“One is not born into the world to do everything but to do something.” —Henry David Thoreau
We only get one life. And with it, we are wise to choose mission over maintenance.
We end our lives most fulfilled when we seek to discover our purpose and then focus our energy on it.
Mark Twain once said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
And I have begun to recognize the third most important day is the day we throw off everything that keeps us from fulfilling that purpose—the moment we choose mission over maintenance.
One effective way to remove distraction and aim attention at our mission is to reduce the physical possessions in our lives. Our possessions, you see, steal our energy. They require maintenance.
When we own more than we need, we begin wasting our finite resources maintaining our stuff:
- We clean them.
- We categorize them.
- We organize them.
- We rearrange them.
- We lose them.
- We spend hours trying to find them.
- We move them in and out of storage.
- We work extra hours to make the payments on them.
This is time we can never get back. This is life wasted. This is sacrificing mission for maintenance.
But the distraction of possessions is bigger than merely cleaning them.
Physical possessions can take a toll on our lives before we even own them! We obsess over buying them, we spend hours researching and comparison shopping, and we go out of our way to find the best deal on them. (The average American spends almost 10 hours per month shopping, yet many of us complain we don’t have time for important activities.)
On the other end of the consumerism cycle, we spend time trying to sell our unneeded possessions, posting them on Facebook Marketplace, or driving them to local donation centers. Again, the more we own, the more of our lives we waste maintaining our stuff.
Beyond the physical demands of extra possessions, they also draw up emotional reserves. Cluttered spaces distract our minds and weigh heavily on us.
These items take energy from us and our greater pursuits. Consumerism causes burdens in many areas of our lives: financial, relational, spiritual, and can also impact our health because of undue pressure.
And I haven’t begun to mention how much wasted energy goes into comparing our possessions to the possessions of those around us.
But there is a better way to live. An intentional, minimalist approach to life provides the mind with the ability to support our mission.
Minimalism paves the way to less stress, more time, more focus, and more fulfillment and happiness.
A minimalist home and life is significantly less stressful. There are less items demanding our care and attention—less time maintaining our stuff and more time pursuing our mission.
Owning and caring for fewer possessions provides opportunity for clarity. When we align ourselves with the counter-cultural approach of minimalism, we free ourselves from the constant tugging of the pursuit of more.
Living with less offers more time and energy to spend on your chosen mission. Suddenly, we can pursue the careers we most desire. We can create solutions to our most heartfelt problems in life. We have more time to spend on meaningful priorities.
Personally, my greatest priorities are faith, family, friends, and impact. My chosen mission is to pursue the promotion of minimalism. Collecting things I don’t need takes me away from those greater pursuits by requiring my attention.
By choosing to own less, I reduce the amount of time spent maintaining possessions and utilize that energy to fuel my mission. You can too.
Too many of us waste our lives maintaining possessions rather than pursuing mission and passion. Choose the wiser route: Mission over Maintenance.
Always inspirational
Point on
Always a big thanks for your articles for encouragement & keeping in track
Well said, Joshua.
I love reading your articles, you are very smart and knowledgeable on so many different things, among many different levels. I respect and appreciate what you do. Thank you for being so inspiring and motivating.
One of the best texts about minimalism I’ve ever read. It help me decide that tomorrow I will give many, many things I don’t need or don’t like anymore. Thanks and God bless you, Joshua.
This is perhaps the most succinct and ‘on point’ article for the purpose of minimalism yet. Well done Joshua for articulating this so clearly.
I think it’s also worth pointing out that in this digital age, as well as physical items, digital noise/clutter seems to be distracting/overwhelming us to the point where we’re not able to properly focus on the mission too.
I struggle with social media/internet use. This lockdown and trying to follow the news has just made it worse. But it’s made me realise that clutter isn’t just ‘things’. It’s anything that distracts you. Maybe its habits. Maybe its thoughts also. Maybe it’s even having too many different goals.
