Landing page: https://todayshappyincident.com
Very short what I make: “Today's Happy Incident is a powerful mobile app designed to help you capture what genuinely made you happy today”
I made this because I realised that we are living in a mental health crisis. I wanted to tackle that. For myself, to stay positive and grounded. I knew a mental thing would be good for me. But any other tool I’ve found made me feel like there was something wrong with me. I started thinking big. AI tools that let you take distance from your thoughts, Game formats so that you can keep mindfulness up. And made 4 different products to tackle this. Guided breathing etc. etc. None of them clicked for me nor the people that tried it out.. They all felt non-personal, not really effective. Even though I had spent a lot of time on it.
Then after zooming out I analysed some things I wanted: Become a more positive person. Be more content and focused on the good things in my own life. I realised that a big factor was all the information I got on a daily basis, It could be overwhelming. And being bombarded with all these things made me forget about my own life, or make it feel silly compared to all the things that were going on out there in the “real world” Which is a thought error because “the real world” is not on your phone. So I started reading up on habit development, positivity etc. etc. I like sort of an economist mindset on this and look very clinical on what works, just backed by proof, numbers, etc, and not be clouded by any other things. Lessons: Any result that is worthwhile comes from small continuous action in the right direction. a.k.a.:
(Deliberate) ACTION x (longer period) TIME = (lasting, sustainable) RESULT
Small habits are super powerful and spill over to a lot of areas of your life. So the action needs to be fun and doable and in the right direction. That action needs to be repeated. That equals a result. Not a one-day 40 minute session of meditation. Not two weeks of mindfulness. No, you need a tool for the long run. So I tried to take all of this into account and incorporate this into the app.
My solution is: at a set time each day (ideally before you go to bed or put your phone away), you write down one thing that made you happy that day.. (The smaller the better, If it’s a leaf in the garden with ice on it, then that is extremely powerful) Afterwards you’ll be celebrated for doing it and will build up flow (not streak, since this is not Duolingo. Truth be told, they have habit-forming and motivation done very well, although it can annoy me) This grows the part of your brain responsible for happiness. And you’ll start getting insights into the things that make you happy. And focus on the things you can control, are real and make you feel good!
Technically this is on another level than other amazing things on Hacker News. I salute all of you for making these tools. It’s basically art. But after making the 4 complicated tools in the beginning I had to realise that simplicity in this area I chose is most powerful. Here is the product
demo: https://youtu.be/8R0SuTX_F-k?si=f1t3l6wFtLeYBtDw
I’d love your feedback. I’d love to get in touch with you. And if you want to get aboard I would Appreciate that very much as well : )
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