#54: Minimalist expert and award-winning author, Joshua Becker, joins Chris to talk about the many ways that “things'' get in the way of living a purpose-filled life. They discuss Joshua’s top decluttering strategies, the 8 distractions that prevent people from living more meaningfully, and hacks to help guide you toward achieving the benefits of a more satisfying life through owning less. Joshua Becker (@joshua_becker) is an expert minimalist, an award-winning author, and the founder of Becoming Minimalist, a website dedicated to inspiring others to find more life by owning less. He recently released his latest book Things That Matter: Overcoming Distraction to Pursue a More Meaningful Life. Full show notes at: https://allthehacks.com/minimalism-joshua-becker Sponsor Deals Athletic Greens: Free 1 year supply of Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs Daffy: Free $25 to give to the charity of your choice Gelt: Skip the waitlist on personalized tax guidance to maximize your wealth Selected Links From The Episode All the Hacks Newsletter: Sign Up Connect with Joshua Becker: Website | Instagram | Twitter Joshua’s Books: Things That Matter: Overcoming Distraction to Pursue a More Meaningful Life The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life Clutterfree with Kids: Change your thinking. Discover new habits. Free your home Podcasts mentioned: All the Hacks Podcast #25 Nir Eyal All the Hacks Podcast #50 Adam Nash Resources Mentioned: Harvard Study: Exchanging cents for seconds : the happiness benefits of choosing time over money Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life Courtney Carver’s Website: Be More With Less Logan and Tammy Strobel’s Website: Our Tiny House Joshua’s Phoenix Recommendations: Barrio Cafe | Camelback Mountain Full Show Notes What most people get wrong when they think about minimalism (01:39) The importance of having fewer physical distractions and unnecessary possessions (02:32) The first question Joshua asks those who are beginning the process of removing distractions (03:47) Joshua's top decluttering strategy (07:01) Staging your home for living: how to make small changes to promote a calm space and the importance of finding the purpose of your home (08:54) How one conversation inspired Joshua’s transition to minimalism and the positive outcome of his decision (13:12) Alternatives to keeping seldom-used items, the cost of holding on to them, and the benefits of letting them go (15:59) How decluttering during a move afforded Chris the ability to use his space differently (21:31) Donate or sell? Joshua provides insight about getting rid of valuable items (22:49) Chris discusses the 5 core principles of smart spending as described in Elizabeth Dunn’s book Happy Money (25:40) Spending money on things to buy time versus having fewer items (27:30) As the trend grows in popularity, is there a ‘right’ way to apply the minimalist approach to your space? (29:38) 10 questions Joshua suggests you ask during the process of minimalizing (31:09) The realization Joshua came to once he adopted the minimalist lifestyle and what inspired him to write: Things That Matter (34:07) 8 distractions that prevent people from feeling the most satisfied and fulfilled (35:53) Acknowledging that money is not the end-all and the shocking results of a Harvard study of 100,000 people on time versus happiness (40:04) Focusing on things that matter through generosity and acts of service (42:30) Ways in which distraction of the ‘trivial’ prevents us from finding our purpose and the importance of taking a ‘digital detox’ (45:26) Joshua’s top recommendations for ‘dine, drink, and do’ in the Phoenix area (50:21) Where to find more information about Joshua Becker (51:58)