Making Worship A Habit

Patronage Podcast Episode 5

“𝐇𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.” — 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐇𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬

Habits are the foundation of everything we do, from working and learning, to health and fitness. Creating new habits works best when it feels like a game.

We’ve seen it time and time again in the health and fitness industry. We use apps that track our workouts, daily steps, sleep quality, water intake, and the food we’re consuming. Even our mindfulness. We’re also seeing a rise in apps that are turning learning and studying into a game, like Duolingo and Rose Xi & Ray Chen's Tonic Music.

It’s not the tracking that makes these habits stick, it’s that these apps make it feel like a game. Making habits feel more like a game than a chore is something that smart consumer company founders do well.

What unites most of these habit trackers, especially the best on the market, are that they make personal development a social experience. Other app users can see your progress, and compete with or against you to achieve awards and ‘level-up’.

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

On the latest episode of the Patron podcast, Henry Costa CEO & Co-Founder of Glorify explored how the power of habit tracking and game-like features can be harnessed to foster a sense of community and connection.

Technology and social media for the most part has led to a rise in loneliness across the world; we’re both more and less connected than ever before. Faith is incredibly social, in the same way that games bring people together. But faith, like fitness and personal development, is also a deeply personal journey.

Now a growth stage company with over $40m in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Glorify strikes the right balance between the individual and community aspects of faith. As the church adapts to the digital age, Glorify serves as a powerful tool to connect individuals, and foster meaningful relationships, unlike anything else I’ve seen.

Apps that turn habit tracking into a game are the next big wave in consumer products. We’re already seeing it happen with physical habits, but I’m excited to see where this leads to with more social and spiritual ones!

If you are a founder building something ambitious in this space, my DMs are open!

Enjoy the full episode with Henry Costa, where we also discuss:

>> combating loneliness with tech
>> generation gap in social platforms
>> building technology solutions for underserved communities

Listen on Spotify here