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The Minimalists The Minimalists
Emmy-nominated Netflix stars, podcasters, and New York Times–bestselling authors Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus help millions of people live meaningfully with less. The Minimalists have been featured in TIME, GQ, ABC, CBS, NBC, BBC, NPR, and they have spoken at Harvard, Apple, Google.

Does This Add Value to My Life?

I don’t own many things—but everything I own adds value to my life.

Each of my belongings—my kitchenware, furniture, clothes, car—functions either as a tool or adds positive aesthetic value to my life; that is, as a minimalist, every possession serves a purpose or brings me joy.

Over time, though, situations’ll change—they always do. So I’m forced to ask the same important question over and over and over again: Does this thing add value to my life?

In other words: does it serve a purpose or bring me joy?

And it’s not just material possessions at which I posit this query: I ask it in regard to relationships, social media, and any other potentially superfluous matters in life.

I constantly ask this question because circumstances constantly change: because something adds value to my life today doesn’t mean it’ll add value to my life tomorrow, so I keep asking and I keep adjusting accordingly.

“Does This Add Value?” is an excerpt from Everything That Remains.