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Minimalism

Written by: Ryan Nicodemus,Joshua Fields Millburn
Narrated by: Justin Malik
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Publisher's Summary

Minimalism is the thing that gets us past the things that clutter our lives so we can make room for life's most important things - which actually aren't things at all.

At age 30, best friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus walked away from their six-figure corporate careers, jettisoned most of their material possessions, and started focusing on what's truly important. In their debut book, Joshua and Ryan, authors of the popular website TheMinimalists.com, explore their troubled pasts and descent into depression. Though they had achieved the American Dream, they worked ridiculous hours, wastefully spent money, and lived paycheck to paycheck. Instead of discovering their passions, they pacified themselves with ephemeral indulgences, which only led to more debt, depression, and discontent.

After a pair of life-changing events, Joshua and Ryan discovered minimalism, allowing them to eliminate their excess material things so they could focus on life's most important things: health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution.

©2015 Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus (P)2016 Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus

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What listeners say about Minimalism

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  • SJ
  • 2018-09-20

Had some highs, had some lows

I went into this audiobook with high hopes, as an avid Minimalists reader, watcher, recent podcast follower, and even Bag buyer (the Pakt One is amazing).

This audiobook disappointed me unfortunately.

I think it was largely the audiobook format actually, and this content may have been better consumed by eyes instead of ears. While I think Ryan and Josh voice a lot of their enthusiasm and passion, the audiobook narration was monotone and at a singular pace, which made it tough to get through.

Content-wise, I think there were a couple of chapters that should have been skipped, specifically the health and diet part - as it's the classic problem of telling people what fad to try to do something about their health via anecdotal evidence (something we should strive to get away from).

Overall, this book felt like it dealt more with life philosophies rather than a guide or blueprint to minimalism.

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6 people found this helpful

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Terrible narrator.

The narrator sounds like the most boring individual ever. OMG.
If hipsters could be described by a voice, this would be hipster voice 101.
Monotone, with a terrible accent.

It is very hard to engage, with the material, when the narrator is sapping your will to live.

The book lost me when they started on the gluten free / vegan / vegetarian / paleo rant.

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4 people found this helpful

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A better You.

love this book and I will be listening to this book again! It is helping me let go of so many things that has made my life cloudy. Many thanks to the authors of this book. I saw the documentary "Minimalism" on Netflix which was such an inspiration and led me to listen to the book. Listen to this book now and hopefully it will help you just as much as it helped me.

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they lost me at the diet chapter

I loved the movie and read "all that remains" in one sittung but they really lost me when they talked about diet and stuff. could not bring myself to finish the book...

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  • SP
  • 2021-01-27

Terrible narrator

I love the minimalists but was so disappointed in the narrator. He spoke too fast and in a monotone voice. I am used to hearing the passion in Ryan and Joshua’s voice so this was a huge letdown for me.

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Good read

Enjoyed the listen. Covers a few great points on life that can help the listener.

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Not What I Expected

This being the first book I have ever listened to regarding the Minimalist lifestyle I was very disappointing. Definitely not a how to book. Very little on minimalism and more on the aspect of a meaningful life. More references to their website than content.
Disappointed. Killed 2.5 hours.

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  • Bryan Ausinheiler DPT,OCS,CSCS,FNS
  • 2017-07-18

Not what I was looking for

Should be titled: 5 values to live a meaningful life. I got this book thinking it would be about the philosophy and practical implementation of living with fewer things, what to get rid of, what to keep etc, there was none of this, instead it read like a life coaching book.

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21 people found this helpful

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  • BuyerOfThings
  • 2019-05-01

Minimalism?

Let’s see, we get some subjective advice about nutrition, water consumption, relationships, etc. Whatever seems to randomly interest them. Don’t wait around for the topic of minimalism though, maybe they’ve moved on to life coaching & forgot to tell us.

