Happy Holidays!
Starting next Wednesday Fewer Better Things is becoming a for-pay only newsletter, delivered to your inbox twice a week – on Sundays and Wednesdays. The price will keep staying $35 for a yearly subscription with 100 newsletters per year. The average reading time will be about five minutes to keep them short, sweet, and to the point. And my ambition is to make every letter actionable, inspirational, and fun.
The rationale behind this is the following:
The shift to for-pay has been a great success, showing that people are prepared to pay for great content and be part of a community without advertising.
By going full premium I can invest more time and attention in developing better content and sharing my most valuable lifestyle strategies.
Free is becoming a big distraction and the only way to separate average from great is choosing with our wallets and not our fickle attention.
Next year I’ll focus my writing on three different topics in the context of living in harmony with people, planet, and technology:
Digital Minimalism: How to get the most out of digital, including Web 3.0 which I’ve been secretly shifting to, especially in the light of the latest Facebook gaffe (and believe me, we have just scratched the surface).
Living Anywhere: From personal growth to getting unstuck, restarting from scratch, creating purpose, exploring the world, and having a helluva great time.
Everyday Sustainability: How to shift to a more sustainable lifestyle, not just ecologically but also financially and mentally without being a treehugger.
Since last week’s end-of-year review I’ve been sketching on my 2022 plan and I’ve never been this excited to welcome a new amazing year. My investments in betterment during the pandemic has started to pay off big and I feel in better shape than ever. And that, my friends, opens up to new unlimited opportunities.
Here are a few nuggets from my next year plan, which by the way, is already in full motion. Why wait until the bell tolls when I can start right now, here, today:
Travels: I’m returning to solo traveling albeit keeping the surf shack as the base for amazing beach living in-between trips.
Work: I’ve trained all year for a new third act (Silicon Valley techie and digital transformation lecturer being the two previous) that I can perform from anywhere in the world and I’m off to a really great start.
Fitness: All the biking, surfing, and workouts have paid off and I’m now planning to expand to more extreme and tougher activities. Time to level up.
Sustainability: In 10 years living sustainable will be the new normal so why not begin today. I plan to expand my projects in this space to reach net-zero asap.
Social: Shifting connections from online to offline. No social media, no friends apps, no “metaverse” – only real life experiences.
So friends, you have a decision to make, either follow the adventures of the fewer better things in life, or save $35 and spend them (or not) on whatever else you think is more interesting. I’m really doing you a favor, forcing you to make a mindful decision.
For the many brave souls that are already paying subscribers and for you that decide that the value I’m creating is making a positive impact in your life, I say welcome to a new amazing ride towards the existential fun-filled edge. Let this be our motto:
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!"
– Hunter S. Thompson
Dear Doctor, you’re greatly missed.
Again, Happy Holidays,
Per Håkansson
Encinitas, California
Happy holidays, Per! As usual, rather than simply talk about it, you're putting the FBT philosophy into practice. I've already gotten my year's subscription back in value (and then some) and it's only been a couple of months. And as someone who has written a lot of "free" content for the web, I know the personal cost of doing so. Here's to a wild, crazy, fantastic year ahead!
I am sorry to learn that you have decided that allowing some “free” content is no longer worth your time. As a retired person on a fixed income I must carefully choose where I spend money. It is interesting to me that some newsletter authors offer the same content to both paying and non-paying readers, some provide limited content. In my experience, you are the first to limit content to only those who pay. You will have Fewer (not) Better readers.