What is Lifey?

By Guest Author Maura Tolman

Lifey is a website (lifey.org), a mobile app, and a YouTube channel developed by Latter-day Saint entrepreneur Alex Balinski. The app is aimed at providing “short videos to help you navigate life.” It started with an exclusive focus on Latter-day Saint missions but has since branched out to a range of user-made videos discussing travel, health conditions, colleges, and other life experiences.

Each app category allows users to select a subcategory where he or she can choose to either watch or record videos. Videos are no longer than 60 seconds, and the entire recording and uploading process is done within the application. The app’s features and design allow for simple, navigable use—Lifey is easily implemented by a range of users.

The Lifey app just published its 10,000th video, after a little over a year since beginning.

Lifey’s Mission

Personal experiences are interesting. Who can ignore the heartfelt story of how a particular event has influenced or changed one’s life? Stories seem to have a magic that entices people of all ages. When we tell others of our experiences, we are inviting them onto the sacred grounds of our memories.    —Richard Nash

Balinski originally launched the Prepare to Serve/Lifey project in 2006 because he felt strongly inspired to create it. Over the course of its development, Lifey has come to focus on helping as many people as possible record their most meaningful life experiences, to help others.

The Lifey app provides several benefits to users:

• We learn from each other’s life experiences.
• The videos help us make better & faster life decisions.
• We connect with people through their videos.
• The videos contain answers to our questions.
• We have the opportunity to share more about our own lives with the world.

So What?

We all use sources like Wikipedia on a daily basis. Lifey is becoming a similar type of reference, but what we can discover through Lifey is much more personal and relevant. It is one thing to read something on the internet; it is another thing entirely to learn directly from an actual person. We are inherently reliant on our fellow human beings and look to them for reassurance. Offering your own knowledge and experiences through the Lifey app may give even total strangers the encouragement they seek before taking a little or big step in their lives.

Lifey Needs You

Everyone faces unique experiences throughout their lifetimes. Even the littlest things you have to offer through Lifey can have the biggest of impacts.

In order for Lifey to ultimately achieve its mission, Lifey needs more videos; every record counts. So, as the Lifey app continues to navigate its early years, you can help it become the reference and life-changer it has the potential to become as you share your own experiences and advice.

Download the app, record some videos, and watch as your contribution helps Lifey educate the world.

• Download Lifey on iOS
• Download Lifey on Android