Ramiro Somosierra of GearAficionado On How Simplifying & Decluttering Your Life Can Make You Happier
An Interview With Drew Gerber
Streamline your routines: Simplify your daily routines by identifying the essential tasks and activities and eliminating or delegating the rest. This will free up time and mental energy that you can use for more enjoyable and fulfilling pursuits.
We live in a time of great excess. We have access to fast fashion, fast food, and fast everything. But studies show that all of our “stuff” is not making us any happier. How can we simplify and focus on what’s important? How can we let go of all the clutter and excess and find true happiness? In this interview series, we are talking to coaches, mental health experts, and authors who share insights, stories, and personal anecdotes about “How Simplifying and Decluttering Your Life Can Make Us Happier.” As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Ramiro Somosierra.
Ramiro is an internet marketer and musician from Argentina. Currently, he is the editor of GearAficionado, an online music magazine. He has a background in economics and is deeply interested in how AI could affect the job market.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share your “backstory” with us? What was it that led you to your eventual career choice?
Picking a career is something that didn’t come naturally to me. I’m a person that’s interested in many different things, and that’s also very self-exigent, so I have always pushed myself to be at least decent in whatever I do, even when these things are not really that important.
After finishing high school I didn’t have a clear idea about what I really wanted to do. I knew I loved music, and I have been playing guitar for a few years, but I also felt that it was just a hobby, so I dismissed the idea of being a professionally trained musician.
I finally decided on studying a degree in International Trade, at a nearby university, because it sounded cool, and it didn’t have too much math.
A few years into college, I found that I was really interested in marketing and economics. I also started working on my family’s Real Estate business a few years before graduating.
When I finished my bachelor’s degree I took a year off, and then I started my Master’s Degree in Applied Economics. It was amazing.
I had to learn all of the mathematics I avoided my whole life, but it was so worth it. I really think it changed how I think, and specifically how I solve problems.
Up until this point, as you can see, there was no clear career path for me, other than the family business that I didn’t really love.
It was when I was about to finish my master’s degree that I started a website with tips for job-seekers because I was one myself.
I thought maybe working for a startup could help me find something I loved.
Little did I know that this job-seeker info website was what ultimately marked the last few years of my life and made me settle on the publishing business.
After 300 or so articles on how to get a job, a better job, or salary, and how to answer typical candidate interview questions, I decided it was enough for me, and sold this site.
A few months before the sale I had already started another blog (but people misunderstand the word blog for something personal) about guitars and music, something that always has been there for me.
And now, fast forward two years, I’m all-in on GearAficionado and the publishing business in general.
So, I think there’s nothing in particular that lead me to my career choice, but it was life itself that brought me here.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
I don’t think I have any stories that would inspire a Hollywood director to make a movie about my life.
The publishing business, especially on a small to medium scale is rather boring to the outside world.
However, it’s the small wins that make it worth it for me.
Whenever I got a comment on people I helped get a job with my past blog it meant the world to me.
It’s crazy how the internet enabled me, a simple guy, from the suburbs of a third-world country, to provide valuable insights and influence the life of at least a few people I don’t know.
It sounds small, but it’s absolutely crazy for me.
Now, at a slightly bigger scale with my current site, I still enjoy the feedback from the audience, but I also love getting to work with an amazing team of writers from many different parts of the world.
It’s just something I never dreamt of doing, as the clearer career path for me was a 9 to 5 at an office in the city center, at best.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I’m always thinking about starting new sites, but at the moment it’s all GearAficionado for me.
I know that what I do doesn’t have a big impact on people’s lives. I keep my feet on the ground.
However, I’m happy with generating a small benefit for a lot of people.
A guide on alternate tunings for electric guitar will not save the life of anyone (probably), but if it’s well-structured, and has all the data you need to get started, it can encourage and inspire the reader to write quite a few good songs a few months from now.
Considering the thousands of visitors we get every day, if you crunch the numbers I believe we will be getting a lot of new music down the road if we successfully motivated them.
Again, it’s all about the small wins and sharing the passion with the uninitiated!
