Stop Doing & Start Experimenting
By Aidan Heron
As I felt like the walls were crumbling around me and I attempted to diligently continue propping up the ceiling I noticed hearing some very peculiar advice….
“These things happen”
“Better luck next time”
“There’s nothing you could do”
I call bulls*t!
It’s a horrible tendency in the modern world to constantly shift the blame; either to somebody else or some greater power. I don’t know which is worse. Not so long ago this used to involve evoking God but now you hear more than not of fate/destiny.
For a long time I thought there was only one alternative but it’s not much better…Everything is within your control. Doesn’t sound so bad right, but your identity is intricately woven into the fabric of what you are trying to create. When that thread starts to unravel so do you, and your hold on reality can also waiver.
Nope. That’s not healthy either.
You either skip through life never holding yourself accountable because it’s all part of a greater plan. Or you are left stumbling from one doomed house to another, leaving pieces of yourself scattered on the ground along the way and loosing your grip on the world.
Another way?
You should take things to heart and be your own worst critic. You are ultimately responsible for your own fate, but how do you do this without crippling your sense of self when something fails?
Simple, don’t treat it as a failure.
Yes I know, startup and business culture is currently obsessed with failure. You should wear it as a battle scar, plaster it on the walls of your office. But you know what, the people that say that have come through the other side rather well off. They may fail spectacularly, but they also win majestically at the same time.
Net result = positive.
You never hear from the people that don’t bounce back. Probably because they are stuck in dark hell of their own making, I know I was.
Start experimenting instead. When an experiment ‘fails’ it’s treated as a good thing. You now have more information than when you started and can readjust your parameters and start again, fresh faced and invigorated. Plus, experiments never stop as shown by any mediocre scientist at best. Let alone the great ones.
If you have evidence that your initial thoughts were right, then you need to sit down, think really hard and figure out how you can break them. What needs to be shown to prove yourself wrong?
Odd type of thinking, I know. But imagine how much better your life would be employing this.
The only failed experiment is the one that is never started!
What Experiments Are You Running?
Let me know in the comments below, look forward to sharing more with you.
About Me
I’ve got a big bushy beard and whilst wrote this on the train to Sheffield, almost missed my stop too…hang on that’s probably too specific.
All you need to know, I like learning and sharing too.
Plus I do some stuff; like a PhD (Physics) and run some businesses (Property related, mostly).
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You won’t regret it, and if you do…well you can just leave again. I won’t take it to heart ;)
