A Recipe for a Simple Life

Full Frame

While many are fervently in pursuit of “the American Dream,” Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus are advocating for something different – the individual dream. Not one filled with things, but experiences.

A Recipe for a Simple Life

While many are fervently in pursuit of “the American Dream,” Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus are advocating for something different – the individual dream. Not one filled with things, but experiences.

Millburn and Nicodemus are the embodiment of the minimalist lifestyle. They stripped down their lives to embrace the things that truly made them happy. They own less – less than 300 things – and live more.

But just a few years ago, their lives couldn’t have looked any different. They were doing what all other millennials thought they should be doing to be successful – climbing the corporate ladder and buying sprawling condos and designer clothes.

“If you would have told my 18 year old self what my 28 year old self was going to have, I would have been so ecstatic,” Ryan Nicodemus explained.

But Millburn and Nicodemus say that instead of experiencing the joy and happiness of the American Dream, they were miserable.

“I realized that a lot of my life’s focus had been on the accumulation of stuff and so called success through job title or supposed achievements that weren’t actually in line with my values or my beliefs,” Millburn said. “I realized I needed to make a change.”

So that”s exactly what Millburn and Nicodemus did. They traded in their upscale homes for a Montana cabin and got rid of the things that didn’t add value to their lives. With the minimalist lifestyle and newfound freedom, they say that they were finally happy and simply content.

Millburn and Nicodemus say that the secret to finding their own vision of happiness – not the story sold by corporations – is to live deliberately and intention-driven lives.

And that’s the ultimate goal – to be happy. But their recipe of success does not work for everyone.

“I think it’s much more about the individual dreams and these individual success templates and not allowing society or culture to tell you what is successful because someone else’s version of success may make them successful, but it may not make you happy,” said Millburn. “If you’re not happy, I don’t care what level of achievement you have, you’re not going to be successful in life.”

Want to make your own batch of happiness? Take a look in your basket of ingredients and ask yourself the question: “Does this thing add value to my life?” Be prepared, because Millburn and Nicodemus say it could change tomorrow.

Millburn and Nicodemus now tour the world and share their stories on their blog, The Minimalists. They are the authors of “Everything That Remains“, their most recent book, and will also release their first documentary later this year.

Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus joined Mike Walter from Montana to share their recipe for happiness and to give you some ingredients to embark on your own minimalist life.

Follow Joshua Fields Millburn on Twitter: @JFM
Follow Ryan Nicodemus on Twitter: @RyanNicodemus
Follow the Minimalists on Twitter: @TheMinimalists