The Beauty of Hosting Events

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A shorter one for you today. Let’s get into it.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how your screen time starts with your calendar.

The premise was simple: Yes, our phones are addicting and we’re constantly being pulled in by apps designed to exploit our psychological hardwiring. But still, you ultimately have the agency to stop your bad habits.

If you don’t want to spend seven hours a day on your phone, you can physically schedule something else in its place (and stick to it).

It’s not the phone’s fault if you don’t.

The same goes for building deep in-person relationships.

We all know loneliness is at an all-time high. Every data point screams it.

But there’s a silver lining. People are desperately craving in-person connections. And they’re starting to flock towards it.

→ Run clubs are booming. Literally impossible to walk outside in NYC without getting mobbed by one.

→ Dating app usage is declining with more people opting to meet in real life.

→ Timeleft scaled operations to 60 countries and 300 cities, and ran up to $10M annual recurring revenue in less than a year, simply by matching strangers together for dinner every Wednesday night.

Plus there’s some cool data behind this from Eventbrite and dcdx’s recent ‘Fourth Wall’ report surveying over two-thousand 18-35-year-olds:

• 73% are "likely" or "very likely" to attend an in-person event in the next 6 months.
  

• 64% are most motivated to attend an in-person event to make new friends. 55% do it to meet people who share their passions and interests.
  

• 84% who have attended an event to meet people with shared interests in the last few months have ended up meeting a close friend through an event

I’ve seen this first-hand at our Kanso phone-free events (here’s a vid from the most recent one).

For hours, people became genuinely excited to store their phones away, fall into deep conversations with strangers, and be completely present for the first time in a long time.

After only three events, I’m starting to see repeat attendees and hear stories of people making new friends, finding new jobs, and even getting investments for their companies as a result of what we’re building. Not gonna lie, it feels amazing.

And I want you to experience this, too.

I am writing this post to tell you that you should be hosting events too.

It doesn’t need to be big. It doesn’t need a fancy venue or a big brand name attached to it.

→ Host a second-degree dinner where everyone brings someone new.
→ Get a group together for a workout, a hike, or a book club.
→ Invite friends over, collect their phones in a basket, polybag, or phone locker, and just be present for a night.

But more importantly, I am writing this post to tell you that you should be hosting events too.

• You’ll feel better. Less screen time, more meaningful conversations, and deeper connection.

• You’ll meet new people. More friendships and opportunities, less loneliness.

• You’ll build confidence. Confidence comes from doing hard and uncomfortable things.

• People will see YOU as a connector. And they’ll want to spend more time with you.

And here’s the best part: You don’t need to wait for an invite to something like this.

You can just do things.

p.s. - if attending a phone-free event sounds interesting to you, reply to this email and tell me the city you live in. Testing something out 👀

👋 New YouTube Vid is LIVE!

Here’s an in-depth breakdown of the newsfeed eradicator (3 min) — the free Chrome extension that I use to stop my social media doomscrolling when I’m on my laptop.

All subscribes and engagement is greatly appreciated and feedback is always welcome (seriously, i’m a noob and this is the worst it will ever be).

Other Resources

Kanso Digital Wellness: A 1:1 accountability system for those looking to break their digital addictions, reduce dopamine burnout, and unlock more focus, clarity, and success. Sign up here.

The Digital Reset Journal: The first mindfulness journal specifically geared towards building a healthier relationship with technology. If your New Year’s resolution includes “less screen time” or “being more present,” I guarantee this will help. Check it out here.

Roast My Screen Time: Upload screenshots of your screen time data and get ruthlessly roasted by AI. Give it a spin here.

Digital Detox Tools: A free directory of 75+ digital wellness products, software, and services. Access it here.

That’s all for this week. Now stop scrolling and go do something great!

Thanks for reading,

Randy