only way to overcome financial anxiety is to realize that we don’t need as much as we think.
8. I hope I have helped you live more generously.
One of the greatest benefits of minimalism in our lives is that we live less selfishly when we stop accumulating more than we need. And when we stop living only for ourselves, we can start living for something bigger and experience the benefits of generosity.
I hope generosity is a theme you have consistently felt and experienced here at Becoming Minimalist. Not just in my words, but in my example. The proceeds from my books founded and continue to support our nonprofit organization, The Hope Effect.
And whether you have joined our passion (and community) changing how the world cares for orphans or have found a passion more personal to you, I hope my writing and example have made you a more generous human being.
9. I hope I have helped you focus more on your family.
If we want to change the world, we must start by investing into our families. I was introduced to minimalism during a vulnerable moment where I recognized clearly how my possessions were keeping me from investing into my children. And thus, the connection between minimalism and investing into my family was immediately clear.
I know family dynamics can vary greatly. But love for our family is always needed and required. I hope this website has both encouraged and challenged you to do that well.
10. I hope I have helped you see the value of relationships.
We were designed for connection and relationships. If my writing has ever reminded you to love people, not things, I’m thankful.
There are some who want to apply minimalism to people and believe it means we should remove people from our lives that don’t add value. But I disagree. People always deserve more patience and sacrifice than physical possessions.
11. I hope I have helped you appreciate the fulfillment we find in doing work well.
There are some that pursue minimalism as a means of getting out of work. I’ve always tried to push back on that interpretation.
I don’t see minimalism as a way to escape work. Work brings fulfillment and meaning and dignity into our lives. Instead, minimalism is a way to reframe entirely how we think about work—not just as a means to collect a paycheck, but work is our opportunity to bring good into the world. And minimalism provides a pathway to do work that matters.
The importance of seeing work as beneficial has been an important theme on this blog and in my book, Things That Matter. I hope I have encouraged you to do work that matters and do it well.
12. I hope I have helped you value and pursue self-growth.
Minimalism is not an end in itself, and minimalism should never be our greatest goal in life.
Minimalism is only the beginning. It is the pathway to taking control of our lives, sparking intentionality, and paving the way for growth. Over the years, I’ve invited you to examine your heart, your habits, your motivations, and your purpose. I hope, in this way, Becoming Minimalist has encouraged you to become more than you were yesterday.
13. I hope I have helped you reclaim your time.
Our lives are made of time, and how we spend it matters deeply. By owning less, we gain back hours—hours that can be invested in rest, reflection, relationships, and meaningful work. I hope you’ve felt, found, and experienced that freedom.
14. I hope I have helped you find greater peace at home.
I have been passionate about minimalism and the life-giving benefits we can experience through it for the last 17 years. But it was during the writing of The Minimalist Home that I became more and more fascinated with the value of home. That sounds like a funny thing to say, but it is true.
During the writing, my editor asked me, “What do you think the purpose of home is?” It was then, for the first time, I articulated how home is both a harbor and a launching pad. It is a safe place where we find acceptance, rest, and restoration (hopefully). But it is more than that, we find rest at home so we can go out and bring our best into the world positively impacting others. Home is an important place and how we build it to accomplish those two things is important.
I hope I have helped you value home a little more. And have inspired you to keep it peaceful and life-giving for you and your entire family.
15. I hope I have helped you let go of comparison.
Comparison is a thief. It steals our joy and distracts us from our own meaningful life. There are countless ways we can compare ourselves to others. But money and possessions and external displays of success is one of the most common and life-robbing.
If my writing has helped you step away from the constant pressure to measure your worth by comparing your stuff to others, I would be so happy to hear that.
16. I hope I have opened your heart to spirituality.
As many of you know, I was a pastor for 15 years before writing full-time and am still very passionate about my faith. In fact, my next book, Uncluttered Faith, is my first entirely faith-based book and comes out next February. I also publish a Christian devotional each week called Focus on Faith.
Becoming Minimalist has never been a faith-based website and is read by people of every faith and non-faith background—that was always my intent and will continue to be. And yet, there is a strong part of me that hopes my writing has opened up your heart to the possibility that there is more to the universe than the world we see around us.
