Why You Should Experiment With Your Life
Your life is an experiment. It’s one big experiment made up of many smaller experiments.
These experiments are driven by hypotheses or postulations that you set forth yourself. Think of ahypothesis is an educated guess. It’s an “If…, then…” statement that is testable through experimentation. Here is an example:
- If the water faucet is opened, then the amount of water flowing will increase.
We usually think of experiments in a scientific sense, but we can apply these principles to our lives. By approaching our lives with a sense of experimentation, we can achieve our goals in a methodical and efficient process.
Most people have tons of assumptions or thoughts about what they think they would or would not want to do. But instead of doing things to test out their assumptions, they sit on their butts and do nothing.
Make a list of things you think you would enjoy doing, or want to try. Your list could include self-improvement goals, restaurants you want to try, classes you want to take, or countries you want to visit. It doesn’t matter what they are.
Some people may argue and say: “What’s the point of trying something out if I know there’s a good chance I’ll dislike it.” But even if you try out 10 things and turn out not to like any of those 10 things, you’re still making progress because you’re ticking things off your list so that you can move onto the next list of 10. You remove the “what could have been” question from your mind.
You should experiment with your life to get in the habit of trying out things to test your assumptions.
Creating My Own To-Try List
Here is an example some of the things I wrote in my to-try list in January 2015:
Improving public speaking and getting over social anxiety
- Public Speaking class
- Join a Toastmaster’s group in Chicago
Health/Mindfulness
- Meditating
- Exercising regularly
- Waking up at 5:30am every day
- Cut out carbs from my diet
You can interpret this list as a series of hypothesis, like below:
- If I attend public speaking class, then I will become a better speaker in social settings.
- If I meditate regularly, then I will clear my mind, reduce my stress levels and be more productive.
- If I exercise regularly, then I will feel more energetic, be more healthy, and look better.
- If I wake up at 5:30am every day, then I will have more time to do the things I want to do every day.
- If I cut out carbs from my diet, then I will lose weight a lot quicker and be happier.
Unexpected Results of the Experiment
For a period of three months, I did my best to go through everything in this list. It’s not to say that I ended up enjoying everything on the list. For example, I am still not very good at meditating and do not do it on a regular basis. I also did not enjoy cutting out carbs and quit after the second day. But that’s totally okay, because there is no downside to trying these things.
At the same time, there have been many amazing surprises that have come out of this. I never thought of myself as a morning person, but I enjoyed waking up at 5:30am, going to the gym, and coming home at 7:30am with plenty of time before work starts at 9am. Waking up early allowed me to prioritize the first few hours of my day on myself (Read: Prioritize Yourself by Waking Up Early).
Here’s another surprise. So I accidentally enrolled in the Public Speaking class offered by Second City in Toronto instead of in Chicago. When I figured out my mistake, the only option I had was to transfer into an Acting class in Second City Chicago or to give up the $300 I paid.
I tried out Acting, and to my surprise, turned out falling in love with the course. Now I’m not only an Acting student, but also an Improv student at Second City! The majority of people I hang out with now are also my classmates at The Second City. Who would’ve thought that I would meet new friends by just trying different activities? (Read: How to Meet Interesting People)
Go Out There and Experiment With Your Life
My life has changed profoundly in just the last three months, and that was because I went out of my comfort zone to try these different things. I could’ve never predicted that I would be doing the things I’m doing now, but that’s the amazing thing about life, right?
The more you put yourself out there and reach for opportunities, the more opportunities life hands your way and the more you will feel in control of your life (Read: How to Spot Opportunities Around You).
So go out there and experiment with your life. Make yourself try something before you pass judgment about whether or not you’ll like it.
Victor runs The Remote Lifestyle (http://theremotelifestyle.com), where he teaches you step-by-step how you can become a successful digital nomad.
