Put on your Virtual Lab Coat
"Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you stop to think about it, everything in life is experimental. We learn by trying things. Sometimes we learn from other people trying things, but that doesn’t mean it will work the same for us.
Looking at your life thus far, it’s likely that you can see where you experimented and where you didn’t – and chances are, where you didn’t was where you felt restricted, inhibited or constricted by something outside of yourself. If you have a feeling of not having a choice, it’s hard to imagine doing anything other than what you feel compelled to do. And yet, that is EXACTLY when you must!
In order to remember that you are creating your life as you go, especially in those seemingly choice-less moments, it’s important to let yourself get a little crazy with something new. An experiment means that you don’t know exactly how it will turn out – that’s why you do it!
When you can release your attachment to a particular outcome, or more, a perfect outcome by what you already know and expect when there’s probably a bigger/better outcome waiting for you, you will find that your world becomes a bigger place because you are showing up in a bigger way. There are some masters who teach that when it feels uncomfortable, you’re to the point of true transformation. True transformation doesn’t happen passively nor by staying small.
We are not our experiment – we are the creators exploring the edges of what could happen when trying something different. And we can do something different whenever we want – even in the middle! If you want to make the perfect dessert, you can put the ingredients in a different order, with varying quantities, adding new ingredients as you go, making it pretty - or not. You probably can’t reproduce the exact same thing again, and, however it turns out, it’s all good. What you have is a successful (and delicious) experiment!
Some educated types call experiments “calculated risks”. A calculated risk means that you are taking informed action so that it turns out approximately close to what you think you want. It’s a fancy way of saying it’s an experiment. If you assess where you are starting from, quantify what you want to have happen, consider all the possibilities you know about, act on one (or more), see what happens, evaluate it and make changes – you have the framework for an experiment!
Admittedly, it’s a lot easier to play when there’s supposedly nothing “at stake”. However, if we aren’t experimenting on a regular basis, and if we stay in our comfort zone, we are constricting ourselves (think rootbound plant). We effectively limit our own life force energy. Our life here is all about taking chances, figuring out what we need to know, and living all the way.
Three things you can do today to start experimenting:
1. Imagine yourself putting on and wearing a virtual lab coat. If you were actually wearing your life lab coat, what would you do differently in your life right now?
2. Consider a current situation from “beginner’s creative mind”. That is, if you didn’t know you, and you were peeking on someone else’s experiment, what would you understand / learn from your observations? What would you think would be the probable outcomes? And what would you change?
3. Look at a past situation seemingly “gone wrong” and reframe it as a necessary experiment to get you where you are now. There were important lessons that helped you get where you are – what were they? How was that situation really a successful experiment?
Your life IS a grand experiment – grab your virtual labcoat and get ready to create some change!
Lynn Scheurell, Creative Catalyst, helps entrepreneurs remember who they are so they can align everything they do accordingly. This simple premise helps people create success from the inside out and by their own definition. Download a free report to learn "Your 6 Power Points for Personal Success – and How What You Don’t Know Can Cost You!" at www.mycreativecatalyst.com.
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