17. I hope I have helped you realize your greatest potential.
You live an important life. You have been given unique talents and gifts, experiences and passions. There are people in your life that you can love better than anyone else and passions in your heart to serve an important purpose.
If I can have one wish for you, it would be that you recognize more and more your incredible potential and feel compelled to achieve it. That you would remove all foolish distraction and become the very best version of yourself that you can possibly be.
If anything I’ve written here has stirred something in you—if it has helped you believe you can make a difference, love deeper, live with purpose, or chase a calling—then all the effort of the past 17 years has been worth it.
Thank you for allowing me to share my life and journey with you. I hope I have touched your life and made it better in one way or another. You matter to me. Thank you for all your love and support all these years.
Here’s to another year—and many more—of owning less and living more.
***
Thank you Mr. Becker for introducing me to the formal concept of minimalism. I learned valuing things less and people more from my religion Islam and your ideas felt very natural for me. It has been 8 years since I have been following your articles and I keep benefitting from the suggestions, knowledge and wisdom you share. Thank you so much for continuing to do the good work.
My ladies’ Bible study group of just 8 women are meeting each week this summer to talk about topics important to us. We are sharing a video, then we discuss it. My turn to lead is in 2 days and I’m sharing on Becoming Minimalist. I’ve only been following you for about a year, but it has made a difference in my life. I hope that my friends will grasp the benefits of minimalism (not just regarding things but so much more!) and make changes in their lives. Thank you for all you do!
Well, say hello to all of them for me. —Joshua
Fabulous!!
Joshua, your articles are so inspiring for me. I have been reading them for several years now and look forward to each one that I receive. Keep it up! We tend to keep way too much throughout our lives and you make it easier to figure out how to minimize and live a cleaner, more rewarding life. I truly thank you for that!
I live in a country with many economic challenges. So reading your articles and watching your videos has taught me to watch my spending, and even though I earn little, I’ve been able to save. Nothing is impossible. Thank you so much. I will continue to learn a lot from you.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom and inspiring many people- minimalism is good for our bank accounts, our planet, and our souls. Thank you, God Bless!
Thank you for sharing your journey and all the parts of your life. Your story and inspiration has been such an encouragement in my own life and has changed the way I think about using my resources for more than just myself. Your life and story have been a blessing and I just wanted to say thank you.
Hi,
I would like to say Thank you, Joshua, for being such a great inspiration and for having done all of the above. I have started my journey about 10 years ago and it really was a revelation! I feel so much more energy, I feel so much more grounded, I really found the real me again. I was so inspired that I decided to write a book about it, and a lot of my weekly blogs are about minimalistic living and being too.
So, again, thank you very much!
Thank you, Joshua, for being part of my minimalism journey! I believe the Lord caused my husband and I to stumble across The Minimalists’ first documentary on Netflix back in 2018. Watching that and then listening to their podcast, watching your videos, and reading your blog and your books prompted us to remove a ton of things from our home, reevaluate our spending habits, reevaluate our goals, and even led to us deciding to move to a smaller home. We now have a 17-month-old daughter and I am pregnant with our son. We’ve decided that I’m going to stay home with our kids instead of returning to my job and I truly believe minimalism has contributed to us being able to live off of only my husband’s income and me stay home. God has used you to positively affect not only my husband’s and my lives, but our kids’ lives, too. Thank you!
Yes, you have been and inspiration and I am so much happier now that I own less and richer that I buy less. Thanks.
I have been reading your book, The Minimalist home. I decided to start with my closet because my abundance of clothing has been weighing on me. I have asked you twice to share your wife’s clothing plan. Would love for you to share. Going home from my vacation tomorrow and am excited to get started! Thanks for your wisdom!!
I have always tired to keep a check on items that I have at a younger age my mother was so close to a hoarder, with a great job, but never had any money, food and paying a mortgage wasn’t as important as buying all her junk , finally losing the house and finally my oldest brother rented her a place to live, I hated my life, and totally embarrassed catching a bus to go to school knowing everyone knew what was happening, never wanted any part of that life, I have read all your articles, you have always encourage me this is the right way to live, please never stop writing these articles.
For years I had “managed” boxes of stuff. We were renters at that time and whenever we faced another move, we had to find a place that not only accommodated our little family of 4, but all the STUFF we had been storing. We moved all that stuff over and over, sometimes never even opening the boxes to see what was in them!
