“All of life is an experiment. The more experiements you make, the better.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
I’m no stranger to setting ambitious goals for the new year. Rosanna’s typical reaction to my annual list of to-dos is, “Sheesh, babe. Why don’t you take it one step at a time. Remember you can do anything, but not everything.”
I have to admit I’m guilty of putting too much on my list, setting my sights a little too high. I don’t see the new year as a chance to make appropriate tune ups so much as a chance to give my life an overhaul.
And of course – as you already know – many times I’d go down in flames by early February, wondering what was wrong with me and if I’d ever get to that point where I feel like I am the person I set out to be.
Big Goals, Big Blunders
A lot of the time our goals tend to envision the long-term, setting us up for new habits and new commitments that – in many cases – we just aren’t ready for. It’s obviously not a bad thing to set ambitious goals…it just might not be the most practical.
Big goals tend to have a few characteristics that set us up for failure:
- They are long term.
- They require a big change to our habits or routines.
- We start them suddenly.
When we set a goal for ourselves, it is often set while we are feeling ambitious and optimistic about the future. “Of course I can do this! It’s important to me! I’ll commit!”
We tend to dream, and in a moment of excitement – somewhat detached from reality – we mentally commit to something new. The problem, as many of us know from experience, is that our enthusiasm might yield us a month’s worth of momentum, we run slowly run out of steam and end up asking ourselves, “What happened? Why can’t I stick with this for the long haul?” What starts as an optimistic adventure ends with frustrated well-I’m-back-where-I-started dejection.
So while we should go for big goals, we also have to be realistic about what it actually will take to achieve them. Thankfully, there are alternatives.
Enter “The Experiment”
The idea of a goal is, “I’m going to stick this through for the long haul for a big change in my life.” The idea of the experiment is, “Let’s see what happens.”
An experiment has a few key differences from a goal:
- It is short-term.
- It requires a modest change to our habits or routines.
- We start them intentionally.
An experiment is really our way of saying, “Let me try something new and learn from it.” It gives us a chance of recognizing what we like or not, and how new possibilities fit within our current reality.
Experiments are often short-term commitments to new experiences. We might commit, say, only 30 days to a new habit. Or we might even attempt a one-time “I want to see how this goes” experience.
The idea of the experiment is that we simply try something new before fully committing to it as a new lifestyle. It’s less threatening. Instead of thinking, “I need to stick to this for the rest of my life or else I’m a failure,” we instead think, “I’m curious how this will go, what I’ll learn, and how much I’ll like it.” Plus, we tend to appreciate and take advantage of things we know aren’t going to be around for that long.
Morgan Spurlock’s famous example in Supersize Me involved him committing to eating McDonald’s every meal for an entire month. This wasn’t a lifestyle change; it was an experiment to find out the effects of eating fast food frequently. He learned a lot, and taught us a lot in the process.
Usually, though, experiments are focused on dabbling with more positive habits. Blogger Anthony Ongaro breaks possible types of experiments down into five categories (using coffee as an example):
- Add something to your life. (“Start drinking coffee.”)
- Subtract something to your life. (“Stop drinking coffee.”)
- Create something. (“Brew your own coffee.”)
- Swap one thing for another. (“Drink tea instead of coffee.”)
- Track something you do. (“Track how much coffee you drink.”)
These are each simple adjustments to try on for size, and doing so for a short period of time – like between 21-90 days – will give you some insights into your relationship to coffee.
While we should be setting goals and working towards concrete objectives in our lives, experiments are a great fuel for helping us determine what our true abilities, limitations, and objectives are.
Add Some Spice with Experiments
Also, experiments don’t only have to relate to goals. Experiments can be a useful way to see something outside of our normal realm of experience without committing to something entirely new.
For example, someone might go for a job interview at a different company. They might not even want a new job, but just opening up their eyes to the “what if” helps us reevaluate our present.
Another example along the same lines might be to watch a movie, read a book, or visit a restaurant that you ordinarily wouldn’t. Not a big commitment at all, but at least you can say you tried something, even if you never go back to it.
Here’s a fun list of other experiments, including ideas like avoiding using plastic bags, picking a DIY project, or contacting a political representative’s office. You’ll be amazed at what you learn about yourself, what you’re capable of, what you’re interested in, and what possibilities are out there once you try!
- Handwritten journal. In Season 2, Episode 10 Jason Waller briefly spoke to the merits of handwriting vs. typing. I’m not sold on this, but I’m trying it out for 30 days.
- No alcohol. I don’t drink a lot, but a glass of wine with dinner or a beer during a football game is pretty normal for me. I wonder how much it’s messing with my sleep and energy, though. So I’m experimenting to see how I feel without it.
- No late-day caffeine. I drink coffee in the morning, and then a few times a week have some in the afternoon or evening, too. Again in the name of better sleep, I’m seeing how I feel without this.
- No sweets. Halloween through New Years is pretty much one excuse for overindulging in chocolate after another. I’m curious what I look like and how I feel without any sweets (along with no alcohol) in my system.
I’m curious what I’ll learn about myself, my preferences, and my habits through all this. It’s only 30 days, so the commitment is very doable. The end is practically in sight from the beginning.
Overall, I feel like the experiment is just giving ourselves a reasonable approach toward reevaluating our relationship with our objects and habits. At the end of the experiment, we might decide we like it and want to continue, or we might say, “That was great, but I’m glad it’s over!”