I spent an entire day doing my garden yesterday. If my mission in life was to be a gardener/have a beautiful home, then great. But I don’t think that is my mission. And I lost a day maintaining something that I don’t even use that often. What am I doing here? There are so many things that need improving in the world, and I just spent a day doing my garden :(
I get it! Gardens are lovely & I love flowers & plants, but I think I have a mission to help others. Specifically the elderly. There are so many that could use a lifeline, someone to talk to, someone to spend time with them. But enjoy your flowers & plants too! Stop & smell the roses! 🌹💐🥀
Wow. Maybe by working in your garden you could learn enough to teach a child to garden and change his/her life, or take your knowledge and improve another garden in your neighborhood, or work in a community garden and help fellow human beings. I have never heard of gardening being a bad thing.
We went through a flood in 2016 – had 14 inches of water in our home. Many important items were stored upstairs or lifted on bricks as we had time before the water came in. Not everything could be saved and some things we overlooked.
After the flood, all the walls from four feet down were gutted on the bottom floor and cabinets removed – you could see from one end of the house to the other. I remember it taking more than 30 trips upstairs to empty part of my closet – I immediately got rid of half my clothes; things that didn’t fit or I hadn’t worn in years. I kept purging… cookbooks, things of my deceased mothers – I gave to my sister saying ok, it’s your turn to have this, I’ve had it long enough. I wanted someone who needed the items to have them. I had enough of moving things around – to a shipping container; to the cabinets in the garage; to the upstairs bedrooms and then, into the attic. I didn’t want to own things only to have to move them – it was such a chore. We could flood again and the thought of moving things again, let alone rebuilding is overwhelming.
Now my father has passed. Thank goodness there are eight surviving siblings; but not everything is wanted/needed by everyone. Your article is helping cast a new light on the fact that even though things are sentimental, they’re just things. I love my parents with my whole heart – still; and that is truly all I need to keep.
“Minimalism paves the way to less stress, more time, more focus, and more fulfillment and happiness.” Very well-said, I enjoy this post
as much as many of your previous. Thank you.
Indeed, I feel very blessed that my parents have never been asked by their employers to transfer nor to change constantly their jobs. For I have been able to stay in one place for a longer time, to finish colleg,e, get married, have children and thus, grow slowly and safely. I have lost many friends becasue their parents were on mission and military for services. I have only kept in touch with one or two, too few. It is more about losing friends for them than letting their owning behind when having to move. This is what I think I could do better by having more friends to be with and also for my children to be with their playdates they love to hang around with. This is a great post about choosing how to use the time allotted and know that there is “a better way to live”
This one really resonates with me! I am in and out of storage due to military deployments. Getting out of storage is the hardest thing to do when you rent! You never live in the same sized residence as before. Plus my life has been so multi-faceted and compartmentalized. This article is a great motivator and I am working on my minimalism every day!
Thanks Joshua, I enjoy your articles, this one is the best one yet. “It really hit the nail on the head”. I am continually working on being intentional about what I keep and never feel a loss as I can donate to places which will make good use of my contributions. Cheers Anne
Thanks for a great blog post! So much wisdom in those words. You’ve inspired me for years now, and still does! I still have to be reminded now and then, that I don’t need to think about getting more stuff. I already have enough, and I don’t want to add more things to my to-do-list. I need to spend my time more wisely. “Mission over maintanance” – love it!
You know when you’re in church service and when pastor preaches on a familiar topic but somehow neatly wraps up the concept and highlights new points.. And you find yourself “amen-ing” and nodding? Well after being a faithful reader of yours since 2014, I found myself in “church” when reading your post. Great job in explaining the purpose of minimalism isn’t the stuff but the freedom to pursue our dreams and passions.
I am slowly trying to reduce what I think I need, but I am a sentimentalist and a widow and have a hard time letting go of my late husband’s things, along with my own. Also, what to do about gifts given to you because I do still enjoy receiving gifts for birthday, Christmas, etc.
