“Life is a choice.” ~Unknown
I’m virtually broke, but I’m still enjoying life. How is this possible, you ask?
True happiness comes from having much less than you think you need. Growing up, I wouldn’t say that I had an abundance of toys. By normal standards, my family was just getting by with what we had. The bills weren’t just going to disappear, and there were three other young mouths to feed. It was either use my imagination to escape my reality or die of boredom. Which choice do you think I made?
When You Separate from Your Stuff
In escaping my reality, I found myself taking on a whole new one.
No longer was the day boring because the toys I had were old and worn. Suddenly, the little apartment we lived in turned into a massive playground where my siblings and I could play hide and seek. We could build forts. We had water fights using plastic cups and the kitchen sink. Through this I learned that life didn’t have to involve boredom, and it didn’t have to include suffering.
It could be exactly how I wanted it to be.
Facing a Harsh Reality
Eventually, however, I had to face the reality that we all need money to survive. Growing up meant I’d need a career to support myself. It seemed like the right path, but I soon discovered that people generally weren’t happy with their jobs.
They worked long hours for good money and used that money to buy stuff. Was this really how life worked?
So I sat and thought about this conundrum for a bit. Then I came to an astonishing conclusion:
Why don’t you just consume less so you need less?
It makes sense, right? You spend all this time making money, trying to pay the bills for the things you buy when all you have to do is buy less to work less. Make just enough so you can have more free time.
3 Ways to Minimize Your Woes and Maximize Your Enjoyment
Everyone expects you to do what society wants: find a job and buy the latest clothes or gadgets. There’s a whole world out there. Why waste your time with things you’ll get bored of anyway?
If you want your life to go in a more exciting direction, you have to choose to change it.
Waiting for your next paycheck and getting your spending money won’t make life any better.
I barely spend anything at all. Life is still grand.
Here are some of the best tips to make room for a life where you control how much of it you wish to enjoy:
1. Stop buying what you don’t need.
Only purchase what contributes to your long-term enjoyment, not short-term infatuation. That $300 pair of jeans isn’t going to last you any longer than the $30 set in the discount bin. Going to a fast food joint may be quick, but isn’t it better just to cook your own food?
The problem comes from the fact that people spend way too much on things that don’t matter. If you don’t have to spend anything, don’t spend anything.
2. Go car-less.
Now, I’ve never owned a car in my life, but my sister has. She’s banged it up more times than I can remember and had to shell out quite a bit of dough to fix it. How can you live freely when you have this big metal weight on your shoulders, forcing you to pay for it?
In this day and age, we have public transportation to take us anywhere we want (for a much cheaper price). But if you prefer an even cheaper alternative, buy a bike.
3. Reclaim your time.
Because I’m a college student, I have fewer responsibilities than you might. My main source of income comes from my blog (which is in the process of becoming a business). This allows me to focus completely on my own projects and monetizing my passions. From my laptop, I can make money online. My life isn’t owned by the nine-to-five workday.
It takes work, but anyone can make money online, or choose an alternative to the overworked lifestyle that most people choose to finance all their stuff.
Wait… you’re just some punk college kid. I’ve got a family at home and kids to feed. How does this help me?
Like I said, you can downsize and choose an alternative career path, too. If you still don’t believe me, meet Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist. His entire family of four practices minimalism, and as a result, live full lives with far less stuff. Joshua’s even written articles teaching other families how to be minimalist.
Joshua defines financial freedom as spending less–not making more–and that’s the way he lives and works.
There are multiple ways of freeing up your life. You don’t have to start a blog like Joshua and I did. Reclaim your time by doing one of four things:
Freelance
Depending on how skilled you are, freelancing can be quite profitable. From writing to web design, selling your talents to clients anytime you want, anywhere you want is an excellent way to free up time.
In truth, it takes a lot of work to get a good enough reputation so you can start rolling in dough from high-paying gigs. However, if you want a quick buck and are just testing the waters, freelancing is the place the start.
Consult
If you want to take reclaiming your time to the next level, try consulting. I understand that some people still want to have personal connections through their work and that consulting over the phone (or even through a web-chat) can be limiting.
Like freelancing, if you’re good at what you do, you’ll be able to charge accordingly, work less, and free up time to do what you love.
Part-time your passion
Speaking of doing what you love, why not make that into another income stream, too? Whether you love to make t-shirts with funny messages on them or resell old baseball cards, your passion can be monetized. The challenge comes in finding the right audience that would be willing to purchase your expertise (which, ironically takes a lot of time).
But once you find the right audience, setting up an online store and making side-money will be a snap.
Start an online business
How about going all the way and starting a business?
Starting an online business pretty much culminates everything we’ve talked about. Freelancing, consulting, and doing what you love—that’s doing business, in a nutshell.
The great thing about starting an online business, though, is that it’s online. You don’t have to buy building space or pay for expensive office equipment. It’s all in a very cheap virtual domain. Once your business is up and running, you can hire people online to manage sales and customer service.
Time will be at your fingertips.
