The Minimalists

Joshua and Ryan discuss identifying how much is enough so we can subtract the excess to get there, and they answer the following questions:

What is “enoughism”? (00:00)

How is enoughism different from minimalism? (03:04)

Given that the key to transformation is understanding our ‘whys,’ why does anyone truly want more, and, conversely, why does anyone truly want less? (12:20)

When it comes to a small business, how much record-keeping is enough and what is the ideal way to store it? (24:57)

How does renouncing something create an attachment to it? (30:09)

How do we learn to recognize the difference between enough and a false sense of security and comfort from unnecessary consumerism? (39:35)

Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast

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Joshua and Ryan talk about our constant search for meaning, purpose, and significance; they discuss ways we can rethink spirituality, sex, and death with author Jamie Wheal; and they answer the following questions:

What is “meaning”? (01:04)

Why do we always seem to look for shortcuts? (03:57)

What are heuristics? (05:30)

What constitutes a true nihilist? (13:39)

Is awareness a curse? (16:55)

Once we find meaning in life, do we have a duty to help others find meaning as well? (18:25)

What is the difference between being selfish and being self-centered? (20:01)

What is the Hedonic treadmill? (25:19)

What is the difference between narcissism and nihilism? (27:29)

What is rapture ideology? (35:35)

How does one find meaning after a close loved one has passed and they are struggling to deal with the passing? (40:43)

Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast

Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan discuss how we’re too often led astray by the status quo and how we can benefit from doing the opposite, and they answer the following questions:

What does it mean to be authentic? (00:00)

What is so problematic about trends? (04:58)

Can we find meaning in suffering? (10:56)

Why are opinions so inconsequential? (20:48)

When have you benefited from thinking the opposite? (22:21)

I’m being advised by my ethics class in college that retirement is detrimental to our growth and development as human beings—do you think that is true? (29:20)

What is the best kind of growth? (34:31)

Some of the worst advice I’ve received is, “Fake it until you make it”—what is wrong with being a work in progress? (44:30)

How is all advice flawed advice? (44:59)

Do we improve our lives more by addition or subtraction? (52:00)

Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast

Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan discuss trauma, the ego, and setting boundaries with holistic psychologist Dr. Nicole LePera, and they answer the following questions:

Why did Dr. LePera write her latest book? (02:31)

How do you start on a path to healing and commit to it when your motivation is almost nil? (04:34)

Why is it so difficult to break our patterns? (05:04)

How do we reframe failure? (07:38)

How important is the caloric intake of the brain? (08:35)

How do we recognize if a goal is empowering or disempowering? (13:09)

How do I work with loved ones to adjust our lifestyle preferences so I can attain and maintain mental peace? (13:36)

How do you forgive others and yourself and move forward when a loved one passes suddenly and you feel you haven’t had a chance to tell them everything you needed to, and how do you forgive others that you feel treated that person terribly in life and let go of the anger toward them? (18:30)

How are forgiveness and acceptance associated? (19:31)

How do we let go of anger? (25:37)

Are there types of bodywork that address the mind-body connection together, or are there types of psychotherapy that address the mind-body connection in tandem? (30:28)

Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast

Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan discuss emergency items, preparing for emergencies, and when it’s appropriate to hold on to certain just-in-case items, and they answer the following questions:

How do we prepare for chaos? (04:33)

What are the three types of emergencies? (05:49)

What do you keep in your car? (08:02)

How do we reconcile what we actually need with what we want? (12:12)

What is the most important thing in an emergency? (14:36)

What essentials should we keep in a first aid kit for both home and travel? (19:18)

What is the difference between an emergency item and a just-in-case item? (25:50)

How do you differentiate between just-in-case items and just-for-when items? (31:42)

What are “b.s. emergency items”? (36:36)

What books, websites, podcasts would you recommend as resources for information regarding emergency preparedness? (43:27)

Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast

Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan discuss the relationship between minimalism and environmentalism with author and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and they answer the following questions:

