The importance of experimentation

There are times in my life when I stop and think. About what I’m doing at the moment. About things I have in my life. About how I use them and why. It really helps me to make good decisions.

It is when I stop and think that I get ideas. About how to try things differently.

There are many conventions in the world, and too many of them are being taken for granted. As kids we used to ask questions about everything but somewhere along the line we forgot about it. We stopped asking the important questions. Evidently, the automatic, mindless train, leaves the station and we’re willingly rolling along. I hate when it happens but sadly, and inevitably, it does.

The great part, though, is the recognition.

When I stop and think I initially get some crazy ideas. Ideas that totally seem unconventional and unrealistic at the time. I like to dream up the most irregular and bizarre way of doing things. This is experimentation along new paths. It is what keeps my mind flexible and open for new opportunities. Sometimes the ideas I’ve got has led to big failures. Sometimes they became huge successes.

Indifferent of what, I’ve always learned something along the path. The most important thing is to never stop asking ‘why?‘. Asking the question ‘why’ will make you wiser in every decision you take. It’s a simple question but the answer may not be so easy to understand. When it isn’t, I conduct the experiment. I’m taking a leap, trying to change the rules and see where it will get me.

Unconsciously, I put a lot of labels on myself. I think we all do. There is nothing wrong with that, it’s our values, what we stand for and how we see ourselves. But just because we attached ourselves to a thing/subject/solution years ago doesn’t mean we value them equally today. They may, in fact, have been rendered obsolete without us even noticing. The world is in a perpetual flux. It changes constantly. Experimenting is a way to adapt with it.

Why do you do what you do? Is there a better way to use your tools? Why is a certain thing essential in your life? What’s the purpose of it? These are hard questions to go through and there may not always be an answer in the end. But nevertheless, just by asking yourself you are jumping off that automatic train, you are in charge. By asking, you’re giving yourself options. You now have the ability to choose what direction to take.

And that is why it is so important to never stop experiment.