“Live your life like you’re the hero in the movie…. Live your life like there is a documentary crew following you around, and you’re analyzing your own behavior.”

That’s the best advice Joe Rogan said he’s ever received (Source).

I love this metaphor—of being the hero in the movie of your life. And what do the best “hero journey” films have in common? Great soundtracks.

Watch five minutes of Guardians of the Galaxy on silent, and you’ll see what I mean. Mildly interesting. But then, turn on the sound, and notice how the music transforms the experience from flat to awe-inspiring.

Perhaps you, too, have noticed that music influences your perception of events.

Having a lackadaisical workout? Try Spotify’s “Lifting heavy ass weights” playlist. I’d be hard-pressed to believe Kanye, Eminem, and Fort Minor didn’t help you get in more reps at a higher level of intensity.

Not showing up how you want with your family? Play the artists you grew up listening to. For me, it’s Sheryl Crow and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (raised in LA).

High-functioning is sometimes as simple as acting “as if” until you inevitably become the person you want to be. Scoring your day can be one of the best hacks to getting there.

Because when it comes to mental hacks, perception is everything.

Cue the good stuff.

INTRODUCING SONOS ONE

Sonos One ($219 per unit) is a smart speaker with built-in voice control powered by Bluetooth 5.0. Connect 2+ units to play music simultaneously, enabling an immersive (and wireless) surround sound experience as you walk between the rooms of your home

Side note: Sonos also makes a Sonos One SL (for $20 less) that doesn’t include voice-controlled Alexa or Google. I’ve enjoyed the premium, hands-free feature for setting timers, checking the weather, controlling smart home devices, etc. (And of course, telling Sonos when I wake up to play Bill Withers’ Lovely Day or Kanye’s Good Morning. Seriously, try it.)

Alternate product options:

• Speaker with Bluetooth 5.0: Anker Soundcore Boost ($59.99)
• In-ear headphones: Apple AirPods 2^nd Gen ($109.99)

SUPERHUMAN SCORING

In every edition of All Systems Go, I assess the featured product across four superhuman dimensions: impact, setup, maintenance, and aesthetics.

Not your typical product review—I focus on factors that influence personal growth. Get to know the evaluation system.

Impact (9.0/10)

In Atomic Habits, James Clear writes, “Environment is an invisible hand that shapes human behavior.”

We all know this to be true. If you’re not hungry, but there are cookies on your kitchen counter…you’re going to eat one (or three). If they’re out of sight, you won’t.

The good news? You control the invisible hand. You get to decide what to buy at the grocery store. Your actions today nudge your future self.

So, design smarter spaces and nudge a future self that you’re proud of.

Let’s start by optimizing your sensory interactions to unlock more energy, productivity, and happiness.

Side note: Today’s focus is on optimizing your sense of sound for positive behavior. But, if you want to learn how to optimize your other senses, check out my Ultimate Guide to Environment Design.

You can supercharge your productivity with flow-inducing music. Have you ever played classical music when needing to focus? The reason why it works so well is backed by science: 

“Baroque music such as that composed by Bach, Handel or Telemann that is 50 to 80 beats per minute,” says learning expert Jim Kwik, “creates an atmosphere of focus that leads students into deep concentration in the alpha brain wave state.”

I use the app Focus@will, which “combines neuroscience + music to boost productivity and tune out distractions.”

As mentioned in my intro, movie soundtracks are innately stimulating. I’m a big fan of the film composer Hans Zimmer (who wrote the soundtracks for Inception, Interstellar, and Gladiator, to name a few).

Tapping into tracks through which you associate a positive memory with a film scene is especially powerful. It’s like on-demand feelings—whether motivation, creativity, love, etc.

For example, in the movie Limitless, there’s a scene set to “Walking” by Ash Grunwald. Actor Bradley Cooper takes a smart pill, writes a book in four days, and transforms his life. That song always kicks me into a higher gear.

I see a future of smart homes programmed to orchestrate wildly satisfying and valuable flow states in their owners. To that end, Sonos One is currently the best auditory option, which is why it receives a strong 9/10 for Impact.

Setup (9.0/10)

Last year I bought a mountain home in Vermont. The prior owner was an 82-year-old audiophile (music lover).

His tour began by showing me how he’d rigged the house meticulously with hundreds of wires for surround sound. I could tell it was important to him, so I played along.

The setup looked crazy hard! I’m guessing it took weeks to plan that system (not to mention thousands of dollars for a technician).

Times have changed. With Bluetooth-enabled Sonos, setup is crazy easy:

1. Connect a single wire into the power outlet.
2. Download the Sonos App (Apple | Android) and pair it with your Sonos One speaker(s).
3. Done.

I bought four Sonos One speakers for my three-story house (master bedroom, living room/kitchen, office, and downstairs guest area). I also purchased two Sanus Floor Stands ($69 each), which are helpful for areas that don’t have shelves. Like the speakers, the stand setup was quick.

Maintenance (7.5/10)

One limitation of Sonos is that it’s a closed system. In other words, all your music/movies/podcasts you want to play on these speakers will need to run through the Sonos App.

Fortunately, Sonos enables the most popular in-app integrations—Spotify, Audible, etc. Unfortunately, dependency on the Sonos App means the speakers are reliant on Wi-Fi.

Our trade-off for living on the side of a mountain is that we have garbage satellite Wi-Fi (about 10 Mbps). It appears the Sonos App requires a more robust connection than, say, streaming music through the speakers on a laptop. So, if you also have a terrible internet connection, you’ll experience more buffering than you’d like.

It seems like more of a “me problem”: Sonos has a 4.7/5 rating with 394.7k reviews in Apple’s App Store.

Aesthetics (9.5/10)

Elegantly understated, Sonos One fits on any kitchen counter or bookshelf. And yes, it’s mighty for such a compact size.

More unique qualities:

• A cylindrical shape allows 360-degree audio coverage
• Rich sound, deep bass (for all you other lo-fi beat lovers)
• It’s also humidity resistant, which means you can put one in your bathroom

Sonos speaks to my design-obsessed soul. It gets a near-perfect 9.5/10 for aesthetics.

BRINGING IT HOME

The power of a Sonos home audio system? Seamless, uninterrupted, flow-inducing music no matter where you walk. Now you can recreate that experience of a high-end resort (or spa) in the comfort of your home.

And nobody does that as easily as Sonos, earning it a resounding 8.75/10.

All systems go,

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Resources

• Newsletter Archive: Read past issues of All Systems Go
• Energy Dashboard: Get an under-the-hood look at my self-tracking metrics for energy management (updated weekly)
• [Quick Win] Phone Charger Challenge: Save 60 hours every year with this simple morning hack