One of the most important parts to my self development has been my willingness to experiment on myself.
I've done it with sleep, nutrition, productivity systems and exercise, among other areas. It's how I learn about myself.
I heard a quote some while back. I can’t remember where it’s from, but here goes:
An experiment can run anywhere between a couple of minutes and 18 moths. But never longer than that, by then it’s a habit.
That’s something I keep in mind for designing my experiments. They never run further than 18 months.
I don’t go through a thorough process when designing experiments. But I do set a deadline and a commitment. As I spoke about a couple of episodes back, I make a decision and keep the streak.
When I last made an experiment on my sleep, I gave myself two weeks to feel it out. That time has come down as I’ve made more experiments with sleeping. The important part is that you give yourself room to feel the effects of your experiment.
If you’re doing an experiment on eating vitamins, it might be a good idea to take 2-3 months. If you haven’t eaten meat in 5 years and decide to try it out, 1 meal might be a good start to see how your body and stomach in particular will react. Take the time, and commit to it. … mer