In 2011 I watched in horror as the Syrian people fled their country with only the clothes on their backs. At that moment I realized that all my accumulation of things meant nothing. Thus began my journey into minimalism.
I didn’t even know what to call it (minimalism) but knew I had to get “there”. During that year I discovered your site. Your writing spoke to me over some other authors I had read. You are practical, gentle, and empowering.
I’ve come to understand that minimalism is a journey. It’s continuous, a lifestyle. Thank you for always being the author I turn to for inspiration as I continue this lifestyle! It seems I glean something new, even as I’ve read your content regularly over the years.
You have!! You have helped me in all 17 ways beginning in 2019! Thank you, Joshua! Happy Memorial Day and happy 17th anniversary! ❤️
THANK YOU for your consistency and for being such a source of inspiration. Your newsletter is the ONLY newsletter I read every week. I brings me, joy, hope and alignes me with the way I strive to live – every time – but always in different ways. You are making real change in peoples lives – that is BIG!
Åsa, midwife, podcaster, entrepreneur and mom from Stockholm, Sweden
You have indeed shaped my life. (and thousands of other lives too) I am so grateful for every single post, youtube video, article, training, encouragement that you have given to the world these past 17 years. Your commitment to this movement is awe inspiring. As it says in the song “because I knew you, I have been changed for the good”!!!
Feel confident that you have changed thousands of lives- including mine.
Thanks Carrie.
I have been reading about and using minimalism and simplicity concepts for many years. You are the author I return to the most as you bring many of the foundational concepts into a single resource. I enjoy how you write about it; your work makes it easier to continually give my myself a tune-up and realign with what is most important to me. Minimalism and living a simpler and more meaningful life requires an ongoing commitment to address the part I play in our consumerist and workaholic society. Your work helps me do this. Thank you, Joshua.
I started reading your blog about 2012. I’ve learned so much. Thank you
13 years. I had just moved to AZ.
You have achieved all these positive outcomes through your tireless message of minimalism. We owe you a debt of gratitude, Joshua, and hope you’ll continue to inspire ourselves and others.
I always love seeing your comments John. Thank you for your important writing as well: johnpweiss.com
Hace poco descubrí un articulo y desde entonces te leo. Muchas gracias, porque creo que tus palabras nos recuerdan que es lo importante en la vida.
Great art, as usual. I don’t think I’ve been with u 17 yrs, but it’s a bunch. And I’m still trying to chg my total outlook and beliefs on materialism. I still go to auctions, I like the interactions, but come home with nada. Thx for inspiration and the truth.
Following & Implementing the practices of this program has been the inspiration I’ve needed. Let go of stuff and live a more meaningful life. Thank You
All I can say is thank you! I’ve followed you since pretty close to the beginning. You have given me much to think about and have changed my actions. I still have fall back times where “things” creep in my home but life is a journey. I’m also thankful you were bold enough to share your faith. Pretty early on I could tell you were a man of God. Looking forward to your new book Uncluttered Faith. Keep up the good work!
I just want to say Thank you! You have changed my life. My husband died a 1 1/2 years ago. His death made me stop and look at my life. Something I haven’t done in a long time. I live in a 3000 square-foot home that sits on 3 1/2 acres that is full of “stuff”. Your articles helped me to realize that I don’t need all of this stuff and that I’m too busy caring for a house and property that are too large for my needs. So far, I’ve made countless trips donating usable items. Also have engaged helpers in dumping countless amounts of junk. This is going to take a while before I can get it all cleaned out and sold, but I’m making progress. Thank you for getting me started on this journey!
This is a really great article. during the chaos of 2020 we decided to move to a new state. As I looked around our 3200 square-foot home at all the clutter and unused items, I took a long hard look at minimalism. I took eight trips to the dump in a pick up truck and donated more than I can count. Today, our lives are much simpler and strive to make everything we own everything we own and any new purchases intentional. Is this the exact product we want for this purpose?
Following you for 14 years I can honestly say I am always working on 17 out of 17 of the goals stated.
At 74 I’m leaving a house my sons will easily dispose of when the time come. If I had to move tomorrow I could pack up in 2 days. Backpacking taught me to enjoy with less; you’ve helped me put it into practice in everyday life. I’m most grateful.