Welcome to Becoming Minimalist. If you are new, welcome! With over 1M readers every month, we’re honored to have new readers every day. If that’s you, welcome. I’d love to make your experience as comfortable as possible.
Most importantly, Becoming Minimalist is designed to inspire people to pursue their greatest passions by owning fewer possessions.
To find out more about my new book, Things That Matter, click here.
About Joshua Becker
My story begins in suburban Vermont while I was cleaning the garage, my wife was cleaning the bathrooms and my 5-year old son was playing alone in the backyard. I struck up a regular conversation with my neighbor who commented, “Maybe you don’t need to own all this stuff.”
The juxtaposition was striking. My possessions piled up in the driveway… my son in the backyard… my day slipping away… I immediately recognized something needed to change. My belongings were not adding value to my life. Instead, they were subtracting from it.
My family and I began donating, recycling, and removing our unnecessary personal possessions. We embarked on an intentional journey to own less stuff.
As a result, we discovered more money, more time, more energy, more freedom, less stress, and more opportunity to pursue our greatest passions: faith, family, friends. And we decided to write about it.
Becoming Minimalist quickly became a place to encourage others to embrace minimalism. It does not boldly require anyone to become minimalist overnight—nor does it specifically define the word for you. Instead, it encourages each reader to discover their own journey and the far-reaching benefits that come from owning less.
We are dedicated to rational minimalism and discovering what that uniquely means for us. And the more who are introduced to this life-changing message, the better! Because we’re all just trying to make the most of this journey called life.
Over the course of the last eight years, I’ve become a best-selling author and have written four books:
- Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life*
- Clutterfree with Kids: Change your thinking. Discover new habits. Free your home.*
- The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own.*
- The Minimalist Home.*
- Things That Matter*
Past media coverage includes:
CBS Evening News, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio (NPR,) The Guardian, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Forbes, TIME, Fox News, The Huffington Post, Minimalism Documentary (Netflix), Reader’s Digest, LA Times, Sirius XM, CNBC, TODAY Show, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Good Housekeeping, and countless others you can find all over the Internet.
Our Articles
Get introduced to our simple message by reading some of our most popular posts:
- How to Declutter Your Home: 10 Creative Decluttering Tips
- What Is Minimalism? The 8 Essential Aspects of Minimalism
- The 10 Most Important Things to Simplify in Your Life
- 10 Reasons to Escape Excessive Consumerism
- 15 Clutter Busting Routines For Any Family
Or, to discover the importance of owning less, try one of these posts:
- Don’t Just Declutter. De-own.
- Minimalism Benefits: 21 Benefits of Owning Less
- Living With Less: 7 Ways to Sample Minimalist Living
We learned quickly that our journey to live with less on the outside would force our attention inward:
- How to Be Happy: 8 Ways to Be Happier Today
- How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
- 20 New Ways to Measure Success
- Learning to Consider Gratitude a Discipline
And would be entirely unique because of our life’s values:
If you really can’t get enough, browse our most popular articles. But be warned, there’s a bunch of information there.
Our Community
If you would like to receive new posts via e-mail, sign up here. We are also connected to our community through social media. Find us here:
- Facebook: Inspirational quotes and links.
- Twitter: Quotes, thoughts, links.
- YouTube: Promoting simplicity in home and life.
For interviews, media requests, or general questions, contact us at becomingminimalist@gmail.com
For more information on Joshua, visit his Wikipedia entry here.
Hi
Greetings of the day! I hope everything is fine at your end.
I am Jennifer, Working as a digital marketing executive and passionate about writing on different marketing & digital signage industry-related topics.
Recently I got a chance to visit your website & I find it very impressive. I loved your content on the website:
becomingminimalist.com
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The article will be well-written and according to your blog theme with small brief about the client in the article.
If you’re interested, please let me know your pricing for a guest post placement.
Thank You
Joshua, I want to ask permission to use a translated version of one of your blogs in a book for the classroom. Can you please send me an email address where I can send the request? Marieta
Hi. I get your regular emails that you originate and I also enjoy your guest posts. I was wondering if you, or your guests, have anything on minimal weddings. Thanks!
My life functions and I have a mostly clean, most of the time dish free sink which is good since we mostly eat from home and I don’t have a dishwasher.
My problem is my closets, drawers, every nook and cranny as my partner says… overstuffed and busting out the seams.
He’s suffocating in our little space and I’m causing that. I found this site, hoping an article or book could inspire me. I’ve read, listened to many… and it’s all the same thing a different way.
Letting go… I understand the act of letting go is so much easier than holding on.
I’m in the midst of this bridge… For right now stuff is winning because it’s the only thing in my life I can control, the only experience I can share, and it’s the only thing that feels true… because it’s there and I have it.
All that’s a lie… I believe is true. But the reality so much more is out there.
The root problem started when my Dad disease early onset Alzheimers started (when I was in grade school) I did pretty well with stuff and material objects until my high school years that’s when I started attaching myself emotionally to things. When things really got of control and we lost everything… his job, his house auctioned, our life. Even our family cat who was 17 died right before the big whirlwind of chaos. Even worse me and who he thought I was (which had been for years a younger version of myself) … but it was becoming apparent that he hardly knew me anymore at all.
Years have passed my father has too. The bitter-end was even uglier than the story above and watching him pass through all the stages was the hardest thing in my life.
I have now still attached myself emotionally to things, collections, and letting go of them is difficult for me.
I believe I have some grief issues dealing with centering around this.
Thanks for taking the time to read. Do you have any ideas on how I can get through this. I have my partner to think about and he’s a lot more important than stuff.
If anything could you pray for me.
Over stuffed in Indiana,
Anna
Hi Anna. I have grief issues too. It’s normal to go through grief and seeing a loved one suffer an incurable illness is heartbreaking. I know. I read this quote “minimalism is the art of letting go”. You have to let your grief go as well as the clutter. You will feel better after. You don’t have to let go of things that you use or love but if you start organizing and going through your stuff I think you will find things that are useless and meaningless.
My suggestion would be to start by organizing and taking out recyclables. Just by cleaning and touching items you will bring a new feeling to your life. Cry whenever you want. Let the tears and the clutter fall off.
Hi Joshua, just read 2 of your books: Things that matter and The more of less.. I have been downsizing or right sizing as some one else called it.. but what I loved in your books was the clear description of the WHY.. service of others. It gave me a renewed sense in my ongoing simple living efforts! Thanks, please keep at it! your writing etc..
Just discovered your website via a rabbit trail and am just in awe over what I have read on your site. You and your contributors make so much sense and get to the heart of what matters in life. My 2023 goal is to declutter and deep clean my house. Reading the articles on your website will be the encouragement that I need.
Thank you!!!
Welcome.
Reporting you to az police.
What??!!