“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey.” – Barbara Hoffman
A special thanks to each of you for making 2012 another incredible year at Becoming Minimalist. This website continues to grow well beyond my craziest expectations year after year.
In 2012…
- Monthly visitors to Becoming Minimalist grew from 95,000/month to over 150,000/month.
- Facebook fans grew from 4,000 to 18,000.
- Twitter followers increased from 4,400 to 8,600.
- For the second time, Simplify became the #1 Self-Help book on Amazon.
- Becoming Minimalist on Tumblr and Pinterest continue to grow as well.
It has indeed been an incredibly exciting year. The metrics listed above prove the point. It is very encouraging to see the life-giving message of minimalism and simplicity continue to gain momentum and reach new people every single day. May its influence continue to grow.
As determined by the readers, here are the Most Popular Posts from 2012.
Don’t Just Declutter, De-Own. Removing possessions begins to turn back our desire for more as we find freedom, happiness, and abundance in owning less. And removing ourselves from the all-consuming desire to own more creates opportunity for significant life change to take place.
7 Common Problems Solved by Owning Less. The intentional choice to live with fewer possessions has brought with it a great number of benefits. It has been the answer to much of the discontent we felt in our lives when we owned more.
The Simple Guide to a Clutter-Free Home. It is completely and entirely possible to live in a clutter-free home. With this simple guide, you’ll be well on your way.
The Man Who Quit Money: An Interview with Daniel Suelo. When I first heard the story of Daniel Suelo, I was immediately intrigued. After all, Daniel lives entirely without money and has done so for the past 12 years.
10 Creative Ways to Declutter Your Home. The decluttering journey doesn’t need to be as painful as some make it out to be. In fact, there are a variety of people who have come up with some pretty fun, creative ways to get started.
Here are some of the most Significant Celebrations during 2012.
In August, we launched our first book with a traditional publisher. Living with Less: An Unexpected Key to Happiness soon ranked among the Top 20 Christian-Living books on Amazon. We are thankful for Group Publishing’s support allowing us to share our message with a whole new audience (Christian young adults and teenagers).
The Becoming Minimalist Newsletter was launched in July. The newsletter contains links to popular, shareable posts from around the Internet. Readers are encouraged to share these stories and posts via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and heartfelt conversations over a cup of coffee. The goal? Take minimalism to the masses. And with over 3,000 subscribers, we are well on our way.
Public Speaking. I am grateful for the numerous opportunities I have had to bring minimalism to local communities through various speaking opportunities. You can find more information about bringing me to speak at your local event on our Speaking Page. We continue to offer this service for only the cost of travel.
Charity: Water. This past month, I donated my birthday to Charity:Water. In less than two weeks, the Becoming Minimalist community has raised over $4,000 to fund clean water projects in Ethopia. There are only a few days left on the campaign and I’d love your support to help us reach our goal.
Here are my personal favorite posts from the past year:
We’re All Trading Our Lives for Something. Trade Up. Our lives are, by definition, made up of finite resources. And every passing day presents an opportunity to trade our lives for something else.
Why Helping Others Succeed Can Be Your Greatest Success. Our lives are going to find lasting significance in how we choose to live them… and how we enable others to live theirs.
35 Things I Hope My Kids Will Say About Their Dad. Here are the 35 things I hope my kids will say about me. They represent the most important lessons I hope they will learn from my life.
Becoming Minimalist hosts a number of guest posts. Here are the Most Popular:
The Story of Enough: Giving Up (new) Clothes for One Year. Minimalism isn’t about winning. It’s about finding out what matters to you, and getting rid of the peripheral.
How to Negotiate Downsizing. No matter how small your accomplishments are, start celebrating them. Take a deep breath and admire the simplicity of your clutter free home.
Whether you have been reading Becoming Minimalist for one week, one month, one year or longer, thank you so much. This blog owes its success to the support of its readers. Thank you for reading. And thank you for sharing these posts with others.
As this blog goes forward into 2013, it will continue to evolve and be redefined. But, it will always stay true to its core message that there is more joy to be found in owning less than can be found in pursuing more. And we will continue to invite as many as possible to discover this truth in their own life as well.
Thanks for your marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it, you are
a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back
from now on. I want to encourage that you continue your
great writing, have a nice morning!
Dangit… Why did you have to hi-jack the term “minimalist”? Now people think it means simple living or Asceticism.
This is fantastic – congratulations on your success and thank you!
Happy 2013!
I love your website! I’ve been following on Facebook but am ready now to take the plunge and make 2013 a clutter-free year.
I am worried about one scenario and wondered if you can help me. I have this habit of de-cluttering some part of my house and invariably reach for an item I got rid of the next week. Then I KICK myself for not having foreseen the use of the item which makes my next attempt at decluttering harder (I worry that I’m making bad decisions). How do you deal with this feeling?
Also, what do you do with adult children’s stuff if they are in transition? How much should I be willing to store and how much do I have “the right” to get rid of (opinions)?
I am new at this. Have just recently got hooked on the idea of minimalism. So glad I came across your blog. I live a simple life, but even so, I need to pare down my clutter and stuff even more. I can already tell a difference in the way I feel about possessions. Wanting more and more material things that are now available, has contributed greatly to the downfall of the home. Thousands of mothers put their children in daycare so the family can have a bigger house, more beautiful expensive furnishings for the house, a second car, wear more of the latest fashions, and just so the family in general can have more “stuff.” Yes, I like the idea of minimalism and I am promoting it.
Woah – doesn’t it look amazing when you pull it all together like that? That’s one of the things I love about new year – it’s a chance to reflect and see the bigger picture of our lives, refocus when necessary and have a celebration of the successes and achievements. Well done on all your awesome work – I love reading the blog and can’t wait for more in 2013
Congrats on the consistently great work!
I am so glad I joined this year, and I look forward to reading your thoughts throughout 2013
What a great year! Can’t wait to see what the next one holds.
Congratulations on a fabulous year, Joshua. I hope 2013 is even better! :)
Joshua,
Congratulations on such a successful year of helping people live with less stuff and more happiness! I’m in a decluttering whirlwinds so I especially look forward to review your best posts on that topic. Wishing you all the best in 2013
Congratz on your sites success. Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. I am officially living in less then 100sq ft and still think it maybe to much. Lol Keep up the great work looking forward to more in 2013