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17 people found this helpful

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  • Mark
  • 2017-03-10

Tight version of stuff you can learn on podcast

As with their other books, you probably don’t need it as the podcast covers the same material. But this is a tightly organized version of their message. I think it has a lot of value that other minimalism books miss because it focuses on the why. Why do you want to live a minimalist life? Just getting rid of your stuff doesn’t help because you'll just replace it, as happened to me after reading the Tidying Up books. This shows you the value of living a more deliberate life and the things you can improve (health, relationships. passions, growth, contributions to the world) with the extra time and money you'll have. Nothing stellar, just nuts and bolts. It was useful to me. Grade: A-

Excellent narration. I’m used to their voices from the podcast but Justin Malik is so good that I hear their voices in him now.

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17 people found this helpful

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 2018-06-08

Good Book. Narrators voice not so good

Narrators voice took a while to get use to and sometimes was difficult to focus on

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2019-08-12

A lot of plugs

It’s hard to escape the fact that the whole thing feels like an advertisement for their website...

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2017-05-29

Exellent Book. Highly Recommend.

Didnt kmow what to expect when i bought the book. thought it was simply a time management book. It is that on steroids. Gave me a lot to think about to add balance to my life.

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  • Bryon S.
  • 2016-12-20

Great Book!

I enjoyed the message and the overall authenticity of the authors and their willingness to pay their experience forward. This book is a great opportunity to contemplate what is important in life and re-evaluate priorities. I would highly recommend it.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2019-04-09

Worthless pop regurgitation

The book says virtually nothing about minimalism. Instead, the authors present a litany of half baked pop ideas about how to live a happy life. What a complete waste of time!

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2019-05-08

Enter the vegan high horse in Chapter 4

The authors say in the beginning that this is a book for everyone but it is obvious that it was really written because the authors have not told enough people that they are perfect, don't eat sugar, love green smoothies, don't drink soda, eat no processed foods, don't drink cow's milk, and exercise regularly. In chapter 4 on health, they spend the entire chapter giving advice they aren't qualified to give, being preachy and promoting restrictive diets that don't work for the majority of people, and spending time talking about what works for them but not what might work for others. All while saying "you don't have to be vegan to live a healthy life" before getting preachy about veganism. (Shocker: this book is not for everyone.)

I am a medical student so I am happy they are encouraging people to be healthy. I value my health and I try my best to be healthy most of the time. I appreciate that, like me, most people are just trying their best to be healthy and sometimes its hard! I find the people who try to cut out sugar, carbs, all beverages except water are not successful. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is all about learning to treat yourself in moderation & to view unhealthy foods as just that: "a treat." The authors instead say that eating any pasta will lead you to then incorporate pasta back into your diet and overindulge but not if you never cut pasta out to begin with.

Listen, I love french fries like I love my mom. If I told myself I had to never have fries again, I would eat all the fries in Philadelphia in my last sitting and then suffer before I inevitably binge on every type of potato-derived food at 3am. (sorry, I am human.) Instead, I have a small serving of fries once per week. Other people have their vices & can be healthy while still having an occasional treat of their beloved food of choice. So, if you're a self-absorbed marathon runner, vegan, yogi who just "loves the gym" while the rest of us see it as a necessary evil, then read on. You will love this book. As for me, I obviously didn't like it & turned it off in chapter 4.

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  • J.S.
  • 2018-11-05

Not what I was expecting

I thought this book would go through each and every room you have to help declutter and minimize. It does not do this at all. Talks about healthy / friendships / relationships. Not at all what I was looking for.

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  • Agathe
  • 2017-10-09

Misleading title

The title is absolutely misleading! This book is about focusing on leading a more meaningful life and gives guidelines on nutrition, workout, relationships, finding your passion, contributing positively to the world, etc...There is basically very little about minimalism itself. It could still be a great read if the advice were not so basic. I am pretty sure anyone who has read a few self-help books isn't going to learn much from this.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2019-10-08

A meaningful book

It was very cool to listen the reader! The book is useful to discover minimalism

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