This choice isn’t for everybody and it takes a lot to be an entrepreneur, but those who can muster the endurance to run a business will be able to completely own their time.
Life Is a Choice
I’ve made these choices in my life because I don’t want to pursue a future other people have chosen for me. I could have been bored as a child, but I chose not to. I could have been in a lot of debt from buying things I didn’t need, but I refused.
I could have accepted my “fate” and gotten a real job. Reclaiming my time proved more important.
Everything that happens in life is your choice. Believe that you can make life better and live it to the fullest.
Photo here.
About John Anyasor
John is the author of HiLife2B, where he inspires you to do what you love and test the limits of what's possible.
Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours. It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine. 
Great article, I’ll be sure to take those points on board. I never really understood the 9 – 5 working life. We’re here to live and we may only have around 80 years to do so. Why would you want to spend the majority of time working?
Love this. I share quite a similar view. Reminds me very much of my first post 🙂
http://jadeshakti.com/2010/06/16/hola/
Interesting how you suggest not to buy things, yet your career plan is to run a website that sells stuff. Overall, it’s the right idea, just not very balanced.
There’s a difference between not buying things and buying only what you need as the author suggests. I work very hard for my money and would rather spend it on a self improvement book or my favorite local business than another iPod or Diesel jeans.
Most people choose to work a 9-5 because it’s the easier path to take. It takes a lot of dedication, discipline, and hard work to function outside the system and create the life you want to live. I haven’t worked a 9-5 since 2001 when the company I worked for went under. Not a great time to start a business in lower Manhattan!
Personally, I find it more fulfilling to use the creativity and talents I was given to create my life and live it to it’s fullest than to settle for a path because it’s safe. The tips in this post are good reminders that the less needless crap people buy, the more money they’ll have, and with that money comes the freedom to live a life not based in fear.
There have been several points in my life where I felt like I just didn’t have a choice or options when it came to my job or just working in general. It’s nice to have a reminder that I can make my own path, or do something unconventional instead of trying to conform to the expected 9-5 office role. I just recently figured out what I want to do with my life, but I have been floundering around for the past 7-10 years or so and struggling to try and find my place in the corporate world. Some of us just don’t belong there, no matter how hard we try to tough it out and hang in there!
2. Go car-less.
This is only applicable if you live in a big city. Small towns typically do NOT have affordable public transportation. You have to remember, there are FAR more small towns than there are big cities.
I know this frustration firsthand, living in a small town for 6 months without a car. The cost you spend on taxis and paying for other people’s gas (you will have to ask for rides now and again) is not worth the cost of giving up the vital asset of having a car.
It’s also an added stress if you are not already HIGHLY connected in your small town. If you live somewhere where you do not already have a pre-established network of friends or family who can pick you up every now and then, then this will get even more costly, very quickly.
Get a bike is not a good alternative, bc most small towns are so spread out there is no way you can get to everywhere you will need to go (grocery shopping, for instance or a movie every now and then) with just a bike. You’ll be biking for hours and the time you spend getting places will soon make your time a lot less valuable. If you get what I’m saying…
Although it would be great if every city in the US was like Amsterdam, it just currently is NOT this way, yet.
There aren’t even proper sidewalks set up in most small towns, so walking can be quite dangerous. Believe me on this one.
My suggestion: instead of going out to a car dealership and signing up for another big fat monthly bill, scan the local newspapers for a GOOD dependable cheap used car. Swallow your pride and care not what it looks like.
I did this and found a dependable, older model Ford Escort for $900.
Hope this helps anyone who was wondering – how the F am I supposed to go carless where I live?
Hey Solar_power, I suggest buying LESS, only spend on things that are really important to you. If you don’t buy ANYTHING, how are you going to live?
Glad you liked the post, Liberation!
My argument actually was to buy LESS (spend money on what’s really important to you).
Really inspiring info you’ve shared here. Congrats! You’re living my dream 🙂
Thanks Jade!
Excellent first post, by the way. Risk is what unites dream and day.
Beats the heck out of me. That’s why I’m starting now so I don’t have to invest my entire life working hours I can’t control.
You make good points. I hang out in the city, so a car isn’t as necessary for me. But when I come home from college, I stay in the suburbs. And yeah, I agree it’s much harder to get around (my family’s home’s in a small town too).
Of course, buying an older car does hold problems for you in the future. Maintenance costs and such.
Have you tried ZipCar?
Hey Alannah! I believe that everyone has a choice…some are just harder to make than others.
Most people flounder through life forever. I’m glad you’ve finally found what you want to do.
I wish you all the best on your journey 🙂
I highly recommend reading up on Tim Ferriss, Derek Sivers, and Seth Godin.
“My argument actually was to buy LESS (spend money on what’s really important to you).”
That’s what I said. I’m confused.
I thought you said “not buying things versus buying what you need”. It seems to mean buying either nothing or the essentials.
I guess it doesn’t matter 🙂
This is inspiring to a 63 year old–how to start is something else–but probably ‘losing’ your stuff and making a “fun To think about” plan–how inspiring to spend the last third of your
Life happy–what a novel idea –thanks for the inspiration–you are ‘the bomb!’
