Experimentation is systematic and interactive — we must engage in the process, it is not merely a spectator experience. It is in this way that experimenting can foster learning, self-discovery and personal growth.

You may have heard of something called exposure therapy, where you are gradually exposed to things or situations. This is something I’ve done with my son over the years, starting with a fear of the dark, where we went from a light on, to a light in the hallway, to a night-light, to having a flashlight at the ready, to not needing a light at all. Each step in the process we got closer to the goal of his being able to sleep in the dark at night. This is one form of experimentation.

What would happen if you treated all the actions that you fear as an experiment? Shifting your thinking to experimentation, allows you to bring your toolbox to the party. By this I mean, you get to work on goal-setting, planning, and implementation. Along the way you might need some encouragement or affirmations, and throughout the process you can engage in mindfulness and gratitude. Experimentation is how you find the best way forward before you lock down a new habit.

Important steps for experimenting include:

1. Making a detailed plan, or goal. Write down what your intention is and how you will carry it out. Having it written down means you can come back and revisit it throughout the process.

2. Thinking through what could interrupt the process and preparing possible responses. Being prepared ahead of time for what could throw you off will help you stay on track.

3. Then trying the plan out. You have to actually do the thing! Remember to make notes as needed.

4. Coming back to assess, what worked, what didn’t. It is important to ask yourself what could have happened differently, so you can tweak things for the next test.

5. And if needed, repeating with a new plan. Often our first experiment will be a failure — and that’s okay! If we stopped the first time we tried something, we’d never get anywhere. There are a million little things we do in a day that we once did not know how to do. This time around is no different, we just need to learn how to work this new thing into our routine. According to Kathryn Lang, experimentation is just learning under a different label. It is how you learn and lean into you.

In an article by Joel Boggess (a life coach), he sums this all up nicely, “Experimentation equals liberation. What if you assumed, as a rule, that most things work out in the end — and the things that don’t aren’t the catastrophes you imagine them to be? What if you chose to see each situation for what it really is: a chance to learn, grow, and develop your voice? By giving yourself permission to experiment and try on new things — from a different perspective, you free yourself from the fear of failure and expectation of measuring up. It’s okay if your experiment doesn’t work out the way you planned or if it doesn’t follow a nice, neat, sequential order. Original ideas never do. Testing an idea’s merit alongside your own values and principles, and outside of any box, is far more valuable.”

Doing experimentation with a coach or mentor can provide you with some of the assurances and permissions you are looking for when starting these out. You don’t have to go it alone. You’re not strange or weird for needing to do these trial-and-error feats, after all, investigation is half of the life we live — will it work or won’t it? What will you do on the next pass? Analyze and repeat.

Reach out for a free 30 minute discovery call, I’d love to help you plan out your next experiment!