Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus - “Essential: Essays by the Minimalists”

Monday, 7 July 2025 12:57

Minimalism is a tool to get rid of superfluous excess in favor of focusing on what’s important in life so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom. Minimalists seek fulfillment through experiences and relationships rather than material possessions. This old set of short essays talks about the different aspects of the minimalist mindset and lifestyle.

Part 1: What is minimalism?

The authors stress it’s not about living with less than 100 things, or not owning a car, home, or TV. They don’t advertise abandoning your career or being childless, living as a nomad or even fitting a specific demographic profile. Rather, they establish minimalism not as a trend or restrictive lifestyle, but as a practical tool for achieving genuine happiness and freedom. By stripping away the unnecessary, people can focus on what truly matters and create a more meaningful, purposeful life.

According to them, minimalism is about freedom from fear, worry, overwhelm, and guilt. It’s about reclaiming control of your schedule, putting focus back on health, relationships, but also your passions and general mission (they talk quite a bit about discovering meaning and pursuing passions). Most importantly, they stress living in the moment as well as creation over consumption.

How you get there is entirely personal. What’s essential for one person may be superfluous for another. It’s about intentionality: minimalists consciously choose what to keep based on what adds value to their lives. The authors admit that the initial steps require radical changes in mindset, actions, and habits, but the path becomes easier and more fulfilling over time.

Part 2: Living in the moment

Don’t dwell on the past. Don’t worry about the future. Just be on the mountain.

Here the authors demonstrate that minimalism extends beyond decluttering physical possessions to simplifying our mental patterns and daily behaviors. The first essay is called “Be on the Mountain”, which is contrasted with just “climbing the mountain”. Being truly present means experiencing and appreciating the moment fully. Millburn says that to do that, you need to avoid perpetual planning, release worry about the future, and become fully engaged in the current activity. He claims even unpleasant tasks can be made enjoyable with a mindset adjustment. If you need to do it, you might as well learn to like it.

The second essay talks about how only getting rid of physical possessions is insufficient. Mental clarity is the real key. The essays challenge us to examine not just what we own, but how we spend our attention—arguably our most valuable resource. Through presence and single-tasking, we can achieve the peace and fulfillment that minimalism promises, creating space not just in our homes but in our minds for what truly matters.

Single-tasking in particular is about creating boundaries and reframing obligations. Freedom comes from recognizing our ability to choose: what to do and when. It’s not about avoiding planning or responsibility, but rather about fully engaging with whatever we’re doing. Meaningful moments come from focused attention and deep engagement creates more satisfaction than surface-level multitasking. Millburn finds more fulfillment from one task done well versus multiple tasks done poorly.

Personal opinion

This mostly resonates with me as it’s largely about the clarity of being in the present that’s widely advertised by mindfulness professionals, meditation coaches, and buddhists. One thing I don’t quite buy is how one thing done perfectly is supposed to be better than many imperfect things. Perfectionism itself is a dysfunction, as at some point good enough really is good enough. It’s less romantic to admit that, but I feel like we need to understand the value in letting go also in the projects we pursue and tasks we work on.

Part 3: Emotional Health

Clearing emotional baggage and fixing unhealthy mental patterns is just as important as decluttering your physical space. The foundational essay “On Happiness”, written by both authors, talk about two pillars of happiness: growth and contribution. We need to both feel like we’re continuously developing as individuals, but also need feeling like we’re making a difference. Without the two it’s hard to live with purpose and that leads to anxiety, fear, loneliness, isolation, guilt and overwhelm.

To distill what truly matters to us, the authors suggest stripping away the unnecessary, creating space for both growth and contribution. Then both are a conscious choice, and that is freedom.

In “Letting Go of Sentimental Items”, Millburn discusses the psychological burden that comes from holding onto sentimental items that otherwise hold no value to us. He gives an example of how he processed his mother’s death by slowly letting go of her possessions. He stresses how most sentimental things can be digitized to be just as successful as mementos, while the actual items can still be useful for somebody else.

Millburn also talks about how to get rid of jealousy. He criticizes consumer-driven culture that leads to unnecessary competitiveness and “ambition” that’s not driven by personal growth goals but by “keeping up with the Joneses”. While pain and fear at least serve evolutionary purposes, jealousy is a useless emotion. It creates pain and fear for no reason other than comparing yourself to others. The author advises us to recognize that feeling jealous is also a choice. We can step back from it.

Similarly, Millburn discusses dealing with overwhelm. “We don’t get overwhelmed by information; we get overwhelmed because there’s too much going on”. So, he set boundaries by radically eliminating to-do lists, daily email checks, TV, home Internet ¹, unnecessary bills, most phone calls, and clocks (constant time awareness was itself a source of stress).

Finally, both authors here talk about creating momentum to overcome emotional inertia and lack of motivation. They suggest accountability partners, but also just doing the first step of the task (quite similar to what James Clear suggests in "Atomic Habits"), and if that’s too hard: simply physically moving. Motion can shake us out from passivity.

Personal opinion

I don’t know about the guy, but personally I’d feel pretty anxious about dropping to-do lists and clocks from my life. Again, sure, it’s radical and romantic, but unless you’re not professionally active, it’s not really practical. You need to meet with people, you need to move projects forward. Those things pay your bills. This is a common criticism of the authors. ²

I also don’t think it’s enough to go for a walk to conquer procrastination, although a general healthy dose of physical activity does indeed help with mental clarity.

Part 4: Growth

If you’re not growing, you’re dying.

