Category: Happiness

Will I Buy the New Apple AirPods?

Will I buy the new AirPods? The short answer is: No. Should you buy the new AirPods? The short answer is: Yes. (If you don’t own any yet.)

I bought my AirPods exactly two years ago. To be honest, I was reluctant to buy them. I have been pretty happy with my regular headphones, and was used to the daily untangling ritual. Also, another device you need to charge. And another item in your pocket. Really?

Then I kept reading/hearing positive reviews about them. Most people were surprised how good they were, and recommended the purchase.

So I took the plunge. Today, I can confidently say: It was one of the best sub-$200 purchases I have done in the past two years. I use them every day.

Also, I don’t feel weird anymore. In the first few months, not many people had them, so I stood out. These days, you see them everywhere. But still, I’m surprised how many iPhone users I know that don’t have them yet.

That’s why I’m writing this post, to promote a great product. By the way, dear entrepreneurs, this is what true product/market fit looks like: people can’t stop talking about your product.

Why I love AirPods:

  • No cord untangling anymore (!)
  • You can charge your phone while moving freely around the apartment, listening to something
  • The charging case provides 24 hours of battery life, and it’s always with me
  • It’s much more convenient to listen to audio while walking/hiking, on a bicycle, while brushing teeth, or shaving (yes, I do all of that)
  • When I’m on a long call and my AirPods are about to get empty, I can simply charge them one AirPod at a time, without an interruption to the call and usually without the other party even noticing it
  • Answering a phone by double-tapping an AirPod feels really cool

By now, you should have learned that audio is “titanically important“. Therefore, I highly recommend that you get your pair of AirPods (or some equivalent high-quality wireless headphones, if you don’t have an iPhone). You won’t be disappointed.

Want to see the new AirPods in action? Here’s a video review by Marques Brownlee.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Audio Is Titanically Important

I am a huge believer in audio. These days, more than ever.

I started listening to audiobooks 11 years ago, inspired by a friend (thank you, Rouven!). I had a portable MP3 player. First, I had to buy or lend a CD, then convert the CD into MP3, and then load them onto the device. The device would not remember my audio position, so I would keep a note on my phone with the last track I completed. It was cumbersome, but I loved it. I would listen to books on my commute or while walking around. A whole new world opened up to me.

Fast forward to today. Each smartphone is a high-end audio player. You can subscribe to things, and they are automatically downloaded onto your device. Or you simply purchase and download them digitally. How cool is that?

I agree with Marc Andreessen that audio will be (and already is) “titanically important“. For me, audio is the most important medium. I listen to 2 to 8 hours of audio per day. Books, Podcasts, YouTube videos, text-to-speech, everything.

Text is great. I love writing and reading. But I have to admit: audio is more convenient. It can be better integrated into your daily life. Personally, I have the capacity to consume much more audio than text.

I think it’s time for everyone to start thinking about audio. Personally, my audio production skills are pretty underdeveloped, so I have a natural reluctance. It’s a completely new area of expertise. Of course, it’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s something you need to learn and master.

I’m starting to think about it myself. This episode was great food for thought. It doesn’t need to be a podcast, though. It could simply be what Switzerland’s daily newspaper NZZ or Pocket is doing: offering a text-to-speech button.

Also, I found it important what Daniel Sennheiser, CEO of Sennheiser, said during his recent talk. You need to focus on your core competences (where you have an edge), and outsource or find partners for everything else. For most of us, audio is probably not our core competence. However, it should be pretty easy to find some talented freelancers on Upwork to help you with that.

Another thing I learned from Daniel Sennheiser is that smartphones are very good at video, but pretty shitty at audio. So you definitely need an external microphone. Personally, I have bought the Blue Yeti USB Microphone and have been very happy with it. It offers great value for money. Now, I only need to use it more often to bring my cost per use down…


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Be a Useful Member of Society

Every morning, I answer the question “What is important to me?” One of the answers is “Be useful”.

Benjamin Franklin has been teaching it 300 years ago. Charlie Munger is teaching it today.

The idea is simple:

Be a useful member of society.

Remember Charlie Munger’s Three Basic Rules: Don’t sell things you wouldn’t buy yourself. This alone would solve many problems of society.

Benjamin Franklin always tried to be useful. He started one of the first public subscription libraries. A volunteer fire department. He owned a newspaper. Published useful books. He started the American Philosophical Society, still existing today. And so many other things.

If we could all be a little more like Ben Franklin, the world would be a better place.

Earning money and making a profit are important. But more important is to always ask yourself: Is what I’m doing useful? How can I be more useful? How can I be of service to humanity?

One way I try to be useful is this blog. I try to share everything I learn, and making a tiny contribution to the improvement of humanity. May you find it helpful.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

The Cosmic Perspective

I am fascinated by space and the universe.

Recently I discovered Google Maps Space View. You can access it by going to Satellite view and then zooming all the way out (only on desktop).

You can turn the earth, see where the sun is and what parts of Earth are bright or dark.

As you can see, Earth is nothing else than a cabriolet spaceship, floating through darkness, lit by a burning star.

The Stoics advise us to regularly zoom out and watch things from the cosmic perspective. It helps to see things more clearly and not take ourselves too seriously.

So, sit back and enjoy the ride through darkness!


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Zero Browser Tab Policy

Open browser tabs are just another nagging reminder of unfinished work. I used to have 5-10 open tabs on my laptop and 50-100 open tabs on my phone. It served as my reading list, my video list, things I was researching.

