An idea that I have come across several times of late is the one shared by Brad Stulberg in his book Master of Change. Indeed, Ness Labs founder Anne-Laure Le Cunff wrote a whole book on the topic called Tiny Experiments, which I recommend.

The idea is to see yourself as a scientist of your own life. That means applying the scientific method to yourself. Instead of avoiding a change or committing fully to a change, run an experiment. That means starting, taking notes, and being okay with a hard stop in the not-too-distant future. If the change is a net positive, you can continue. If it isn’t working out; abandon it and take solace that now you know.

Examples can include subscribing (or unsubscribing) to a service or subscription, or adding a particular food to your diet. Or maybe changing up your workouts. Or changing when you have your smoothie and what goes in it. You get the idea. The possibilities for experimentation are vast.

Importantly, running these experiments can lead to impactful changes to one’s life. Another major benefit of this approach is noted by Stulberg in the quote below: It allows you to start taking action and avoiding the pitfall of paralysis, which we have all experienced too many times. Running ‘tiny experiments’ helps us take action. In my case, I find that taking action leads to a willingness to run more experiments. Thus, my willingness to experiment with my media consumption helped lead me get started on some diet experiments. Such momentum is always welcome.

A recent experiment that I have learned something from has to do with my online reading habits. I love to read and wanted to read more newsletters instead of just books. I went on to Substack and started following several great writers. Unfortunately, their Notes feature lured me in and after a week of liking comments, I had trained the algorithm to feed more political hot takes, which was a big mistake. Visits to Substack got me worked up and definitely harshed my mellow. I decided to delete the app in all the places and make it more difficult to visit in my favorite web browser. I’m bummed that there are some voices I am not hearing anymore (though in some cases I can find their writing or thinking elsewhere), but I am exceedingly pleased that the political noise is tuned way down in my head.

Surely there are a few experiments you can run for yourself.