Can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority on the topic of “How Simplifying and Decluttering Your Life Can Make You Happier”?
Growing up as a musician I always thought that more was better.
More guitars, more amplifiers, more effect pedals.
But when you need to be creative, write a new song, or collaborate with another musician, the more gear you have to fiddle with, the more time it takes to get a sound you like.
And perhaps the muses go somewhere else during that time, and you lose the chance of composing something memorable.
Having alternatives is fun, and hey, I even call myself the GearAficionado!
However, I learned that when I need to be productive the best I can use is just an acoustic guitar, pen, and paper.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our interview. We live in a time of excess. We have access to so much. But studies show that all of our “stuff” is not making us any happier. Can you articulate for our readers a few reasons why all of our possessions are not giving us happiness?
Well, first of all, I believe that there’s a baseline of “stuff” not everybody has access to that’s required to live with dignity.
I mean, clean water, a roof, food, healthcare, and even human relations.
This might be not the most academic reference coming from a Master’s in applied economics, but there’s a Casey Neistat video well he does a great job explaining this to the audience.
Money and stuff will indeed buy happiness (in the form of peace of mind) until every basic need is fulfilled and you can be assured of a certain stability in your life.
I feel it’s frivolous to dismiss this, especially living in such a mess of a country as it’s Argentina.
Once you have the basics covered I will agree that yes, more stuff doesn’t necessarily make us happier.
I believe, in part, it is because more things come inevitably with more obligations.
Owning things requires oversight, maintenance, and worrying.
Also, new exciting stuff tends to get old rather quickly.
Treating yourself to some nice things is a part of life, and we shouldn’t demonize it. However, it’s important to identify what are the things that matter to you.
I think a lot of people that got wealthy recently are just fulfilling the millionaire’s checklist of a sports car, a big house, designer clothes, parties, etc.
And I can’t believe they all enjoy the same things. Humans are not that linear.
For me, it’s going out to dinner regularly to a new cool place, and a trip somewhere during the year. I don’t see a million dollars changing that in the near future.
On a broader societal level, how do you think this excessiveness may be harming our communities and society?
I think that on a societal level, having too much is, first of all, a nice problem to have!
Now, if we normalize having basic needs met, as it is in many developed countries, then yes, excessiveness is surely not a healthy lifestyle.
The fact of always running behind an unreachable carrot is surely detrimental to any measurement of self-worth a person can have.
Perhaps, for most of us, this realization comes with time, age, and experience, but I think the most affected bunch are the younger guys who don’t really have a grasp of what they want for their lives and just pursue the “successful must haves”.
I believe the main effect of this is the shallow existence of a lot of people, where the only thing that matters is their car, their clothes, and where they hang out.
Luckily for me, I never had the need to socialize with these groups, and I intend on staying this way.
The irony of struggling with happiness in modern times is glaring. In many places in the world today, we have more than ever before in history. Yet despite this, so many people are unhappy. Why is simplifying a solution? How would simplifying help people to access happiness?
It is actually true that the poorest American has an even better quality of life than the most powerful kings of old age.
The thing is that the bar is always set higher the richer society gets overall.
And this ambition is what ends up driving progress, I wouldn’t completely set it aside.
However, it’s true that when you stop getting happiness from things, the best you can do is simplify.
It happened to all of us.
You saved months or years to get something that you think you love and idealized for so long, and when you get it, it gives you perhaps a few weeks of joy, and then you start thinking of the next thing.
What I always do when I feel like a need something is to avoid the impulse, even when I have the money to get it.
Give it a week.
Do you still feel like you need it?
If so, think if you like the idea of having it even more than actually having it.
This is a great filter for simplification and avoiding impulsiveness.
Can you share some insights from your own experience? Where in your life have you transformed yourself from not having enough to finally experiencing enough? For example, many people feel they don’t have enough money. Yet, people define abundance differently, and often, those with the least money can feel the most abundant. Where in your health, wealth, or relationships have you transformed your life?
In my early twenties, I was obsessed with guitars.
For me, it felt like Pokemon, gotta have ’em all.
