Anthony Ongaro is a minimalist from Minneapolis. He blogs his minimalist adventure at Break the Twitch.
Stubble: minimalism
Anthony: As a lifestyle, being intentional about how we spend our time and energy.
Stubble: why
Anthony: We all only have 24 hours per day and it’s been proven that prioritizing experiences over consumerism/things makes us happier. With this understanding, I pursue the concept of time-wealth, having as much control over my time and energy as possible. Minimalism is the concept that allows me to do this.
Stubble: how
Anthony: Turn all of the things you don’t need back into money by selling them. Examine your life and identify what excess can be eliminated or reduced in order to focus more on the things you want to be doing. Think twice before spending money on new things. Where will it go, what purpose will it serve, why do you want it?
Stubble: easy
Anthony: Nope. It gets harder before it gets easier. But then it does get easier. Cleaning is faster, laundry is streamlined, and there is generally less to worry about. Intentional living isn’t exactly easier – it’s a conscious reprioritization of how we spend our time.
Stubble: happiness
Anthony: A big part of minimalism is accepting the fact that no new gadget will make us any happier than we already choose to be. Happiness to me is learning to want what we have. Beyond basic necessities, there’s no external key to happiness. It comes from within.
Stubble: food
Anthony: I love food, plus eating it ensures that I don’t die so it’s a win-win.
Stubble: dream
Anthony: My ideal existence is to have the flexibility to travel whenever and work on my projects from anywhere in the world. That goal seems to become more and more reasonable the less stuff I have weighing me down. I try to identify critical decision points that may lead to a more restricted lifestyle versus a less restricted one. The shorter term goal is flexibility over being stuck making payments on something over the long term.
This post was written by Tom Johnson and originally published on Stubble. Follow Stubble on Twitter: @stubblemag.
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