Everett Bogue has rereleased his new e-book Minimalist Business. I read the book last month immediately following the initial 24 hour release and have been looking forward to offering my review.

I respect Everett. I have learned important lessons about blogging and networking by simply observing him. In fact, speaking of networking, when I talk to my wife about Everett, I refer to him as the glue that holds the minimalist blogging niche together. He unites us by encouraging our efforts, promoting our work, and introducing fellow writers. Before Everett, I didn’t know any of the other bloggers in the simplicity niche. Today, I am grateful for the friendships that have been started. And he has introduced me to many of them.

In addition to helping me network and introducing me to some wonderful people, Everett has helped me make money from Becoming Minimalist. And while this website was never launched as a money-making endeavor or to replace my 9-5 job, it is nice to find out that your hard work can be worthy of compensation.

Everett has always had different goals than me which I respect as being ambitious, exciting, and lofty. His dream is to embrace a minimalist life so that he can live and work from anywhere, support his lifestyle completely online, and work only 4 hours per week. I, on the other hand, have had no desire to begin a “Minimalist Business.” I enjoy living as a minimalist and I enjoy inspiring others to do the same. But, beginning a Minimalist Business is not something that was ever on my to-do list.

And for that reason, I began reading his new e-book Minimalist Business with a bit of skepticism. Frankly, I was curious to see if it would be helpful to me in anyway.

It was.

Actually to be honest, I absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed Minimalist Business. I found it to be full of practical tips to help me further the promotion and intentionality of Becoming Minimalist. Sometimes, it confirmed what I had already learned by observing him (networking, promotion, selling, etc). Other times, it taught me something new that I would have missed (managing yourself, connecting with your followers, building a movement, and twitter helps).

If you are hoping to begin a minimalist business online to support your lifestyle completely, Minimalist Business is a great place to begin the journey. In fact, if that is your desire, Everett offers a package complete with 30-day workbook and 30 days of email coaching to really get you started down that road.

If you are just hoping to take your blog to another level and produce some income from your hard work, Minimalist Business is also a great place to start. I wish I had read this book two years ago when I was just getting started. It would have saved me countless hours of trying to learn things on my own.

If you are interested in making money online, you’ll benefit from this book. I’m positive that his newly-released updated edition is even better than his first! I’ll gladly stake his forever money-back guarantee on it.

Everett Bogue has authored two other e-books: The Art of Being Minimalist and How to Create a Movement. His books always carry a touch of class and sophistication that make us all look better. Once again, thanks for not disappointing.

i wanted to take a moment today to introduce you to adam baker in case his life story is able to improve yours. with a very distinctive voice, adam and his wife have been sharing their journey of removing personal debt online at manvsdebt.com. they have set out to pay off 100% of their debt by selling most of their belongings and changing their spending patterns so that they can begin living the life they’ve always wanted and travel the world (which they have already begun doing).

recently, they released an ebook titled unautomate your finances where they offer 27 core steps to remove debt and start truly living life. if you are struggling to get out of debt, this book may be just what you need to take control of your spending and jumpstart your financial takeover. i’ve been looking forward to endorsing this book for several reasons:

1. the approach uses no gimmicks. the book does not promise any magic-bullet, get-rich quick schemes. it calls the reader to make intentional sacrifices and hard decisions about their finances and spending patterns. and let’s face it – living financially responsible lives today takes hard work in our media-saturated culture.
2. the ebook utilizes the benefits of minimalism in its approach reminding us that we have hundred of dollars (if not more) of “crap” already sitting in our homes that could be better used to pay down debt.
3. the book is full of practical tips and advice. while 27 core action steps may seem like too many for some, i appreciate the detailed, comprehensive list leaving nothing to chance.
4. the full money-back guarantee if you are not 100% satisfied is always a nice touch.

i write often about living within your income and removing the enslaving nature of debt from our lives. if the burden of debt has been weighing you down, you may want to check out the new ebook: unautomate your finances. it sells for $17.00.

just this week, leo babauta released a new e-book: The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life. the price is only $9.95 (a very minimalist price).  i have included the link above to purchase and download the e-book.

some of the chapters in this book include:

• a small irony
• notes on using this book
• what is a minimalist life?
• overall minimalist principles
• how to become a minimalist
• contentedness
• rethinking necessities
• simplify what you do
• clearing clutter
• minimalist home
• minimalist workspace
• wardrobe and grooming
• finding simplicity with kids
• minimalism is the end of organizing

i have recommended the e-books of leo babauta before.  he is an on-line author who continues to offer some of the newest and freshest ideas on living a simple life.  and until i complete my own e-book on becoming minimalist (hint, hint), i will continue to recommend his to anyone seeking a more minimalist life.

related posts:

• the essential motivation handbook by leo babauta

to be fair

mike nelson has authored three books on cluttering and describes himself as a reformed clutterer. he founded clutterless recovery groups, a nonprofit organization designed to give support to people who need help to stop the behavior that causes them to clutter. he has been featured on cnn, the dr. laura schlessinger show, and in the la times. 

