It’s said that nothing lasts forever, nor should it. There’s something strangely liberating yet melancholic about something ending, whether it be a job, a project, a relationship, a piece of tech, a journey, or even a tv series. Hell, even we as humans don’t last forever, despite Bryan Johnson’s respectable best efforts.
Today, however, I would like to announce the end of a project I’ve had a complicated relationship with over the past 10 years: Minimalism Life®
It’s been a decade of building out a brand as a side project, born out of a love of minimalism and an opportunity to collaborate with a small team of people passionate about sharing ideas around living more minimally. I think, however, the project lacked a clear vision and direction, most likely due to a collective lack of bandwidth to really push it forward. Branding aside, every few years we would try something new, pivoting slightly in terms of the core offering while simultaneously trying to grow a global community. Our pivots were rarely successful, yet our community growth was, at least across social media and newsletter subscribers. Yet, it always felt like we were treading water, both creatively and financially, to the point we ultimately asked ourselves why we’re still doing this.
I think the biggest success of this project has not been the brand of Minimalism Life®, but the digital asset base we’ve quietly built around it. That requires focus, strategy, investment, patience, awareness, and savviness. We not only own minimalism.com, but also the @minimalism username on virtually every significant platform we could think of. And even if it has five syllables, it’s a beautiful word with conviction.
We went back and forth on whether to rebrand and launch something different, but there was never a “hell yes”. And if that isn’t there, it’s time to call it a day. So that’s what we’ve done, at least in the form of Minimalism Life®. It’s now time to let the dust settle, consider what to do with the foundation we’ve built, and do one of two things:
- sell the asset package
- start a new minimalism company
Ideally, I’m looking to make that decision with my cofounder this year, but time will tell. I’m sure we’ll land on our feet.