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We’ve long relied on our mobile devices to connect us to others.  And now of course, they go far beyond that – they serve as enablers for everything from managing our finances to planning our vacations. But beyond being devices that deliver on our practical (and somewhat superficial) needs, consumers are now using mobile devices to fulfill on their deeper, existential needs, too.

With more and more data available and at our fingertips, it has become possible to track things that were unthinkable before. We can track our finances, our location, our friends, our movement, our calorie intake, and even our sleep patterns via mobile devices. This movement towards tracking our lives holistically is impacting the health and fitness sector in a unique way. In the last few years, a new trend has emerged: “lifelogging.” According to the Lifestream blog, lifelogging is the process of tracking personal data generated by our own behavioral activities. While “lifestreaming” primarily tracks the activity of content we create and discover, lifelogging tracks personal behavior data like exercising, sleeping, and eating. Lifelogging is centered on analyzing and learning from our own data to help optimize personal behaviors.

From personal introspection, to goal setting, and the realization of our potential, our mobile devices now play a critical role in powering our general health and well-being.   For all the criticism of mobile devices role in our nation’s stress or sense of isolation, could they actually be an integral tool in enabling our fulfillment, happiness and health? The purpose of this article is to highlight a slew of mobile apps that showcase consumers’ interest in using their devices for more than just their cursory needs, demonstrating mobile technologies’ ability to facilitate our greater well-being.

Mobile Apps for Self Understanding: better understand your inner-workings

• Daytum allows users to collect, categorize and communicate their everyday data (miles run, places visited, etc.).  Think of it as your own Feltron report – since the beloved designer created the data graphic and visualization used here.
• TrackYourHappiness helps answer the age old question: am I happy? The app tracks what factors are associated with your personal happiness, helps you understand what makes you happy, and how happy you actually are.   This app is part of new psychology research being performed at Harvard.
• Following 18 years of fieldwork on why brilliant people get “stuck,” SY Partners developed an iPad app to help people get “Unstuck” (you can sign up for the beta here). In a fun, entertaining, but ultimately productive way, the app allows you to identify how you’re feeling, the kind of stuck you are, and find a solution.

Mobile Apps for Self Fulfillment: accomplish your goals

• Mightybell invites users to “think big, act incrementally.” This app is intended for anyone that wants to accomplish something and allows them to outline actions through a series of steps, all the while taking advantage of a built-in community.
• Lift (currently in private alpha) is aimed at unlocking human potential through positive reinforcement.  While very little has been shared about the platform, their tagline indicates a very big promise: “achieve anything.”
• The Quantified Self community is an online community around the users and toolmakers who share an interest in self-knowledge through self-tracking. The community includes a forum, a guide to available self-tracking tools and projects, and videos around the subject. Additionally, it has even expanded offline into Quantified Self Show and Tell meet-ups and an annual conference.

Mobile Apps for Motivation: nudge yourself into better habits

• DrinkingWater: Reminds you to drink water and tracks your intake.
• Livestrong.com Calorie Counter: Helps you track how many calories you consume, burn and net on a daily basis.   The WeightWatchers app takes it to the next level and allows you to scan barcodes of food items in order to get the points value of your food.
• UP by Jawbone is a wristband + iPhone app that tracks your activity and sleep. The idea is that the wristband inspiring you to move more, sleep better and eat smarter.
• BodyMedia FIT is an armband to track physical activity and sleep patterns. Tracking is done by iPhone or Android apps as well as online.

Mobile Apps for Self-Healing: feel better, without having to call the doctor.

• Simply Being, Mindfulness Meditation, and Pranayama Free allow users to learn about and practice meditation right from their palm. These apps lead users through exercises meant to limit your number of breaths per minute, and provide accompanying graphics, music and narration.
• Those with insomnia issues can use free apps like Pzizz Sleep,  which provides inspiring words, music and sound effects for improved sleep.  For more pressing insomnia, the Mayo Clinic partnered with GAIAM (health and wellness experts) to put together an integrated health action plan to relieve insomnia. Their app – priced at $24.99 – provides a three-step solution focused on understanding the problem, proper eating, and therapies.
• Sleep Cycle is an iPhone app that acts as an alarm clock. It analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you in the lightest sleep phase so you wake up relaxed and refreshed.

Mary Ann Doane, author of The Emergence of Cinematic Time: Modernity, Contingency, the Archive, noted that “modernity was characterized by the impulse to wear time [whereby] the watch became a kind of prosthetic device extending the capacity of the body to measure time.” This was also noted in our article, Meet the Enabler: Rethinking Mobile Devices. Today, we can safely say that our mobile devices are serving as that extension of our bodies – enabling us to communicate, connect, and get access to anything we need. While historically technologies have allowed us to communicate out, they’re now letting us look within.  And they’re a very powerful and effective tool in actually modifying human behavior.  Mobile devices allow us to track and monitor our behavior, get support from experts or like-minded individuals, and provide a reward for every micro-action.  It can seem quite daunting to take on a big (or even small) goal.  But armed with your own personal assistant (i.e: your mobile device) it’s a little more achievable.