If you truly enjoy/use/wear the gift, then keep it. If not, pass it on to someone who will. Gifts should be given with no strings attached. Once you receive a gift, it’s yours to do what you want with it.
My sister always wants to give me gifts from her international travels. I thank her for the thought — and if it’s something I will enjoy/use (rarely!), I’ll keep it. If not, I say “thanks, but no thanks.” I’ve told her NOT to get me gifts/stuff, but she can’t seem to help herself, even though I stopped my participation in obligatory family gift-giving (holidays/birthdays) a few years ago.
I do feel your pain, though, regarding sentimental items!! I’m working on it ….
Thank you for your comments. I do feel guilty if I give away a gift I have received, but you are right, then it should be mine to do as I see fit.
I understand. I feel the same about my mother’s belongings. She passed away in 2017. I have passed many things on to family members so that they may enjoy them as my mother did.
As far as gifts, we stopped giving gifts and instead give and ask for experiences, trips.
Great article! So many layers of truth! We’re a homeschool (3 graduated/1 graduated college) family of 7 in 1,400 sf., full 2-car garage, full attic. I have released A LOT but am nowhere near where I’d like to be. I’ve gotten “stuck” in purging books. Many have gone to a local Christian thrift store, but I still have many. I’ve read your (and other author’s) articles regarding the subject, but still… Any other advice regarding that area? I look forward to your articles. Thank you for the constant inspiration.
Helene, consider taking Joshua’s “Uncluttered” course. Questions like yours are addressed, and so much good, practical information is given as the course progresses. There’s an associated Facebook group where members offer what’s worked for them. This course was tremendously helpful for me as we prepared to sell our house of 18 years. my.becomingminimalist.com
Excellent Joshua, thank you for posting !
I agree with you and practice living simple, however, when we live with others who feel and enjoy otherwise we have the challenge to learn to accept, which is also quite interesting. Thanks!!
Great inspiring words yet again, but how does one find their purpose?
Yes I am with you Michael, I’ve been trying to answer that one for a while. Any direction you can give here Joshua?
I’m still on the same journey too. There’s a saying from Rumi: “The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear Him”. Minimalism is a tool to use to create the quiet and the calm, in order for us to hear God’s calling away from the silent stressors of ‘stuff’ and ‘distractions’. If we look around us, what need’s improving? How can we make things better and add value to something that isn’t as good as it could be using our signature strengths? Living a life of meaning rather than pursuing individual pleasure/happiness might be more fulfilling especially in times of inevitable tragedy. Once we’ve adopted minimalism we’ve escaped our ‘Pharaoh’, and then it takes some time of ‘wandering in the desert’ before He can reveal things to us now that we’re ready to hear it. Keep wandering. I read somewhere that if you are in a forest surrounded by trees and don’t know how to get out or what direction to go in then you have two choices. You could either remain still – which is going to get you no where – so this is automatically the worst choice. Or you could take a step forward, in any direction. Indeed it may be the wrong direction entirely and you may find that you wander deeper into the forest as a result, but hey you’ll only realise that once you actually start moving and notice it getting thicker/darker. So you stop, retrace your steps back to the origin and then embark on another trajectory. At least you’re doing a whole lot better and learning more about God, the Universe, yourself (the forest) in the process than the person who stood still. Keep talking to God, keep asking Him to show you the way – He is the loving Father, it’s His job to help you.
Wonderful article that simply says what so many want to say.
Thank you!
Hi Joshua,
I just read your article “Choose Mission over Maintenance” and almost finished your book “Less is More”. They are very inspiring, thank you! My minimalism started years ago out of common sense to remove all debt except for the mortgage. After I moved to my girlfriend’s I realized I spent so much time on possessions, I decided to either give the things I didn’t need away or sell them. It feels a lot better already!
Thanks again!