Seventeen years ago, I discovered minimalism. It took only a simple sentence from my neighbor to forever change my view of material possessions. This is what she said:
“That’s why my daughter is a minimalist. She keeps telling me I don’t need to own all this stuff.”
The statement came at the most ordinary time: I was cleaning out my garage on a Saturday afternoon.
And yet, the statement also came at the most perfect time: When my heart (and mind) was ready to receive it.
I had just spent the beautiful Saturday morning pulling dirty, dusty items out from my garage into the driveway. And I had done it all at the expense of my 5-year-old son, who was asking me to play catch with him in the backyard.
That was the day I realized all the possessions I had collected weren’t just not making me happy, they were distracting me from the very thing that did.
At first, simplifying my life was about owning less and clearing physical space. But cleared physical space quickly gave way to clearer mental space. And over time, I began to see other areas of my life where minimalist principles could be applied. Every area of life where distraction has taken us from our deepest values and passions becomes an opportunity to simplify.
Believe it or not, this post today is the 2,000th article published on Becoming Minimalist. That is 2.5 articles/week for the last 17 years.
Over the years, I have written much about the life lessons I have learned through minimalism. But as I reflect on my journey for this milestone article, all of the lessons lead to one truth that is perhaps the most important:
Our lives are too valuable to waste chasing and accumulating material possessions.
In fact, this may be the single most important truth I have learned and desire to communicate on Becoming Minimalist. I hope you will hear it today in your heart.
You see, minimalism didn’t just give me a cleaner garage, it changed how I viewed the entire world—and how I viewed my potential and opportunity.
Simplicity didn’t just give me my life back, it paved the pathway to live a fuller, deeper, and more purposeful life. Carrying less means we can travel further in the pursuit of our greatest dreams and ambitions.
Minimalism allows us to dream bigger dreams for our life. When distractions are removed, intentionality is found, self-growth is experienced, and self-worth grows.
Reflecting back, here are a few of the lessons I’ve learned and try to communicate regularly on this site. Each of them help us discover greater potential and a self-worth greater than material possessions:
1. The world will try to hijack your passion. Don’t let it.
We are all born with passions and talents inside us. And deep-down, a desire to serve and love. But the world has learned how to hijack that passion and direct it toward things that benefit someone else’s bottom line.
Marketers are skilled at convincing us that our energy should be spent buying what they are selling. And society sells a picture of success that mainly focuses on external indicators.
But your greatest passion isn’t for things that will be discarded in a few years. Nobody says their greatest goal in life is to just own as much clutter as they can. We were designed and created for something more.
Simplifying helped me see that and minimalism forced me to ask why I had accumulated so much. It is true that unhealthy motivations exist inside us and marketers are masterful at exploiting them. Don’t let them.
2. Comparison is a thief of joy and self-worth. Overcome it.
So much of our consumption is fueled by comparison. We see someone else’s lifestyle, wardrobe, car, house, or vacation—and we begin to desire it for ourselves. Jealousy and envy come quick, especially when we aren’t living intentionally with the resources that we do have.
But trying to live someone else’s life will always keep you from becoming the best version of yourself. It will keep you from appreciating the unique good that you can bring into this world. And it will keep you focused on the things you don’t have rather than appreciating what you do have.
There’s only one person who can live your life—only one person with your story, your voice, your experience, your gifts, your passion, your abilities, and your influence.
When we fill our homes and calendars trying to keep up with others, we rob the world of the one thing we can offer it: our authentic contribution.
Minimalism gives us the space to stop comparing and start contributing. And when we do, we discover we have so much more to contribute than consumerism.
3. We live finite lives. Be deliberate with them.
Time, energy, money, attention—these are not infinite resources. We all have differing amounts of them, but each are finite and limited.
Minimalism lives and dies on this reality. If money and time were in infinite supply, it would make sense to accumulate as much as you can. But they are not infinite. Our lives are finite. So what we choose to pursue and accumulate with them is of utmost importance.
Unfortunately, many of us live lives as if there are no boundaries.
We spend money on things we don’t need. We spend hours organizing closets full of things we don’t use. We distract ourselves endlessly on social media and with television. We sacrifice time with our loved ones for the sake of accumulating wealth or power… and then we call it living.
Life is short. And if we’re not careful, we can waste it chasing things that never mattered. As Seneca wrote (and which became the basis for my book, Things That Matter), “We are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.”
Simplicity taught me to see every resource as precious: my hours, my dollars, my energy, even my life. And the more we invest them in things that matter, the more fulfilled we become.
4. You are more than what you own. Believe it.
Culture has a way of convincing us to believe things we know aren’t true.
For example, none of us, deep-down, believe our value is tied to the things that we own. But subtly, starting in childhood, we begin to look up to those who have more. Magazine covers, movies, and television shows exalt those who live in bigger houses, have nicer clothes, own cooler toys, or earn the bigger paycheck.
All lives are created equal. But for some reason, those with more get put on a pedestal—even when they don’t deserve it.
But a person’s value is never tied to their possessions. In fact, sometimes it is those least worthy of our admiration who accumulate the most. And those who are most worthy of being looked up to as role models are looked over.
Minimalism helped me remember again, and see through clearer eyes, that our worth is not determined by the square footage of our home, the logo on our clothing, the gadgets on our shelf, or the car in our driveway.
You have value because of who you are—your heart, your soul, your ability to love, create, forgive, and make a difference. That’s the part of you that matters. And no purchase can change that.
5. Self-worth is built by doing things that give us self-worth. Not consumerism.
This last point, I should admit, is not necessarily something I learned by pursuing minimalism. Instead, it was learned during the creation of The Hope Effect (which was a result of minimalism).
You don’t become more confident by buying something new. You don’t develop a stronger sense of purpose by upgrading your home decor. You don’t develop greater self-esteem by consuming more and more.
Self-worth grows when we align our actions with our values. When we do things that grow our self-worth, we develop self-worth. Self-esteem is not something we think ourselves into having. It is developed through our actions and our decisions—when we help others, keep our promises, do hard things, learn new skills, and show up for people.
Ironically, the more time we spend caring for physical possessions, the less we are able to invest in the practices that actually build our self-esteem. It’s hard to find time to volunteer at the local non-profit, if we’re spending our days driving from store to store.
Here’s the truth: we don’t need more stuff to feel better about ourselves. We need more of ourselves—freed up and fully engaged in activities that grow our self-worth.
I’ve now written 2,000 articles on Becoming Minimalist. That’s tens of thousands of hours spent encouraging others to own less and live more intentionally.
But underneath every word has always been this simple truth: You matter.
Your life holds value. Not because of what you own, but because of who you are.
The world will try to tell you otherwise. It will measure your worth in net worth, productivity, or popularity. But those measurements fall short. They fade. And they fail to account for the selfless goodness your life brings to others.
Minimalism isn’t just about decluttering your stuff. It’s about clearing space and focus to see that your time, your attention, your values, and your story matter deeply.
So live with fewer distractions. Spend your limited resources on things that matter. And never forget:
Your life is too valuable to waste chasing material possessions.
Spend it on something greater.
