Optimal Living Daily - Personal Development and Self-Improvement 3955: Life Is an Acquired Taste AND Resolving to Learn from Failure by Joshua Fields Millburn of The Minimalists
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Mar 23, 2026 A writer compares black coffee and pared-back cafés to a life stripped of excess, arguing simplicity reveals what truly matters. He recounts giving up sweeteners and a year without purchases to retrain consumption habits. A ruined laptop and other small failures become experiments that redefine which possessions are essential.
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Coffee Shop Rewires Taste For Simplicity
- Joshua Fields Milburn described discovering Press Coffee in Dayton and how its curated simplicity influenced him.
- He recounted shifting from cream-and-sugar drinks to black coffee after being forced to go without sweetener, which revealed deeper coffee flavor.
Removing Excess Reveals Life's Flavor
- Joshua framed black coffee as a synecdoche for life: removing excess reveals greater enjoyment and meaning.
- He argued that the initial bitterness of reduction is temporary and that a meaningful life is an acquired taste.
A Year Without Buying Taught Him What He Needed
- Joshua told the story of his 2011 resolution to buy nothing for a year and how it changed his impulse habits within four months.
- He described spilling tea on his laptop mid-year, living without a computer, then realizing a computer was essential and purchasing one.