In the first edition of The Sunday Spark for the year, I revealed that I had chosen intentionality as my theme for 2025. To start the year off right, I set a goal for January to reread Things That Matter – Overcoming Distraction to Pursue a More Meaningful Life by Joshua Becker. In today’s post, I review the book and share how I’m planning to use what I learned in my life.

Make Becker your go-to source for leading a purposeful life

I’m a big fan of Joshua Becker. I’ve been following his blog, Becoming Minimalist for several years now. And his book The Minimalist Home provided early inspiration in my decluttering journey and the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge. (See 9 surprising things I learned from reading decluttering books for more about what I learned from that and other decluttering books.)

I first read Things That Matter soon after its release in 2022, and I found it to be an inspiring and thought provoking read. At the time, I had just wrapped up round one of the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge and was looking for ways to continue to simplify life. The book gave me a lot to think about.

Fast forward to 2025 when “recently-retired-and-reinvented” Michelle decided to make intentionality the focus for 2025. To kick off the year, I decided to go back and reread Things That Matter.

“Things That Matter” book review

One of the things I enjoy the most about Joshua Becker’s blog posts is his authentic and conversational writing style. This book was no different. While it does include data and research from a national Things That Matter survey, the inspiring stories and insights from Becker’s own journey and his conversations with others make it really shine.

The book is written in four parts.

Part 1 – The Objective and Obstacles

In Part 1, Becker introduces us to the idea of living a life with no regrets. He asks readers to consider an important question. “If you were to die today, what one thing (or few things) would you be most disappointed that you didn’t get done.” Wow! It’s a scary thought but it really forces you to examine how you’re spending your time.

How we get to the end of our lives with minimal regrets: We choose well. We set aside lesser pursuits to seek meaning in our lives. And we do it every single day.

Joshua Becker, Things That Matter

Becker maintains that it’s easy to let distractions take over our lives and get in the way of achieving what we really want to achieve. He then introduces eight distractions that form the meat of the book. Here they are:

• Fear
• Past mistakes
• Happiness
• Money
• Possessions
• Applause
• Leisure
• Technology

Do any of those words resonate with you when you consider what’s getting in the way of living the life you want to live? If you answered yes, consider reading the book. You’ll see yourself in Part 2 and Part 3 where Becker dedicates a chapter to each of the eight distractions.

Part 2 – Distractions of a Paralyzed Will

The second part of the book dives deeper into the psychology of the first two distractions: fear and past mistakes. Becker calls these “Distractions of a Paralyzed Will”.

Unlike the remaining distractions, these two are complex. For many people, overcoming them may require the help of a professional. This book will help you examine if these are problem areas for you and identify situations where a professional counsellor or therapist may be the best way forward.

Part 3 – Distractions of the Lesser Good

Part 3 addresses the remaining six distractions on the list, or “Distractions of the Lesser Good”. No matter how focused you think you are, I guarantee you’ll see a little bit of yourself in the descriptions and stories presented in this section.

Instead of providing a summary of each chapter, I’ll let Becker’s words speak for themselves by sharing some quotes I highlighted as I read:

• Happiness: “Let’s not pursue happiness. Let’s pursue purpose…and allow happiness to come to us.”
• Money: “In most cases, we don’t feel stressed about money because we don’t have enough; we feel stressed about money because we simply want more of it.”
• Possessions: “There is an inheritance that we can leave and instill in others that’s greater than the size of our homes or the designer names on our clothing.”
• Applause: “Accept deserved praise graciously. Redirect praise to others generously. And never lose sight of your mission, no matter how much or how little limelight is shining on you.”
• Leisure: “Leisure doesn’t provide meaning. It provides renewal for other things that do provide meaning.”
• Technology. “Let’s open our eyes to what’s happening, and let’s dare to control the technology in our lives instead of letting it control us.”

Part 4 – Ending of the Book, Beginning of a More Meaningful Life

In Part 4, Becker encourages readers to work on our own action plans. He urges us to think about how we can leave the world a better place than we found it, and how we can make the most of our remaining days.

To help organize thoughts, Becker includes a bonus exercise at the end of the book, Discover Your Purposes. The exercise reminded me of the Ikigai framework I use in my retirement coaching work. It’s worth spending the time to complete the exercise.

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In summary, you won’t reach the end of this book with a magic formula or a long list of prescribed to dos. However, if you approach the book with an open mind, and take the time to really think about what you’re reading, it will set you up to identify the things that matter to you, and what distractions you need to eliminate to reach the end of your life with no regrets.

With that in mind, let’s look at how I’m using what I learned to support my focus of intentionality.

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How I’m refocusing on Things That Matter

As I read Things That Matter for the second time, I felt good about the progress I’ve made eliminating the distractions of money and possessions. I also felt I have the role of happiness and leisure in perspective.

The two areas where I still have work to do are technology and, to a lesser extent, applause.

First, technology. In The good and the bad of screen time, I discussed some of the ways I use my devices. But, despite the good things, they are definitely a distraction that sucks up way too much of my day. In the coming weeks, I’m going to actively work on reducing my “bad screen time”. Perhaps it’s time to give up mindless games for Lent, or consider a social media detox.

Then, there’s applause. While I don’t actively seek the approval of others, I admit to feeling good when I receive praise and accolades. I’ll be more conscious about taking Becker’s advice and not letting applause be my goal and keeping the praise in perspective in light of my bigger goals.

Stay tuned for more information as I work these two items into my monthly goals throughout 2025.

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Have you read Things That Matter? How do you overcome distractions and stay focused on your purpose? Drop me a comment below and let me know.