2017: The Experiment

2436610506_4578827d42_o

The Problem: I have approximately 17 million ideas that I typically don’t follow through to completion. Instead, I spend much of my life in the daily loop of tasking, numbing, and tasking.

The Idea: Live 2017 as a series of two-week experiments.

I intend to try new things, and I even start some of them, but I habitually get bogged down in the middle. I have a deep love for beginnings, so part of this is series of experiments is to give myself something new every two weeks – a year of beginnings!

Experiments may include daily practices (cold exposure, meditation); finishing partly-done projects (board game, website); learning new skills (Spanish, ukulele, javascript); removing a habit (coffee, social media); or weird ideas just for fun (wear the same outfit every day, watch every Spielberg film).

In some cases I may love the “new thing” and want to continue it. That’s fine, but it will be important that I don’t require myself to stack experiments. If I’m learning Spanish or Elvish (both potentials for this year), I want the freedom to skip meditation sessions or eat red meat or check Twitter 37 times a day.

I hesitate to claim any goal or purpose to this little game, but if there is one, it’s to learn a little bit more about myself and how I respond to trying something new.

Photo courtesy of Keene Public Library, Elliott Community Hospital, https://flic.kr/p/4HjgpY

9 responses to “2017: The Experiment”

  1. […] planning a series of experiments aimed at attempting new daily practices, learning new skills, and finishing uncompleted […]

  2. […] I shared at the beginning of this year, I am conducting a series of 2-week self-experiments. In the first, Address Book Lottery, I connected to others. In Experiment Number 2 I have turned […]

  3. […] year I’m conducting a wide-ranging series of 2-week self-experiments. After the first 4 weeks, I learned that adding new activities to an already-busy life can make […]

  4. […] This year I’m conducting a wide-ranging series of 2-week self-experiments.  […]

  5. […] that is the experiment – no complex rules, just don’t drink coffee. No decaf. No […]

  6. […] drawn mazes on chalkboards, envelopes, sidewalks, and any other surface I can find.  For this 2-week experiment I will draw a maze every day, producing 14 little pieces of […]

  7. […] lived a charmed life but often don’t realize it. In this 2-week experiment I tracked two actions  – complaints and gratitude. I attempted to not complain for 14 days, […]

  8. […] this 2-week experiment I tracked two actions  – gratitude and complaining. I attempted to not complain for 14 days, […]

  9. […] this experiment I spent 2 weeks learning how much money I wasted buying literally nothing. Now I waste a little […]

Leave a reply to Experiment 1: Address Book Lottery – Brian Chandler Cancel reply