Small Experiments and Incremental Changes for the Win
I realized something about myself last night. I realized that I like to perform experiments. I love trying things that will either bring about joy in me, make my life better, or optimize a part of my life that needs improving. With the realization, I thought back over the last couple of years and realized how often I actually perform small experiments. I may do up to 3 to 5 of them a week. Some of them have stuck with me over this time, and others had no impact, and I moved up. Some of my more notable successful experiments include:
#MyDay Posts - What originally started out as a daily reflection of things that bring me joy has turned into a means of proving inspiration within my professional and personal life as I discover new things about myself
#FarmLife - I've started posting stories about my adventures to build out a hobby farm from scratch.
Handwritten Notes - I just started this last night and is the reason behind this post. I purchased some blank cards with the intent to send off quick notes to people I love. I sent my first two this morning.
Taking Personal Responsibility for 100% of my life, even for those things that I had nothing to do with. This was born from the book I read on Hoʻoponopono Prayer.
#BuJo - this has revolutionized the way I work and has allowed me to remove some of the digital clutter in my life. Using a journal for keeping track of my daily life has undoubtedly enriched my mindfulness practices as it forces me to think about what I actually want and need to do each day
I'm trying a short story writing class through Udemy
I'll start building a mobile chicken coop this weekend. I do not know how to hammer a nail straight, so this will be an experiment in the most real sense of the word.
And some of my failed experiments, or at least those that didn't stick with me:
Set up a golf hitting mat and net - as crazy as this sounds, and as much as I love golf, I purchased hitting mat and intded to get a net so I could practice on the farm, but I haven't made it happen yet. I guess other priorities have gotten in the way
Inbox Zero - tried it, doesn't work for me. I have instead removed myself from several mailing lists, and my emails are down in volume, but I still do not get to zero regularly
Getting Things Done - this had potential, but at the end of the day, I lacked the conviction to keep doing it. If you look in my EverNote, you'll see the remnant of the system I put in place in support of GTD. One good thing that came out of this experiment, though, was the use of hashtags in everything I do. Using hashtags is an easy way to aggregate information
It's interesting listing these out, these small experiments have really changed me as a person and enriched my life. Chances are, you perform experiments in your life and may not have thought of them as experiments. They come in the way of trying new things or doing experiences you haven't done before.
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