Recommendations for a Fulfilling Life

“If I make this one we’ll go to the park!”

In our teenage years, my friend Sami and I would shoot basketballs in my driveway to decide what to do next. Even after we would “decide” (by making a shot) we would always second guess our decision. Sometimes we stood in the driveway for hours.

Those were the days before we had the whole world at our fingertips. Even today, with easy access to all kinds of inspiration and information, the technology in our pocket isn’t helping.

For some people, the little screen sucks you in and the hours unknowingly fly by. For other people, even once inspiration strikes, they still second guess: Is this something I “should” be doing? Is this what everyone else is doing? Just scroll a little longer to see if you’ve missed something. Just pull down one more time to refresh.

It’s the modern age version of: Just shoot one more time to see if the basketball gods tell us to do something different.

Announcing Reel You Recs

Many people think of Reel You as a way to document what you’ve done in the past; however, planning your future experiences has always been part of the vision.

I’m proud to announce the launch of Reel You Recs. It’s now available in the latest version in the App Store.

We believe Recs allows us to further our mission to help people live more presently, purposefully and find joy in their life journey. Recs make it easier than ever to turn the “things you want to do” into the “things you’ve done.” You can craft the life you want to live with future plans, and then hopefully turn those aspirations into past experiences. If your life story was an actual book, think of Recs as the chapters that are yet to be written.

Recs spark inspiration for your next moment

“Recs” recommend things for you — both online and offline — that can inspire your next experience. It may give new perspective on how to appreciate your everyday life, or perhaps just the inspiration you need to escape from it.

We’ve dedicated a whole tab in the app to Recs. You will be presented with suggestions that will spark your next moments. Recs are 100% based on actual experiences. If you tap any Rec, you can read a story from the Youser who recommended this experience and, we hope, you’re able to picture yourself also living in the moment.

Recs promote living in the real world

We intentionally designed Recs to be limited to 10 per day to encourage you to get off your phone and do something in the real world.

After you swipe through your daily Recs… pick one of them and do it! Or at least make a plan! Add friends to your newest moment and coordinate via the Messages section of the moment in order to make it a reality.

Be intentional about putting down the phone and living your next experience. Truly live it, distraction free.

Once you’ve had the experience, you and your friends can come back to Reel You to document it — add all your photos and stories from the moment — and then head back to Recs to find your next adventure. It’s a virtuous cycle of living the life you design instead of the vicious cycle big tech has designed for you.

Recs help you live purposefully and find joy

At Reel You, we strongly believe technology should be in service of people instead of people being at the service of technology. Shouldn’t tech give you more than it takes? Instead of trapping you in an endless scroll of other people’s lives, we want to encourage you to live your own to the fullest.

Most people value experiences above material things. Do you? If so, why not treat every moment like it has value?

We see Recs as a way to offer fulfilling experiences that help you live a meaningful life, whatever that means to you. Living with purpose starts with the simple decision of “I want to do this” and then actually doing it. We can all live more joyful lives in this way instead of finding emptiness every time we pull down to refresh.

What you see today is only the beginning

We’ve barely scratched the surface of our vision for Recs. Here is a glimpse of what’s coming in the future:

• Hundreds of additional Recs created by Reel You.
• Opening up creation of Recs to the whole Reel Youser community (and the possibility to be compensated for your contributions). Ultimately, we envision the most expansive catalogue of experiences in the world created by you, for you.
• More tailored/intelligent Recs and other dynamic suggestions.
• Other premium offerings.

Are you enjoying Recs? What else do you want to see in the future? Drop a note to jay.alberts@reel-you.com.