What is our biggest environmental problem, and is it too late to fix it? (01:38)

Since environmentalism is an idea that I cannot back down from, compromise on, or see from both sides, at what point is it dangerous to keep saying there are no ‘shoulds’? (04:33)

Why are landfills more prominent in the United States compared to Europe? (09:28)

How can we make individuals and companies more environmentally conscious? (11:47)

What is your opinion regarding the policy of the United States to ‘leap-first, look-later’ regarding environmental chemicals? (23:29)

What is the Toxic Substance Control Act? (27:36)

What are PFAs? (29:46)

Why have we seen such an increase in chronic diseases among children? (30:53)

Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast

Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about the problem of busyness and how we can better manage our time, and they answer the following questions:

Why can’t we ever seem to get ahead of our to-do lists? (01:43)

What lists do you find helpful? (02:13)

What is “busyness”? (06:42)

How do we gain more discretionary time despite the onslaught of modern obligations and responsibilities? (11:25)

Is striving for work-life balance a fruitless endeavor? (13:58)

Are there any tools that can help with our overwhelm? (16:06)

What is the fear related to busyness? (17:24)

What can someone do if they feel they’re too busy to figure out how to become less busy? (25:30)

Would you be doing what you’re doing today if you only had six months left to live? (28:28)

Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast

Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about hoarding—the clinical definition, the statistics, the causes, the symptoms, the common types, the risks, the recovery—and they answer the following questions:

What is the clinical definition of “hoarding”? (03:00)

What is “spartanism”? (03:35)

What are the common types of hoarding? (05:43)

What is the difference between hoarding and collecting? (09:30)

What is the “sunk-cost fallacy”? (11:02)

What are the symptoms of hoarding? (21:56)

What are the causes of hoarding? (23:30)

How is hoarding diagnosed? (27:51)

Do children hoard? (29:41)

When do obsessions become unhealthy? (31:38)

What are the five levels of hoarding? (32:04)

Are there affluent hoarders? (43:17)

How does one become a hoarder? (45:16)

Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast

Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about alternative living options—communal living, throuples, combined families, long-term singlehood, nomadic living—with the CEO and cofounder of Nourish Balance Thrive, Christopher Kelly, and they answer the following questions:

What is ancestral health? (03:20)

What has likely caused our overall decline in health? (05:08) 

Is our current status quo of living arrangements in detrimental conflict with the natural order? (07:28)

How do people continue to help the paradigm of the nuclear family work? (10:40)

How do we set appropriate boundaries with roommates and ensure those boundaries are not crossed to prevent theft, property damage, and tense co-living environments? (11:59)

What is Christopher’s communal living arrangement? (12:38)

Why did Christopher adopt his communal living arrangement? (13:53)

How does Christopher manage living with several different families? (15:34)

What is ‘helicopter parenting’? (20:53)

What is your definition of “commune”? (22:59)

What are the pros and cons of unusual living arrangements in cultures that wholly embrace them? (28:36)

What does the “WEIRD” acronym represent? (30:56)

How do you define “solitude”? (32:40)

What is Joshua’s living arrangement? (33:51)

What is the ‘sweet spot’ regarding how many people you can live with? (35:25)

Who created the monogamous nuclear family? (38:40)

At what point does a group become a cult? (48:50)

Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast

Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about unsubscribing and unfollowing anything that doesn’t bring tranquility or increase well-being, and they answer the following questions:

How has unsubscribing and unfollowing helped your tranquility? (08:36)

Should we attempt to explain ourselves to others when they question our minimalist lifestyle, or simply invite them to ‘unfollow’ us? (12:37)

Can minimalism help us bring order back to our chaotic lives? (14:44)

How do we determine the appropriate ‘path’? (18:50)

We can’t impose tranquility on the world around us, so how do we adjust our internal settings to maintain inner tranquility? (23:10)

Why do insults irritate us so intensely? (29:09)

How do we adjust relationships that are predicated on conflict? (31:20)

Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast

Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support