Authors: Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus Title: Everything That Remains: A Memoir by The Minimalists Published: Jan 1, 2014 In Everything That Remains, which the authors Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus are calling a memoir, Joshua presents a timeline of his transition from a cushy office job with a high-paying salary into a minimalist lifestyle. Everything That Remains, the moving, shocking story of when a young man achieved everything anyone would have wished upon, and then deciding to let it all go in hopes of living a life of true value. The American Dream has two very different definitions: it’s either a dream of freedom and equality or a dream.
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Just 2 weeks ago I went with some Bucket Listers to see Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus, they are known as The Minimalists, from http://theminimalists.com. They have 3 million people visit their website every single year!!
They are on a one hundred city tour called “The Everything That Remains” tour. It’s a book tour and they super, super impressive!!! I was really looking forward to seeing them and apparently so were a lot of other people!
We turned up at 6.30pm for a 7pm start and there was a line out the front and right around the corner! I expected a small crowd, maybe in a little library room or something. But no… there were about 600 people with standing room only! Even more so, they had 2 sittings, one a 7pm and another at 8pm. Both were packed out!
I had the good fortune of speaking to the guys beforehand… in particular Josh, and we were going to put together a podcast for “Bucket List Life”, but they have been so busy, however they are more than happy to do a follow-on podcast when they finish their tour! So, I look forward to that.
I underestimated how popular the Minimalist movement is… I saw some friends of mine there that I had no idea followed these guys. I quizzed my mates as to how they found out about Minimalism, and no one really knows!!
I actually can’t remember how I stumbled across the Minimalists myself, but I’m glad I did, they have changed my life. I really can’t wait to have a personal one-on-one podcast with the guys.
The “Everything That Remains” presentation didn’t have all the bells and whistles, wasn’t flamboyant at all, wasn’t salesy, but they are SO present with the audience and so present with themselves. They are just relaxed, cool dudes, they really take the piss out of themselves (which Australian’s love).
They mention a couple of influences they have, one being Joshua Becker from http://becomingminimalist.com, (see my previous blog post with Josh) Colin Wright of http://exilelifestyle.com and a few others.
Their experiences have been somewhat similar to mine to some extent. One thing they mention is the Ikea Syndrome… basically having a good income, getting lots of stuff, having all the toys… but not being happy!
Josh talks about how when his mum sadly passed away she left her boxes of stuff, which sparked an “AHA” moment for Josh on just exactly how much with consume.
Josh was the first Minimalist out of the two of them. They have been buddies since school and Josh was the first to discover the minimalist movement. He started embracing it by selling off some belongings and donating items to charity to create more of a minimalist lifestyle.
Then his buddy Ryan who had just gone through a pretty ordinary relationship breakup also found himself the victim of over consumerism.
So, Josh got Ryan on board and took him through an exercise called the Packing Party. Basically, they packed up all of Ryan’s things and Josh said to Ryan, “Only take out the things you need!”. So it was literally like he was moving house, everything was packed away including furniture, and he could only unpack what he was going to use.
The exercise really ignited Ryan into embracing the Minimalism movement and join Josh on this journey. Then together they thought they might be able to help a few more people with this unique way of life.
Ultimately guys, it’s all about having less stuff and more experiences!! So, next time you are in Ikea, maybe think twice. These guys aren’t trying to convert you to full on Minimalism, they just want you to think in a different way.
They have really influenced my life in so many ways and you are going to see just how in the following blogs.
Check out http://theminimalists.com