Happy Twosday, folks!
What have you spent more money on? Apps you eat or apps you tweet?
If you answered the latter, I don’t get you.
I’ll pay $4.99 for queso that I’ll devour in five minutes every time it’s an option. But if you tell me an iPhone app can change my life for $1.99, forget it — I’m saving that dough for more queso.
Yeah, it seems irrational, but a sea of free apps in my pocket has trained me to be frugal and nonsensical. I’d probably be the same way with queso if it were always in my pocket.
However, there are — more than I care to know or admit — plenty of apps worth paying for. Over the past year, I’ve purchased two of them:
Headspace
What do you get when you mix a pensive person with a pandemic?
A headcase.
What do you get when you mix soothing voices with structured meditations?
Headspace.
I never really explored meditation until a couple of months ago. But boy, oh boy, does Headspace make it fun, accessible, and cool.
My mind races faster than a cheetah on an autobahn. And as the world opens up more, life feels like it’s getting faster and faster.
I needed a way to slow my mind and not let it get swept away in the “new normal” that’s just a different version of the same fast-paced life we’ve always known.
My counselor suggested I give Headspace a whirl.
I started with a free 10-day trial. There’s a Basics course that guides you through the fundamentals of meditation and mindfulness. You can choose your length of time — I suggest starting with 5-minutes — and you can choose your instructor, the calming voice you come to know and love.
I’ve done so many app trials only to cancel the day before my credit card gets hit. But not this time. The experience was so delightful I said, “Take my money!”
So, for an annual payment of $69.99, I now have access to enough content that makes me anxious thinking about it, which makes me want to use Headspace more often. Ok, I see what they’re doing.
The app is broken into four main categories: meditation (what they’re most known for), sleep (what this insomniac is most intrigued by), move (what I’ll probably never use), and focus (what I use while working).
And if you don’t know where to start, the homepage curates content for you to try out. Here’s mine from the day I wrote this:
If you can think about any life moment where you could use a little guidance, Headspace probably has some helpful content for it. From how to navigate stress to instructions for a mindful coffee walk, each course is a thoughtful journey through the human experience.
P.S. One of my favorite moments using Headspace was when I went outside, laid down, and turned on their Hans Zimmer playlist. I felt like I was in a peaceful movie as I watched the clouds move to the symphony.
Strava
If you’re a runner or cyclist, you probably already know about Strava. If you’re not, then your runner or cyclist friends make sure you know about Strava by telling you about their workouts.
Strava helps you track your performance as you bike, swim, or run. I only run, and it’s completely worth the price for that activity alone.
You can also follow friends to keep up with their training (or to feel bad for how out of shape you are).
But to make you feel better, you can earn achievements that are like little virtual medals. Some of these awards are compared to your past performances. And others awards are compared to people in your area running the same routes.
You can be the king of your neighborhood by running the fastest times on certain segments. It reminds me of King of the Hill on Tony Hawk Pro Skater.
If you’re not into competing with your neighbors, you can spend plenty of time digging into your personal stats to spot trends and get better.
After every workout, you’ll see the distance traveled, average pace, elevation gain, splits, and so much more. The GPS will even draw your route on the map so you can see a cool, squiggly orange line that you made with your movement.
And if you’re not into all that, it’s still the most simple accountability partner you can take with you everywhere. Strava makes me want to run more because it’s fun to use. And I know it’ll track my days — even the ones I take off.
I don’t remember the last app I bought before Headspace and Strava. But, again, I’ve been conditioned to not see how they’re worth my money when I can get so much content for free these days.
Who knew it would take a pandemic to get me to shovel out a few dollars for some apps?
Headspace and Strava both make difficult things accessible, fun, and cool. They both provide you with an easy-to-use platform with a vault of content wrapped in a sleek design. But more than that, they both help you become a healthier person.
One is for your mind, and the other is for your body. The pandemic has probably impacted your mind and body more than you realize. So, treat yourself to some apps if you need to. Sometimes that looks like a $69.99 meditation app. Other times it looks like that $4.99 queso. They’re both needed.
See you Twosday,
Luke
P.S. Headspace and Strava did not pay me for this piece. I wish. Considering this is my second post, it’s from the bottom of my heart. (Hopefully Headspace and Strava see this and pay up so I have to edit this P.S. on my site.)