That’s probably my favorite part of the book. The authors demonstrate that minimalism is fundamentally about creating space for growth. What they mean by “growth” isn’t just your career, but rather it’s holistically your entire life experience: health, finances, mental and emotional maturity, and spiritual depth. They are pretty candid about their struggles with weight, fear, and life challenges, and that makes it relatable. They argue that by removing excess—whether possessions, unhealthy habits, or limiting beliefs—we make room for development in all life areas. We allow for opportunity and transformation.

And so the minimalists ask you to identify areas where you’re stagnating. They want you to face fears holding you back from minimizing. They stress that minimizing is about removing obstacles so that important “shoulds” can become “musts”. But it won’t be easy. They do admit that growth requires discomfort and effort, which at least is realistic. And especially effective when Nicodemus talks about his fears of getting rid of stuff that he might need later or about how other people confirm his own self-doubts.

Mills talks about how he was 70 pounds overweight in his early-to-mid twenties. That’s before your growth hormone output recedes, so it must have been caused by some radically poor lifestyle choices. And so he talks about losing this excess weight by essentially adopting the “two meals a day” diet! No snacking, no sugar and what he calls “complex carbs” but are really grain-based foods like pasta and breat. Sure, he also now frequents the gym 5 days a week, but his main point is really making this priority a “must” instead of a “should”. I like when he says he doesn’t believe in “cheat days”. He adds “food is not entertainment, it is nourishment”. Well said. He also brings up LGN ³ as an effective incentive for weight loss. Agreed.

Personal opinion

I agree with a lot here, but had to laugh at Mills’ self-soothing about turning thirty. And his grab bag of “30 life lessons from 30 years” is mostly cringeworthy.

Part 5: Contribution

How did you add value this week?

The space that minimalism opens allows not only personal growth, but also the capacity to serve others. The authors say “giving is living”, and argue that contribution is fundamental to human nature, and essential to fulfillment. Unlike material purchases, contributing creates more long-lasting satisfaction. They discuss different avenues of giving, from a $10 donation to a homeless guy to creating deep connections through moving beyond surface interactions (i.e. sharing personal struggles, being open about your own imperfections, and so on).

The most interesting essay here is “Adding Value”, one of the shortest ones in the collection. It discusses how there’s many ways to add value through creation and innovation, support and presence, as well as teaching and leading (especially by example).

Personal opinion

The “Start with Yourself” essay doesn’t really fit the part of the book it was put in, but it’s itself very interesting. It suggests starting the minimalist revolution in your life with personal decluttering and behavioral changes. That is supposedly creating a ripple effect in the family where people who notice your transformation start behaving similarly not through promotion but through attraction and curiosity.

Part 6: Passion & Mission

This part is written entirely by Millburn and it’s progressing through his quitting a telecom job during a tumultuous time in his life to pursue his passions and authentic self.

The most interesting bit here is about minimalist finances and budgeting, which amounts to “spending less than you make”. The author mentions getting out of debt, tracking spending, and eliminating expenses (homeowner’s insurance, cable TV, Internet, monthly clothing and “junk” purchases).

Personal opinion

This part is especially self-congratulatory, I’m not a fan of the tone. Especially given that, as we learned in the thirteen years since “Essential” was published, Mills has not in fact become a respected fiction author. After a short spurt of fiction in 2011-2012 that averages 3.2 on Goodreads, he stuck to rehashing minimalism topics and publishing memoirs. Is that really his passion?

Part 7: Taking Action

The authors acknowledge that taking the first step is the hardest part of any journey, advocating for overcoming inertia through emotional commitment and immediate action into minimalism. This part is where they push you through the door they opened at the beginning of the book.

In “How to Make a Damn Decision” and “Never Leave the Scene of a Good Idea without Taking Action” they discuss moving from intention to action, not getting stuck in the planning phase. They argue real change requires emotional commitment, not just logic and reasoning. This is where the “should” vs “must” framework is established. Moving from “should” to “must” removes guilt and procrastination, generating emotionally compelling momentum. They warn that “tomorrow will always be a day away” and you don’t need anybody’s permission to start today. Delay kills motivation.

Personal opinion

The “take action” rallying is mostly about turning your life upside down and embracing minimalism. “Packing Party” talks about a “moderate” approach to a minimalist transition: pretend you’re moving and pack everything. Then unpack things as you need them, and after a week you know what you can let go of. I personally have quite many things I don’t use weekly that I would be pretty upset about letting go. Like, some things are really seasonal in nature. So, even though this is the crucial part of the book, it fell flat for me.

Part 8: Change & Experimentation

The final part is where the minimalists become pretty radical. This is where they discuss eliminating time-keeping and Internet from their homes, not buying any physical items for twelve months save for consumables. They also rehash Yoda’s “do or do not, there is no try”. They form an interesting way of thinking about purchases: instead of “do I want this?” ask “why did I buy this?” and “what else can I spend this money on?”

Millburn doesn’t own a TV and he candidly explains that he doesn’t because otherwise he would watch it. And that’s a device entirely set up for passive consumption, not creation. He also removed all Internet access from his home to make it a “sanctuary” ⁴.

Conclusion

There’s definitely interesting opinions therein, but despite the short form, the content still felt somewhat drawn out. The essays redundantly repeat some of the ideas multiple times repeatedly, the collection being a reprint of mostly previously published blog posts. Looking at them with an 2025 eye is especially illuminating, given that the authors essentially grew to be self-help gurus and not the fiction writers they aspired to be at the time, and their “no Internet use” policy is, let’s say, doubtful. Millburn even runs an “online writing class”. They even rehashed their 2016 Netflix documentary (6.6 on IMDb) into a 2021 Netflix documentary (5.9 on IMDb, 0% on Rotten Tomatoes).

And yet, the essays do have an endearing quality to them. The problem of “too much stuff” would be laughable for most people throughout history, and yet today it’s a very relatable issue. Attacking it head on was a good effort.

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