Day 365 – The Finale

“It’s not just about getting rid of things, it’s about relying on things less and focusing on enjoying life more.” – Day 3 ’21

“Just because something is within your means doesn’t mean you should buy it.” – Day 4 ’21

Don’t give anything unworthy of your attention the time of day.” – Day 312 ’21

“I’ll take your presence over your presents any day.” -Day 326 ’21

“…we decided to challenge ourselves in a good way this year and really try to make a difference in our lives and hopefully other people’s lives. This challenge is something we like to call Minimalism 360 in 365, an idea inspired from the Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus.” – Day 1 of ’21

“We want to change our lifestyle and evolve with our new Minimalism Everyday view. I visualize a surfer out in the ocean performing a 360, or even a skateboarder. It must be a very cool feeling (totally tubular even) to complete one finally after so much practice and wipeouts I’m sure. Performing any 360 is tough and that’s what I expect for this challenge. We want to turn our lives around so this doesn’t merely stay as ‘just a challenge and done’, rather, a new way of living for the rest of our lives. This will always be a challenge for us.” – Day 6 of ’21

Let me start by saying that I’m proud of Amalia and I. We set a goal for ourselves on January 1st and crushed it!  For one full year, everyday we wrote down something that was on our mind and decluttered at least one item. Some of these items we were able to give to friends/family, some we were able to donate, and others we simply threw away. It wasn’t just about that though. The main reason we wanted to start this journey was because we wanted to become less attached to our things and live a more meaningful life; a life filled with more experiences. So, are we minimalists? No, I don’t think we are completely minimalists. However, I think we now have more of a minimalistic mindset on life in general, which is a big step forward.

I can confidently say that this year was the best year of my life. What a statement but it’s true. I was more motivated, I made better financial decisions, I adventured to new places and some awesome ones I’ve been to in the past, I got to see some of my best friends get married while dancing the night away and finally, Amalia and I got to finally get married in front of our family and friends after such a long wait. This blog, the motivation, and financial decisions are all credit to reading and yearning more from life. Reading is so important and it’s one of my main goals for next year to do more often. In fact, I plan on using the time that I wrote the blog this year and turning it into reading/cooking healthy time, to better myself. The travel for pleasure, weddings, and work were all great. I felt like it was better than usual and I give part of the credit from me disconnecting myself more from my phone and social media. I was a broken record about this subject throughout the year and it’s because it’s something I struggle with and strive to be better with constantly. This year I did better, and for that I will give myself a pat on the back. I tried my best to live in the moment and enjoy myself when we were at different social gatherings and it really did make a big difference. It’s the time alone that I get distracted on my phone, but there is always time to improve on it in the upcoming year; more importantly, day to day.

It’s hard for me to end this because it’s something that I have become accustomed to doing every day but it’s time to free up more time to do the things we love. This will always be a fantastic memory and accomplishment for Amalia and I. It’s something we can look back on and be proud of. It’s something to say, hey if we can do this for year, we can be consistent with just about anything when we put our minds to it. For everyone who has followed us throughout the year, I hope we were able to inspire you. Whether this means to clean out a closet, start a blog, get to the gym, or follow your dreams, we’re glad to have shared this story. No matter how small or big, good for you. I’ll take a bunch of tiny victories any day, it sure beats doing nothing. Thank you to anyone who followed us throughout the year or to anyone that finds us in the upcoming new year. It’s been a pleasure to share our journey. Let’s send you out with one last pithy quote from yours truly…

“Value the right things, the non-things, the people you love, the memories you’ve had, and the experiences to come.” – TJ Thomas

Item 365 of 360 goal (COMPLETE, EXCEEDED, and ACCOMPLISHED!! GO US!)

“Our goal of 360 in 365 is to flip our life around or shall we say do a complete 360 and try our best to give, donate, or sell 360 things this year. These things could be excess, clutter, or anything that doesn’t add value to our life. Some may ask, well what counts as items? It’s day one, not even we know and that’s the beauty of it, there is no need for rules, it’s just a way to help us well.. help us.” – Day 1 of ’21

Mission accomplished! Today’s decluttered item is something much different from the previous 364 as it’s not something you can really take a picture of. Today’s item is our our blog! This is the item that we have spent quite a large amount of time with in 2021. It’s something that we will always remember and look on but it’s time to say goodbye before 2022. So Happy New Year to all and if you ever need to reach us, simply leave us a comment!