Kevin

Consider how many of our behaviours are driven by beliefs that we rarely question. I need to check my phone because someone might have messaged me, I need to work harder because I'm falling behind, I need to smoke because I want to relax, I'll be happy once I achieve this next goal. We carry these assumptions into our daily lives, and they influence our decisions. But how often do we actually stop and investigate whether they're accurate?

We often don’t react to what happens. We react to what we think it means, through fear, expectations and past experiences. Awareness helps travel that filter. With IRVO, we e want to help people see what triggered a reaction, what they hoped to get, and what actually followed.

Someone not texting back is just someone not texting back. But that's almost never how it feels. Your mind fills the gap with a story. They're annoyed, they lost interest, something's wrong. Now you're anxious and checking your phone every few minutes. You weren't reacting to what happened. You were reacting to what you decided it meant.

Some of the difficulties of building IRVO: 1) taking a complicated concept and turning it into its most viable prototype. 2) creating the front end to be easy to understand and use. 3) communicating properly with my team so they can build accurately. 4) figuring out ways to bring immediate value.

Sometimes you just need to slow down and stop worrying about what’s next.

Would you rather know how you’re likely to feel tomorrow, or discover that some of the habits you believe improve your well-being actually don’t and learn which ones genuinely do?

Do you ever sit in stillness and just listen to the sounds around you? Taking it all in, feeling present, and letting yourself just be.

Building IRVO has been far harder than I expected. We’re trying to connect daily habits with how people feel and function. That takes time and repeated observations. The hardest part has been figuring out how to provide value before those patterns emerge.

We repeat habits expecting them to make us feel better, but how often do we notice whether they actually do? Mindfulness can help us pay attention to that. With IRVO, we want to help you see those patterns over time. Are your habits giving you what you expect?

A big part of why I’m building IRVO is that we do so much every day without really understanding how it affects us. We have our guesses. I want to help people see which ones hold up when they look at how they actually feel and function over time.

When a behaviour gives you relief or pleasure, you learn to expect that feeling again. Even if it starts leaving you anxious or disappointed, that expectation can persist. You keep going back because the good feeling you anticipate still outweighs the bad experiences you’ve had.

Are you returning for the experience you actually had, or the experience you keep expecting?

If the thing you do to calm down leaves you more wired than before, it's not helping you. It's just keeping you busy.

The chalk boards already full. IRVO V1.5 initiating sequence…

Only one day left! Unfortunately, we’ve hit a setback with Apple’s app review. If you’ve been following along and want to try what the team and I are building with IRVO, shoot me a DM! We’d love to have you test it and hear what you think.

Do you know the actual reward you’re getting from your habits? Wanting something and enjoying it aren’t the same. A strong urge to repeat a behaviour doesn’t mean it still gives you the satisfaction you expect. Notice what you crave. Then notice what you actually get.