Words to grow by
“Every day is an experiment” (also “everything is an experiment”) is a mantra, of sorts, I adopted some years ago. It’s a mental model I find both freeing and empowering.
Treating the world, or life, with the idea that everything you do is an experiment of some sort to be learned from is also an exceptionally powerful path for growth.
“Every day is an experiment” is freeing because it encourages, or at least allows you to try new things with less fear. Experiments are, after all, things you’ve theoretically never done before.
Rather than avoiding something because you don’t know the outcome, or sticking with only those things for which you do, experimentation lets us try things. It’s a more deliberate, thoughtful version of “f around and find out”.
The risk of failure feels more palatable if you treat what you’re doing as an experiment for which you’re actively interested in the results.
“Every day is an experiment” means whatever the experiment is, whether you consider it a success or failure, it’s a success in that it generated information. You then use those results to refine your understanding of whatever your experiment was. Be it an idea you were considering, or a project you were starting, the experiment makes it a feedback loop to improve your understanding of yourself and/or the world around you.
Failure is not a disaster, it’s a data point. As long as you keep that in mind, it becomes significantly more palatable to try things because it’s more acceptable to fail.
In failing, we grow.
It’s not that you’ll never succeed. Of course you will. It’s just not guaranteed. It’s great when it happens. It’s another data point, a result of our experiment, as well.
But taking something on only when you have a guarantee of success is both limiting and stagnating. If you already knew it was going to succeed, there was never anything to learn.
“Every day is an experiment” is a mental model for growth by taking appropriate risks and paying attention to the results.
“Every day is an experiment” makes life significantly more interesting.
I’ve heard this before; this was a great reminder for me. The first time I was introduced to a similar concept was in recovery program. I heard someone say that they decided to try something just for that day to see what would happen. Whenever I would come up against a suggestion that I resisted at first, I would tell myself, “just try it for one day to see what happens.” Like developing a habit by starting out really small. This way of doing things has really worked for me for over 35 years, when I remember to follow it!
I second Suzie’s comment. Thanks for the article. A useful reminder to approach each day as an exploration, an experiment.. in simply Being if nothing else!
Another article I enjoyed that feels like a nice ‘partner’ piece to yours: https://jamesclear.com/marginal-gains.
I shared this with my close friends who are current/former MSFT. We agreed this is spot on. Failure is a data point is a great way of looking at it.