It didn’t feel right. And it was a source of anxiety.

Then, I implemented a Zero Browser Tab Policy. I now treat my tabs as an inbox that I bring to zero daily:

Now, my browsers feel clean. And whenever I work on something, it gets 100% of my attention, without that nagging reminder of something unfinished.

This is a simple improvement that made my life 1% better. Do enough of such 1% improvements, and they compound into something substantial!


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Automate your invoice payments

Paying invoices manually is a waste of time. Instead, I apply the principle “eliminate or automate” to get rid of as many invoice payments as possible.

Whenever I get an invoice, I do a quick check:

  • Can I add a credit card?
  • Do they offer a direct debit option? (When in doubt, I ask customer service.)

Here in Switzerland, for direct debit, you need to fill out a paper form and send it in. Then you never have to make this payment again.

It’s a simple habit, and it pays good dividends in terms of saved time and peace of mind. I apply this for both private and business.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Disable your notifications

For many years of iPhone usage, I became a victim of The Power of Defaults. I didn’t question the notification settings. Then it dawned on me: I can change them!

So I did. My new default is inspired by Zero-based budgeting.

I went through all notifications and disabled most of them:

  • Sounds? Gone.
  • Badges? Gone.
  • Banners? Gone.

For messaging apps, I just kept the badge. For calendar and reminders, I kept the lock screen alert. For a few others, I just kept the notification center.

The result: Less distraction, and more peace of mind.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Top five regrets of the dying

A nurse has compiled the top five regrets of the dying. I have read the summary often, and I also plan to read the book.

I’m drawn to such insights, because they help me to break out of my day to day routine and help me re-focus on what is truly important.

Here are the top five regrets of the dying:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

“This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.”

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

“This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

“Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.”

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

“Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.”

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

“This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”

I’ve scheduled to read this summary every few months and try to adjust my life accordingly. It’s not easy. But what could possibly be more important?


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Stop wasting your attention

Ever since reading The 4-Hour Workweek a decade ago I started applying the Low-Information Diet and stopped following the news: no newspapers, no news websites, no news on TV.

The principle is simple:

Quit the news. If it’s important enough you will hear about it from the people around you. In most cases, you won’t hear and miss anything.

This sometimes leads to awkward social situations: Have you heard of the recent oil spill? Nope. The recent terrorist attack? Nope. Did you see what Trump did yesterday? Nope. Did you know that there is a new hot-dog eating champion? Nope.

My attention is the most important resource I have. I’m not going to waste it. For many years, I have done just that. I have read the local newspaper – of the free and low-quality kind – every day. I was a subscriber of periodicals and had stacks of them. I couldn’t keep up. It was a total waste.

Then one day, I quit. It was one of the best decisions of my life.

Today, I’m still far away from a true low-information diet. I’m consuming huge amounts of information. The challenge is to invest my attention as well as possible. I’m approaching it as an investor and capital allocator. Where are great investment opportunities? What is the return on investment?

That’s why I love books and podcast. They offer a great return for me. I also love writing. It improves my thinking.

Occasionally, I have a weak moment and click on a link that leads to a news site. These days, most of them have paywalls, which makes my life easier. Whenever I hit the wall, I close the tab. Done. Thank you dear news site, you have just saved me from another temptation.

To summarize:

Your attention is the most important resource you have.It’s more important than wealth and fame. It’s even more important than time, because it’s depleted faster than the number of hours in a day. You may only have 3 or 4 hours of high-quality attention per day. Invest it wisely!


Posted on by Remo Uherek

10 Life Lessons from Navy SEAL training

Here are ten lessons from William H. McRaven’s 2014 commencement address, which I can highly recommend to watch.

10 Life Lessons from Basic SEAL training:

1. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
“If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.”

2. If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.
“You can’t change the world alone—you will need some help— and to truly get from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the good will of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide them.”

3. If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.
“SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not your social status.”

4. If you want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.
“Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform you still end up as a sugar cookie.”

“For failing the uniform inspection, the student had to run, fully clothed into the surfzone and then, wet from head to toe, roll around on the beach until every part of your body was covered with sand. The effect was known as a ‘sugar cookie.’ You stayed in that uniform the rest of the day — cold, wet and sandy.”

“There were many a student who just couldn’t accept the fact that all their effort was in vain. . . Those students didn’t understand the purpose of the drill. You were never going to succeed. You were never going to have a perfect uniform.”

5. If you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.
“Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events — long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics — something designed to test your mettle. Every event had standards — times you had to meet. If you failed to meet those standards your name was posted on a list, and at the end of the day those on the list were invited to a ‘circus.’ A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit.”

“Life is filled with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core.”

6. If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.
“Instead of swinging his body underneath the rope and inching his way down, he bravely mounted the TOP of the rope and thrust himself forward.”

7. If you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.
“There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim you will have to deal with them.”

8. If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.
“At the darkest moment of the mission is the time when you must be calm, composed—when all your tactical skills, your physical power and all your inner strength must be brought to bear.”

9. If you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.
“If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope. The power of one person—Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala—one person can change the world by giving people hope.”

10. If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
“In SEAL training there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see. All you have to do to quit—is ring the bell. Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o’clock. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the freezing cold swims. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT—and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training. Just ring the bell. If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.”

(Watch the commencement address on YouTube, or read the transcript.)


Posted on by Remo Uherek