How to Run Experiments
Get the Memos and 7-day email course for $1. Hard hitting and funny, IMO.Typically, gurus’ and mentors’ give you a roadmap that you must do.
Ironically, I am giving you a framework on how I conduct experiments but let me be clear: get the ideas and inspiration then do it your way. It is YOUR life.
I do not believe in copying and pasting, I believe in learning frameworks and models then tweaking (improving/making it better) to suit my style.
Remember that!
A cool cat summed it up nicely:
Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own.I’m not a guru or mentor, I simply figured it out by experimenting with life.
Bruce Lee – Wisdom for the Way
Table of Contents
The Goal of ExperimentsHow to Run Experiments
The Results
FAQs
The Goal of Experiments
To figure out how you operate – mentally and physically. To give yourself permission to do new things without pressure and stress of “getting it right.”What works for me, may not work for you.
I personally view experiments from the lens of a mad scientist – mad since I’m irrational and scientist because I’m result-oriented through observation.
My irrationality is a benefit due to the lack of barrier to TRY.
The goal: to experiment with life to know what it is you want out of life.
How to Run Experiments
This is not a science lab. This is a fun, sandbox of possibility.Indulge the kid inside of you like the pure excitement you had when you successfully created an exploding, gooey volcano.
Remove the adultness.
Be the curious, annoying kid that always asks: why?
Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? Why is karen a girl? Why is chad a boy? Why should I do experiments? Why not?
Creating Context
Why do the experiment?This is a broad question and it is designed to get you thinking about application to your life. Key point: DO NOT waste time on things that do not progress you.
Have a reason. A purpose.
For example, I was an utter mess. I lacked organization and mental clarity. I had all of these ideas (mental masturbation if you don’t execute) about what I wanted to be, and do.
But!
I got stuck inside the wheel – turning in one place. Going nowhere.
That was my “why” for the specific experiment of organization. This turned into EducoOS and is now a product I sell to others that are in the same spot.
The context was to fix myself and to mentally organize in a simple fashion. I knew I had to keep it simple because I did another experiment to figure out how *I* think and operate. Which turned into Educo Design.
This doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out novel explaining the ins and outs. It is only for you – you know what you mean, and how you mean it.
A simple sentence or two, heck, even bullet points with key words will suffice to remind yourself of the context, or why you’re doing an experiment.
Gathering Content
What do I need?To complete an experiment, you generally need resources, items or people.
This can be a piece of software (like xTiles), some paper, a specific investing or bank account, stripe, workout equipment, an advisor or friend, etc.
Gathering the contents is designed to think about your environment.
What do you need to gather or bring together to do the experiment?
This leads into the process of execution. A framework or model to do the experiment. I’ve found that as I’m gathering the contents required to do my test, I layout the process at the same time.
This may or may not be the case for you!
When I was organizing my life, I needed a system to do the organization. I knew that I needed a digital headquarters, and that I do not write by hand as often compared to my phone or computer.
I figured out that it must be digital/online so xTiles checked that box. I knew that it had to be simple and not complicated, xTiles also checked that box.
So my process of executing on my experiment were simple:
- Design system in a simple fashion to be prolific;
- Use the system; and
- Add or remove as needed.
Can you think of an experiment that would be useful to you?
Baselining
In some cases, you need a starting point to compare too. If you’re doing an experiment around working out, you baseline your weight or personal record. Do the experiment, then weigh yourself again or do another PR test.If you’re doing an experiment that is intangible, it is a feeling. Do you sense more clarity? Are you calmer and more relaxed? Do you have more gusto?
The intangible experiments are hard to quantify (put into numbers or words). You have to learn to trust your intuition. Takes time and awareness to notice.
My style of experiments are not clinical but lifestyle. It’s designed to rapid fire and test then embed into my life. I want fast, effective and efficient.
Start and End Date
An experiment has a timeframe. This provides consistency to measure results. Otherwise, it will go on forever, and you get lost in the sauce.I generally do my experiments in a 4 week period. 12 experiments per year.
Many suggest 90 day cycles but a lot can happen in 3 months! My life moves fast and there are many things going on at once. I personally, do not like to extend beyond 1 month at a time – if I can help it.
It’s long enough to set a habit. It’s short enough to pivot quickly from feedback.
I may do an experiment and realize a sub-thing to do next month. In two months, I am able to flesh out what I am testing, and get a complete picture.
I would not have foreseen this sub-thing ahead of time, only whilst in the midst of the original experiment did this “thing” pop up and become known to me.
