This week’s stride is inspired by a recurring conversation with friends and clients and a perspective that has changed my world over the last 24 months.
The Idea
You have this big idea, change or project you want to bring to life. And you feel the excitement pulsing through your veins.
Then, without warning the thoughts of doubt start to swirl and you question whether it will work out the way you hope it does. Maybe you start to wonder what people will think of you if it doesn’t work out.
Before you know it the idea starts to lose its excitement - like a light slowly dimming until it fades into nothing. Another idea left on the table. Defeated by nothing more than our internal workings.
You became undone by the perception of it as a life-defining decision - an irreversible choice that would forever colour your life. And maybe it did carry some weight, but probably not as much as you thought. Your mind pushed the sense of risk and consequence beyond a comfortable threshold.
But within the obstacle lies the answer.
If we want to bring more ideas to life we need to think of new beginnings in ways that reduce the sense of risk and consequence. Rather than seeing them as life or identity-defining moments, we see them as reversible moves that don’t determine our worth. And in most cases, they are reversible despite it not always feeling that way - some are certainly easier to reverse than others but very few changes can’t be undone.
This is the experimental mindset. Rather than seeing changes or ideas as lifelong commitments, we step into them as short-term trials - we’re trying them on and seeing how they feel or what comes from them. Rather than heaping pressure on the need for it to work out, we approach these situations with a curiosity - “I wonder what might come from this?” or “I wonder how I might grow from this?”
It’s approaching life in this way that creates separation between the change and our sense of worth or identity, reducing that perceived sense of risk or consequence and allowing us to move forward. That’s the true gold of the experimental mindset - it’s a fluidity and willingness to act.
There are two key aspects to this:
Bring in a timeframe: Change carries more risk when we consider it a forever commitment. Instead, commit to it for a specific time and once that period has passed, re-assess and re-calibrate. In practice, this sounds like…
Instead of starting a substack, think of publishing 5 pieces of writing.Instead of starting a podcast, think about releasing 1 series of a podcast.
Instead of moving overseas, think about experiencing living there for 1 month.
Instead of releasing a new product or service, offer it for 1 month or to a select few clients/customers.
Instead of trying to become a runner, think about running twice a week for 1 month and seeing how you feel.
Instead of opening a cafe, think about opening a cafe for two years.Challenge your expectations: Experiments are there to show what might work and what might not - regardless of the result, you’re moving forward. If it works, great - you’ll take something valuable from the experience. If it doesn’t, great - you’ll take something equally valuable from that. So we need to approach it with a sense of detachment - it’s okay to have a desired outcome in mind but don’t attach to it. The only healthy expectation is that you will learn something and grow as a person. This is the curiosity piece - it’s a wonder rather than a need.
Next time you feel the pulse of excitement running through your veins from an idea or change that is desperate to come to fruition, run the experiment.
The Practice
This is part practice and part challenge…
I want you to think of an experiment you can step into before the mid-point of this year - a change, idea or sense of newness you want to try on. It doesn’t need to be anything big, it might be but it doesn’t need to be. Think of the timeframe you’d want to commit to it and notice what expectations or hopes immediately come to mind. Remind yourself that it isn’t about whether it works or produces something specific, but just about what you will learn through the process. Either way, you will benefit from the experience.
This could easily be one of those call-to-actions you hear and think ‘oh that sounds good’ but never actually take action on. I trust if you’re here, you won’t let it be that - I hope the natural curiosity wins out and you run the experiment.
If you’re down for it, I’d love to hear the experiment you’re going to run…
The Final Thought.
“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Have a beautiful week friends - thanks for being here.
Love,
Jesse