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Book: Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus
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Authors: Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus
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secrets, as if we could trust them with anything.
Be authentic. Doing so brings out the best in you, which, in turn, brings out the best in your relationships.
Nourish Your Relationships
You must find ways to continuously nourish your primary relationships every day. They are far too important to ignore. If you focus on the above eight fundaments, you will strengthen your relationships more than you ever thought was possible. Sure, it takes a considerable amount of work, focus, and attention, but having incredibly meaningful relationships in your life is worth every bit of work you put into it.
CHAPTER 4: PASSIONS
The Importance of Pursuing Your Passions
The pursuit of your passions is the most important of the five dimensions of living a meaningful life. Don’t believe us? Let us prove it.
Imagine winning the lottery, getting into the best shape of your life, finding your soulmate, establishing the most meaningful relationships possible, paying off all your debt, moving into your dream home (on the beach, of course), and not needing to work another day in your life.
Now imagine you wake up tomorrow and the next day and the next day with nothing to do, nothing to be excited about, nothing to fuel your fire. Oh, the horror. There are only so many TV shows you can watch or vacations you can take before you realize passion is missing from your life, before you realize your life lacks meaning. Unless you’re doing something with your life you’re passionate about, you will not feel fulfilled, you will not experience a meaningful life. This is often the root cause of that empty feeling so many people experience.
What You Call Your Work
Back to reality. Let’s take a look at your average day. How do you spend it? In other words, what do you do for work? Do you work the typical 9-to-5? Do you stay at home with the kids? Do you run your own business?
Whatever you do, the level of passion you have for what you do can be measured by the label you give your work. People tend to designate one of three labels to their work: job , career , or mission . When you speak about your work, which term do you use? Do you have a job? Do you have a career? Or are you one of the few who calls your work your mission?
Chances are you have a job . You have the daily grind. Or, if you’re unemployed, you’re probably looking for a job . It’s a cultural imperative, the American Dream, it’s what we’re taught to do. We’re taught to work incredibly hard in high school or college, doing stuff we don’t care much about, then find a good job, one with reliable pay, good benefits, and maybe a retirement plan. We’re taught to work a soul-crushing job for more than forty years so one day we might actually be able to retire and enjoy our lives for three years (insurance actuary studies have shown that the average life span of a retiree is about three years after retirement). We’re taught to work incredibly hard for a non-living entity, donating our most precious commodity (our time) for a paycheck. We’re taught that there is much more value in that paycheck—and all the stuff that paycheck can buy us—than there is in actuality.
The truth is we all need money to live. There’s no doubt that we all need to pay for a place to live, food to nourish our bodies, clothes to keep us warm, medical care when we’re sick or injured, and various other essentials. But the aforementioned cycle—this thing we’ve been told is the American Dream—is void of meaning. The American Dream is not going to make you happy. In fact, for many, the pursuit of this set of ideals is oppressive and is guaranteed to be a losing enterprise.
The Ugly Roots of a Career
If what you do everyday is just a job, then, by definition, you won’t be able to live a meaningful life. Even if you work really, really hard and establish a career for yourself, you won’t be able to live a meaningful life either. In fact, having
Be authentic. Doing so brings out the best in you, which, in turn, brings out the best in your relationships.
Nourish Your Relationships
You must find ways to continuously nourish your primary relationships every day. They are far too important to ignore. If you focus on the above eight fundaments, you will strengthen your relationships more than you ever thought was possible. Sure, it takes a considerable amount of work, focus, and attention, but having incredibly meaningful relationships in your life is worth every bit of work you put into it.
CHAPTER 4: PASSIONS
The Importance of Pursuing Your Passions
The pursuit of your passions is the most important of the five dimensions of living a meaningful life. Don’t believe us? Let us prove it.
Imagine winning the lottery, getting into the best shape of your life, finding your soulmate, establishing the most meaningful relationships possible, paying off all your debt, moving into your dream home (on the beach, of course), and not needing to work another day in your life.
Now imagine you wake up tomorrow and the next day and the next day with nothing to do, nothing to be excited about, nothing to fuel your fire. Oh, the horror. There are only so many TV shows you can watch or vacations you can take before you realize passion is missing from your life, before you realize your life lacks meaning. Unless you’re doing something with your life you’re passionate about, you will not feel fulfilled, you will not experience a meaningful life. This is often the root cause of that empty feeling so many people experience.
What You Call Your Work
Back to reality. Let’s take a look at your average day. How do you spend it? In other words, what do you do for work? Do you work the typical 9-to-5? Do you stay at home with the kids? Do you run your own business?
Whatever you do, the level of passion you have for what you do can be measured by the label you give your work. People tend to designate one of three labels to their work: job , career , or mission . When you speak about your work, which term do you use? Do you have a job? Do you have a career? Or are you one of the few who calls your work your mission?
Chances are you have a job . You have the daily grind. Or, if you’re unemployed, you’re probably looking for a job . It’s a cultural imperative, the American Dream, it’s what we’re taught to do. We’re taught to work incredibly hard in high school or college, doing stuff we don’t care much about, then find a good job, one with reliable pay, good benefits, and maybe a retirement plan. We’re taught to work a soul-crushing job for more than forty years so one day we might actually be able to retire and enjoy our lives for three years (insurance actuary studies have shown that the average life span of a retiree is about three years after retirement). We’re taught to work incredibly hard for a non-living entity, donating our most precious commodity (our time) for a paycheck. We’re taught that there is much more value in that paycheck—and all the stuff that paycheck can buy us—than there is in actuality.
The truth is we all need money to live. There’s no doubt that we all need to pay for a place to live, food to nourish our bodies, clothes to keep us warm, medical care when we’re sick or injured, and various other essentials. But the aforementioned cycle—this thing we’ve been told is the American Dream—is void of meaning. The American Dream is not going to make you happy. In fact, for many, the pursuit of this set of ideals is oppressive and is guaranteed to be a losing enterprise.
The Ugly Roots of a Career
If what you do everyday is just a job, then, by definition, you won’t be able to live a meaningful life. Even if you work really, really hard and establish a career for yourself, you won’t be able to live a meaningful life either. In fact, having
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