Life Experiments

“Why not just make it an experiment?” I had never thought of that. I didn’t know I could just call it an experiment. Though I do small life experiments all the time, I needed someone to challenge me to make a bigger experiment.

When I was first considering quitting my job at a restaurant to give more time to photography and begin the Meaning Movement, I felt scared of it not working out. Although I wanted to quit, I hated the thought of taking the leap and then having to go back to serving tables if I failed. Though I knew that no one was keeping score and that I didn’t need to prove something, I felt a lot of pressure connected to quitting that job and stepping out on my own and being self-employed (going “Off the Grid” as one friend calls it). I couldn’t shake the pressure and the fear.

It was in the midst of those feelings that my friend Ryan asked me, “Why not just make it an experiment?”

Why not? Though I have had other life experiments before, I hadn’t felt the permission to think about this shift in that way.

Life Experiments are a valuable way to play with options and explore possibilities relate to work and life-direction. When something is an experiment, discovering the results are part of the process. It’s less about success or failure and more about the question: what would happen if I tried this?

When you’re stuck at a fork in the road or just considering a new endeavor, experimenting is a good way to see how it fits.

In science, experiments usually have a hypothesis or theory that is being tested as true or false. Scientific experiments are the basis for all that science considers to be knowledge. In life, an experiment is a open-ended entry into some new territory for the purpose of learning and discovery. It can be an opportunity to test a hypothesis: if Dan quits the restaurant, he can get by on other means — or it can be more open ended: what happens if Dan does this?

Thinking in terms of life experiments gives you permission that you might not feel otherwise. By experimenting, you get to be more objective and remove yourself from the situation. You get to be a scientist for a moment, not just the lab rat.

I needed help finding that permission. And I want to help you find your own.

Here’s where this gets extra interesting: let’s do some life experiments. I’ll tell you about mine tomorrow (spoiler alert: I need your help). And, I’d love to hear about yours now. What kind of life experiments can you try to move you toward discovering or doing work that matters? How can you put your toe in the water, wade in, or just jump into the deep end to see what would happen next? Click here to comment!