Amidst all the cookouts, parades, and fireworks I entered Logan International airport with tears streaming down my face. I checked two pieces of luggage and boarded a plane to take me three thousand miles away from everything and everyone I knew.
That was thirteen years ago. The buildup to that move was long and bumpy. There was a fair amount of second-guessing myself, last-minute decisions by others that shifted the course, and some healthy fear of the unknown.
I framed my trial-and-error actions as little experiments. I leaned into the deep knowing inside of me that the changes I was making were leading me where I needed to go. The small steps add up to bigger things.
Looking at making change through the lens of a little experiment helps it feel fun and allows me the space to try something and consciously assess if it’s working or what might need tweaking without too much pressure.
I’ve had a lot of change since that day thirteen years ago, and most of it has consisted of small steps and little experiments leading to the next little step and little experiment.
When I bought my house a few years ago, I got a little tangled up in the financing of it and put the brakes on. I used a little experiment to help acclimate myself. I went to open houses and just felt what owning a home might be like. Taking the scary part, the mortgage, out of the equation until my energy and nervous system adjusted allowed me to take the next steps in securing a mortgage a few months later.
These little experiments have served me well; I really don’t talk about them. A reader reached out to me last week, asking how I deal with uncertainty. I told her one of the tools I use is my little experiments. She was excited to set up her own version, and I thought I would share some of them with you all.
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This month, I’m experimenting with ways to boost joy and movement in my life, so my plan is to start my day (after coffee, of course 😂) with some dancing. I love to dance and don’t do it nearly enough. I created a dance playlist in Spotify, thirty-one songs, so each day it’s easy to hit play and twirl around my bedroom. I have a list of questions to answer at the end of each week to see if anything is shifting. (I’ll report back in August)
What makes this a great little experiment is it’s quick three to four minutes, there are tangibles, and a month is enough time to see results. I’ve stacked in the morning after meditation and preselected the playlist to make it easy.
Some experiments are light and playful, others dig deeper. One of the bigger experiments I am working on is related to longevity. I joined Function Health to get a baseline. (Full disclosure: if you sign up through this link, I earn a credit – your cost does not change.) My labs have been drawn, and some of the results are back.
This experiment is meatier, diving deeper into age bias, health concerns and expectations. I will write about it in more depth in a couple of months once all of my results are in and I’ve developed a plan.
What’s one little experiment you could try this month? Hit reply and let me know
Be Inspired,
Cathy