After a few years, I ended up with a respectable collection of instruments that were actually just too much for me.
I was not a touring musician, nor a session player.
I have always been a bedroom hobbyist.
One day, I opened the case of one of my most expensive guitars, which I haven’t played for months, and I found out that the frets were showing clear signs of rust.
For the non-guitarists, that’s not a really big deal, but it showed me that maintaining all of my equipment really was starting to be out of my hands and, even more importantly, out of my set of desires.
That day I decided to put for sale most of my collection.
Fast forward a decade, and I now just own my 3 favorite guitars, a small amp, and some pedals.
This lets me “experience enough” music for my needs and possibilities, and I’m happy with it.
People, places, and things shape our lives. For example, your friends generate conversations that influence you. Where you live impacts what you eat and how you spend your time. The “things” in your life, like phones, technology, or books impact your recreation. Can you tell us a little about how people, places, and things in your own life impact your experience of “experiencing enough?”
Luckily, as I mentioned, I’m surrounded by very down-to-earth people.
Of course, we all want more of something, be it wealth, time, or relationships, but I think we never had real issues with “experiencing enough”.
And I really think I’m very fortunate to be able to give this answer, I couldn’t imagine how it would feel if my surroundings were different.
But hey, perhaps this acceptance of what we have is a symptom of living in a country where we all feel things are unlikely to get better soon.
Whatever it is, coming to terms with what you have, and what you might have if you work hard is ultimately the healthiest way to live, in my opinion.
What advice would you give to younger people about “experiencing enough?”
I think the most important advice is:
“Find what matters to YOU, and don’t let anyone or anything convince you that you need something different”.
Yes, we are not static beings, what matters might change with time and context.
You will not want the same being single as when you have a family.
An exercise to gauge what you actually need I came up with recently is to determine an amount of monthly money that could fulfill my needs and aspirations.
Being real with yourself, that number probably isn’t that high.
And if you don’t have it right now, it might be a good incentive to chase after it.
This is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience and research, can you share your “five ways we can simplify and declutter our lives to make us happier?”
Here are the five most important actions you can take today to start decluttering your life.
- Get organized: Start by decluttering your physical space and creating systems for storing and organizing your possessions. This will help you reduce stress and save time by making it easier to find things and stay on top of your responsibilities.
- Streamline your routines: Simplify your daily routines by identifying the essential tasks and activities and eliminating or delegating the rest. This will free up time and mental energy that you can use for more enjoyable and fulfilling pursuits.
- Prioritize your health: Make sure you are taking care of your physical and mental health by getting regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, and getting enough sleep. This will help you feel more energized and focused, which will in turn make you happier.
- Cultivate gratitude: Practice gratitude by regularly taking the time to appreciate the good things in your life. This can help you focus on the positive and cultivate a more optimistic outlook, which can improve your overall happiness.
- Connect with others: Spend time with the people who are important to you and nurture your relationships. Social connections are an important source of happiness and support, so make sure you are making time for the people who matter to you.
But if I were to recommend only one thing to you it would be to get to know what you actually want at this moment in your life and define what you need to get it.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I believe that the most impactful thing humans can do to achieve happiness is to embrace freedom.
Without freedom we have nothing, and it is the value that made our modern civilization achieve the most amazing things in the last centuries.
Individuality is also important. Not in a selfish way, of course.
But getting to know who you are, what makes you special, and how you are different from the rest is fundamental for long-term happiness.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can find me anytime at GearAficionado.com talking passionately about musical instruments and music I love!
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About The Interviewer: For 30 years, Drew Gerber has been inspiring those who want to change the world. Drew is the CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc., a full-service PR agency lauded by PR Week and Good Morning America. Wasabi Publicity, Inc. is a global marketing company that supports industry leaders, change agents, unconventional thinkers, companies and organizations that strive to make a difference. Whether it’s branding, traditional PR or social media marketing, every campaign is instilled with passion, creativity and brilliance to powerfully tell their clients’ story and amplify their intentions in the world.
Ramiro Somosierra of GearAficionado On How Simplifying & Decluttering Your Life Can Make You… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.