I think the most important part of what he has done was that he rearranged his focus. He spent a lot of time owning things that kept him strapped to his home, but instead by getting rid of it he was able to experience another aspect of life -- the outdoors -- that brought him more joy. I think oftentimes we as people in the developed world have a need to own things in order to feel impressive. However, if not kept in check this can overtime lead to overconsumption. 

Too many things can burden us. When my husband and I began moving around to different apartments and states, we realized how much possessions we had accumulated. Most of the time we would end up tossing some of the things we brought with us. And the question was why were we keeping things we were not planning on using? 

Minimalism is to help us refocus on things that matters. For me that is to have less things that we do not need, and only select things to bring into our home that is valuable to us. It isn't hard, but it does take time and continuous effort to maintain the effort necessary to be and stay a minimalist.