Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World

by Anne-Laure Le Cunff

What experiment could I run on my own life that would bring me an intrinsic sense of fulfillment, whatever the outcome?

I love writing, so I made a pact with myself to write and share 100 articles in 100 workdays,

I’m playing a different game: a game of noticing, questioning, and adapting.

Systematic curiosity provides an unshakable certitude in your ability to grow even when the exact path forward is uncertain, with the knowledge that your actions can align with your most authentic ambitions.

This common shift from boundless curiosity to narrow determination is at the heart of why the traditional approach to goals keeps on letting us down; it impedes our creativity and prevents us from seeing and seizing new opportunities.

In fact, a common challenge for many people these days is feeling stuck when it comes to their next steps: instead of providing a motivating force,

Linear goals stimulate fear. Starting something new is daunting, especially when it lies far outside our comfort zone. Because we lack the expertise that comes with experience, we’re not sure where to begin. Sometimes the sheer number of options leads to analysis paralysis. We become so overwhelmed with choices that we are unable to take action. Other times, we feel like we’re not qualified enough, and we succumb to self-doubt.

“many purported goals that people pursue may be merely justifications to keep themselves busy.”

Our goals are often not even our own; we borrow them from peers, celebrities, and what we imagine society expects from us.

When we fixate on finding one singular purpose, we rule out the side quests that help us grow the most. Your life doesn’t need to follow predictable acts and arcs. The best stories are full of surprises, with colorful characters and unexpected plot twists.

Carol Dweck and colleagues found that mantras like “find your passion” increase the likelihood that people will give up on their newfound interest when they run into inevitable hurdles.

Are you following your past or discovering your path? Are you following the crowd or discovering your tribe? Are you following your passion or discovering your curiosity?

Observation Question Hypothesis I’m dreading giving presentations. How can I become more confident? Improv classes might build my

A pact is a simple and repeatable activity that will inevitably bring you closer to achieving your authentic ambitions, regardless of the actual result of each trial. It follows a simple format: I will [action] for [duration]. The

What makes a pact so effective is that it focuses on your outputs

Committing in advance to a specific duration for your experiment has an obvious advantage: it forces you to wait until after a pre-agreed number of iterations before making a decision.

Repeated trials are an essential feature of experiments. You need enough trials to obtain results you can trust. Imagine you and your friend are playing darts and want to know who aims better. You can’t claim to be the best dart player based on a single throw.

For something completely new that you have never tried before, a ten-day pact is a good starting point.

If it is something you have experimented with previously, then a one-month pact allows you to build on that familiarity. Finally, for activities that are already part of your life but which you wish to engage in more regularly, a three-month pact helps reinforce and amplify patterns so you can collect better quality data to guide your journey.

I will [action] for [duration].

Nobody really wants to live a productive life. We want to express ourselves, connect with others, and explore the world. Productivity is just a means to those ends; it should certainly not come at the expense of actually living life.

It’s a simple idea, that making the most of our time isn’t about doing more but about being more: more present, more engaged, and more attuned to the quality of our experiences.

Given my current attention and working memory, what is the most sensible task to undertake right now?

“That’s why the strongest emotion associated with procrastination is guilt.”

Are you suddenly feeling tired whenever you try to get started with a specific task? Do you avoid working on a project by reading about the tools you may need further down the line?

Head: “Is the task appropriate?” Heart: “Is the task exciting?” Hand: “Is the task doable?”

“Is the task appropriate?” You want to determine whether this course of action is the wisest. If the answer is no or unclear, this means you are skeptical about the potential benefits of the task.

If the problem runs deeper, you may need a more introspective approach. Set a timer for ten minutes and free-write about the task. Let your feelings flow without judgment or editing. Then review what you’ve written for patterns. For example, do you notice a rise in negative feelings when the task involves a certain person, situation, or topic?

You can catch up on overdue emails from your favorite coffee shop, do your taxes while listening to your favorite band, or turn the task into a game by creating rewards for each completed chunk.

It’s important to notice when we use learning as procrastination in disguise.

practical solution. Is the task appropriate, exciting, and doable?

The idea is not to achieve a life devoid of frustration but to recognize that to live an excellent life, we must let go of absolute perfection.

Identify perfectionist patterns. Before you can start embracing imperfection, you need to become aware of when and how you are unrealistically striving for perfection.

Challenge your unrealistic targets.

Choose progress over perfection.

The tool is called Plus Minus Next, and it does what it says on the tin with just three columns; positive observations go in the first column (Plus), negative observations in the second column (Minus), and plans for what’s next in the last column (Next).[*]

Buddhism teaches that suffering arises from attachment to desires, including the desire for control over outcomes.

Researchers distinguish between active acceptance and resigning acceptance. In both cases, people abandon fruitless attempts to control what they can’t change. However, their mindset and outlook on life are different. “Active acceptance means acknowledging a negative, difficult situation and dealing with it in a constructive way,”

Times of disruption are an opportunity to relax your grip on the outcome while you keep on showing up. Even in the face of adversity, we can send a powerful message to ourselves: our value isn’t contingent upon perfect conditions or outcomes, but on our commitment to ourselves and our journey.

Stoicism advocates, first and foremost, cultivating a state of calm regardless of external circumstances. Only then can you analyze situations logically to determine what’s within your control and what’s not.

“I could see that the practice of surrender was actually done in two, very distinct steps: first, you let go of the personal reactions of like and dislike that form inside your mind and heart; and second, with the resultant sense of clarity, you simply look to see what is being asked of you by the situation unfolding in front of you.”

You can do it on walks by using the voice recorder on your phone, or through any medium that removes as much friction as possible

However, researchers have found that flow states happen more easily in group activities than in solitary ones.

That’s why Courtland Allen started Indie Hackers: to create a community where people could pool knowledge and resources to help one another build online businesses.

If, like me, there is an experiment you’ve tried a few times without success but believe could positively impact your life were you to complete it, here is how to use the three Public Pillars—public pledge, public platform, public practice—to share your learning journey.

Just as in the gym, start small to build confidence. This will enhance your belief in your ability to succeed, which is crucial for learning in public. As you become more comfortable, move toward sharing some of your more ambitious work-in-progress projects and ideas.

A scholar might blog about their research to get real-time feedback from peers. A startup founder might build a scrappy version of their product to gauge demand. A designer could publish rough sketches. In each case, putting forward unpolished ideas sparks an ongoing dialogue, to reveal any gaps and iterate rapidly.

If you work at a company, prototype publicly, encourage product development teams to solicit early customer feedback, and convey challenges openly. When studying something new—for example, a new language or a new software—pull back the curtain on the learning process by sharing your questions, mistakes, and insights throughout the journey. Share even the lessons from an experiment that failed.

Get early feedback. Sharing your work in public ensures that what you are working on answering an actual need and allows you to take a more iterative approach.

Increase your creativity. By publishing your work in progress, you will increase the likelihood that you will connect the dots between your ideas and other people’s ideas.