Whereas, if I did this on a 90 day timeline, I would have ingrained a bad habit or inefficient habit because I wanted to "complete" the experiment. You get me?
REMEMBER: This is not a science lab. This is figuring yourself out by testing. In the spirit of testing, this means you may prefer a different timeline than I do.
And there are caveats to this rule!
For example, if I am trying to hack a bachelors degree in 6 months by using alternatives to transfer in credit, then the 1 month timeframe does not apply.
Hacking a university degree can be broken down on a monthly basis where I’m experimenting with studying and reading styles, but the original experiment of a bachelors degree does not occur in a month.
Or I’m running an ongoing experiment like this website.
This is ongoing for years, I cannot chunk down years into a month. I can, however, do milestone check-ins to determine what is or is not working. The check-ins or sub-experiments can be broken down but the main experiment cannot.
The point being: use common sense!
*Most* things can be done in a short timeframe. Do and learn quick, then pivot.
The Results
Does the experiment work for you? Did you notice anything? Observe anything out of the ordinary? Was there a dramatic shift, slight shift, or no shift at all?For experiments that start with a baseline and quantifiable with numbers like your weight, it is easy to determine whether you lost or gained weight. Perhaps, you did an endurance test and your experiment allowed you to cut down your kilometre time by a minute.
Quantifiable are easy to tell that you improved, changed, or worsen.
Intangible experiments are harder. Especially if you do not trust yourself and the feeling that you’re experiencing. The feeling of mental clarity cannot be tracked but felt. The feeling of calmness and presence from meditation cannot be tracked (without a brain wave machine) but felt.
In the case of EducoOS, I can observe that I’m using the system and completing more projects/tasks. The tangible part is that I’m doing more because of the system, and the intangible part is the mental clarity (the feeling).
Observe the actions, and inactions. Observe the good, and bad feeling.
The purpose: you’re experimenting to design your life the way you want to live. You cannot know what you want without first trying. Without trying, you will remain clueless, wondering what if.
You never lose from testing, simply learn or win. Be the same, or an improved and happier version doing life your way.
You decide.
Love ya,
Deejay.
FAQs
Why are your experiments so relaxed?
I’ve noticed as humans, we are not rigid creatures but we are habitual creatures. We pivot on an hourly basis and to force yourself to abide by a strict process without leeway to shift, it becomes not-so-fun.When it becomes not-so-fun, you will not want to finish it!
You are not in a science lab trying to get minute details about the smallest things. You are not trying to win the Nobel Peace Prize for best discovery. You are experimenting to find out how you operate and design your life around the understanding of yourself.
When life is designed how you like to live, it becomes enjoyable.
My experiments are relaxed because the stress of “perfect” scientific process is not conductive to exploring and getting to know yourself.
Is it really only three steps?
Yes!Experiments are rather simple if you strip away the jargon and the need to have it perfect. Again, it goes back to real life, not a science lab. You do not require all variables to be tracked.
Only focus on the thing that is conductive to living a better life. Only focus on the thing you’re trying to accomplish through experiments.
Simplifying the process allows the freedom to be creative. Through creativity, you are able to figure out how you operate.
What is the difference from the scientific method and yours?
There is not much difference, the only key change is the rigidness of the experiment and a date. The scientific method are 6 steps:- Ask a question/make an observation;
- Do background research;
- Create a hypothesis;
- Test with an experiment;
- Analyze the data; and
- Iterate.
Step 4 is Gathering Content. Step 5 and 6 is The Results. The ONE key difference is that I have a start and end date, a timeline.
In some experiments you may watch YouTube videos or read blogs to see how others do it – the hypothesis and research in one go to answer your question, or observation about yourself.
You’re making an educated guess that if you do it their way, you will be in a better position and your life will improve, just like theirs.
However, most people do not think in a step-by-step fashion but in an integrated fashion. I certainly was not thinking that I was doing research, creating a hypothesis, testing, and checking my results.
I was thinking, what are they doing that I’m not doing? Because I notice they’re living a great life, and I’m over here.
So I kept it simple:
What am I trying to improve? How am I going to do it? And does it work for me?
That’s it! Three steps.
Can I do ABC instead of XYZ?
Yes! In fact, I encourage you.Run the experiment that makes the most sense to you.
At the end of the day, you’re doing this for yourself. Take what is most useful, discard or change what is not, and implement it into your life wherever you see fit. Then become a legend in your field.