he self-proclaimed his latest book as the “meat and potatoes of decluttering, not just the angel food cake of most get-organized book.”  and i completely agree!

in Stop Clutter From Stealing Your Life, mike realizes that decluttering is not just about the “practical how-to’s,” but it is also about the “emotional why-do’s.”  then, he faithfully delivers in adequately helping his readers understand both.

in Stop Clutter From Stealing Your Life, he writes that decluttering can be successfully accomplished only by using both a practical approach and an emotional approach. the practical approach concerns how to declutter. the emotional aspect concerns the behavior that causes us to clutter.

concerning the practical, chapter 4 offers 40 (yes, 40!) ways to leave your clutter.  from simple ideas like #2 (take digital pictures. keeping track of your progress is the best way to keep from getting discouraged) to thought-provoking inspiration like #5 (clutter is an excess of abundance. celebrate your abundance and share it), mike offers a new idea no matter where you put yourself in the decluttering spectrum.

concerning the emotional, Stop Clutter From Stealing Your Life states that clutter is just the symptom of cluttering behavior and helps its reader understand the root causes of his/her behavior.  the book even offers several practical “magazine-style” quizzes to help the reader diagnosis the root cause for his/her behavior (one brilliant example is how mike relates our paper-clutter to our individual learning style).

this book fits the description of “meat and potatoes” while still offering easy-to-follow practical advice to help address a wide-range of decluttering topics (paper clutter, dealing with uncooperative family members, offices, and decluttering after somebody’s death, just to name a few).

i recommend this book to you…  as i was finishing the book, i thought to myself, “how did i ever begin this journey toward minimalism without reading this book?”  and then it dawned on me, “oh yeah, i just started removing things from my house and life. that’s how i did it. i didn’t need a book to help me do that.” 

so, why would i recommend this book?  because this book has helped me in two very specific ways:

1) it has helped further declutter my life.  it has caused me to recognize some deeper reasons for the clutter that remains (the physical paper on my desk, for example) and given me some new practical advice to help me make progress. i think there is something for everyone in this book… especially if you have tried to declutter but have been unsuccessful.

2) it has helped educate me to help others with their decluttering.  the simple, but in-depth explanation of people’s cluttering behavior characteristics makes me feel like a trained psychologist.  i don’t plan to enter the “organization industry” just yet, but if i ever do this is one book i would keep as a valuable resource.

i give Stop Clutter From Stealing Your Life: Discover Why You Clutter and How You Can Stop 4.5 out of 5 stars.

related posts:

• book review – clear your clutter with feng shui

i was struck by a quote this past weekend from harold kushner in his book living a life that matters.  he writes, “our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it.”

our souls exist for significance and legacy. deep down, we all want to know that we have made a difference in somebody’s life.  that we have mattered.

one of the key elements in living a life of simplicity is the realization that the accumulation of possessions is not the soul’s greatest desire.  when we buy into the significance principle, we are free to remove ourselves from society’s measure of success (big house, nice cars, sweet tv) and begin using our money for the sake of touching someone else’s life.  we can transition from living life for myself and instead, live it for others.

maybe then, our heart will be truly full, even if our cupboards aren’t.

related posts:

• book review: clear your clutter with feng shui
• minimalism – the heart’s desire of most

i quickly ran into border’s books the other day to purchase a book that i have been meaning to read for the past several weeks.  after asking the cashier to help me find the book, she directed me to the correct section, told me exactly where to look, and informed me that “i couldn’t miss it.”

sure enough, she was right.  there were 4 copies on the shelf in 2 different sizes.  one was smaller and less expensive.  the other was larger and cost $4 more.  i had a decision to make.

picking up the smaller one, i considered the benefits: takes up less space, less trees, cheaper, and all the same info.   as long as my eyes can support the smaller print, it’s an easy decision.

related posts: benefits of minimalism, book reviews

follow-up:  great book, i recommend it.  no wonder it’s been in print for 70 years!

in clear your clutter with feng shui by karen kingston takes a very spiritual approach to the topic of clearing clutter.  and while i consider this a spiritual journey as well, her spirituality proves to be much more mystical and new age than i was comfortable with at times.  she is obviously a strong proponent of feng shui authoring several books of the same nature and speaks often to the energy that is created from clear and sacred spaces in the correct corners of your home based on the feng shui bagua.

while i disagree with many of her spiritual assumptions, i did find this book to be very helpful as we continue through the early stages of our journey.  karen includes some fantastic commentary on “how clutter affects you” and “why people collect clutter.”  in the second section of her book, she identifies common types of clutter in our homes: collections, paper clutter, a/v clutter, miscellaneous clutter, etc. and offers practical advice on what to keep and what to discard.

all in all, reading past the new age spirituality was not difficult and the practical nature of her expertise has been helpful and motivating.  whether it is the best book available on the subject, i’ll let you know.  but my early guess is no.  i’ll give it 3 clutter-free spaces out of 5.