Thank you, Peg 🙂
I have to agree with you, most people will in fact need a car and picking up a used “beater” is a great way to save a lot of money. Coincidently I too got a used Ford Escort. I love this car, it’s been so reliable and inexpensive to run. I use my bike a lot too, and wish I could use it more.
That’s one thing I had to learn–there is always a choice even when there doesn’t seem like there is. In the past I’ve just often felt like I didn’t have any say in certain aspects of my life but obviously I did!
Thanks so much for the good wishes and the recommendations! I will check them out.
A very nice post with lots of good information. I too ran my own online business for several years. Sadly, it hit hard times and I had to find a job to pay the bills. Now, 5 years later, I feel trapped and long for the days when my time was my own. Thank you for reminding me of the things I have forgotten. I am only trapped if I choose to be. Things will change!
Keep at it Jeremy, and they will. It’s time to get that online business back up and running 🙂
Great post, you’ve only got one life to live…so make every moment count.
Another thing I’d add: decide what needs in your life are real and which ones are fake. Don’t waste your time on the latter.
I just wrote a post about letting go of imaginary needs:
–> http://artofminimalism.com/letting-go-of-imaginary-needs/
I’ve got a problem with the go car-less option. I live in Albuquerque, and we have horrible public transportation. For me to be at work on time, I’d have to leave my house about two and a half hours before my work starts. That means I’d get home two and a half hours after work ended. That would not leave me time to cook, exercise, help my daughter with her homework and shower before bed, let alone get a decent night’s sleep, and you can really hang it up if you have to go to the grocer’s or the laundromat. I agree that cars are frustrating and expensive, but sometimes they are the only viable option. I can’t expect my daughter (who attends the school where I teach) to bike fifteen miles each way to school, especially during the winter, and honestly, during the warmer season, I’m sure my students would prefer I not smell as though I just went on an intensive 15 mile bike ride…
Hey, in my pre-parenthood days, I spent a year as a dumpster diver, I didn’t buy a single thing. Very long, surreal year of my life, and I don’t think I could do it forever, but I did live!
[…] Anyasor who shared How to Regain Control of Your Time launched his eBook The Power of […]
Going carless in a small town can work if you live in a walkable small town. If you choose to live in a place that requires a car then you should consider moving or accept the fact that you have chosen a lifestyle that requires a car. I have lived in big cities and smaller places and have owned cars but am currently living happily car-free. I used to work 20% of my labour to keep a car on the road. I can now work less and have more time to devote to other things. No more unexpected expenses like new tires or exhausted system ($1000 each) on top of the insurance, gas, parking, maintenance, license fees, etc, etc; Car culture was built to make big business money and keep us all ‘hooked’; The result is an obese population that can’t fathom walking more than the distance to the mall doors from their parking spot. It blows my mind when I ask people how far something is in a city and they say “Oh, you can’t walk there, it’s too far”; Invariably I ask “How far?” and they will usually say something like “It’s at least a 20 minute walk – probably 10-12 blocks”;
When I decide to walk the distance, I get a good layout of the place I am visiting and almost always I can walk it in half the time that they think it will take — because they never walk.
I take public transit everywhere. It is almost always just as fast if not faster than driving. The other added benefits are that I don’t get stressed out and can do things like read, text or just stare out the window and reflect. You are also forced to share the ride with other people — which forces your ego to deal with the fact that you are part of the human tribe and not above it — looking out from a sealed metal box in your own car, cut off from contact with others. Sure, sometimes there are ‘undesirables’ on mass transit. Deal with it. It makes you question yourself. Your ideals. Your morals. Everything. It’s harder to be ‘superior’ to someone sitting beside you on a bus. More often then not, interactions I have on transit turn out to be life affirming and positive. When I have had negative interactions it is almost always my own attitudes and ego that have created a narrative of animosity.
Walking; Sharing. Driving a car does not engage either of these quintessential and ancient human tribal experiences. Cars isolate.
Best of all, I no longer see ‘red’ when I fill up at the pump; I used to curse ‘big oil’ every time I filled up (the price keeps going up!); No more am I a slave to the oil man, the parking man, the insurance racket;
You’d be surprised how easy it is to give up your car.
As a fairly creative free spirit — and an out gay man (with children), I still work in the corporate world but as a freelancer; It is the only way that I can exist in this intolerable neo-feudal environment; The corporate world is still dominated by straight, white male bullies/sociopaths – and women and minorities who play the same nasty games of control, fear and manipulation. I go in, do my job, and get out – and spend as little time as possible in the office environ. As times have gotten ‘leaner’ (even though these companies are posting record profits), the atmosphere in these places has gotten more and more toxic and every person I know with a ‘soul’ has gotten mentally ill working in them. The only ones I know that thrive are mean-spirited ‘players’ who don’t mind stepping on others.
I grew up in Europe, Steve. 54, selling everything to return to a simpler life. Would easily walk 20+ blocks…