“I need to figure out what I want to do… before I do anything.”
Such is the belief that keeps us stuck all the time.
You wait for clarity
You wait for certainty
You wait to feel “ready”
But you don’t get answers from thinking, you get answers from experimenting. The fastest way forward in life…is to stop trying to get it right, and start trying something right now.
The dangerous lie of certainty
We’re taught to live life like it’s a test.
Pick the right school.
Get the right job.
Marry the right person.
Follow the right path.
If you make the wrong move?
You fail.
But have you thought of this: clarity doesn’t come from overthinking, it comes from doing.
You don’t need to know your final destination.
You need to test the next step.
That’s how entrepreneurs find product-market fit.
That’s how artists discover their style.
That’s how you figure out what life you actually want.
By experimenting.
Why the experiment mindset works
Think of any experiment.
You start with a question: “What happens if I try this?”
You test it
You observe.
You adjust.
There’s no shame if it “fails”, because failure is feedback.
Now apply that to life:
“What happens if I write daily for 30 days?”
“What happens if I wake up at 6 AM instead of 8?”
“What happens if I say no to every non-essential task this week?”
Suddenly…
Life becomes lighter. The pressure drops. You stop needing perfect answers, and start seeking better questions.
This mindset shift alone can change everything.
Your life experiment framework
Here’s the framework I use in my own life. It’s simple and it works.
1️⃣ Hypothesis
What are you curious about? What’s the thing you’ve been avoiding, wondering, second-guessing?
Start here:
“What if I… stopped drinking for a month?”
“What if I… launched my newsletter this weekend?”
“What if I… told my boss I want different responsibilities?”
This is not a commitment for life. It’s a test.
You don’t need proof it’ll work, you just need permission to try.
2️⃣ Test
Pick a time frame.
Short. Specific. Realistic.
7 days? 30 days? 2 months?
Long enough to get feedback and short enough to keep it fresh, so you’re not paralyzed by it.
Set rules:
“No socials media before 10am”
“10 deep breaths at bedtime”
“Eat dinner without screens”
You’re collecting data. That’s it.
3️⃣ Measure
At the end of your experiment, ask:
How did I feel?
What surprised me?
What worked? What didn’t?
Was it easy? Hard? Insightful? Did it give you energy, or drain it?
You’re not looking for perfection. You’re looking for direction.
4️⃣ Adjust
Here’s the power move: take what worked, drop what didn’t and tweak what could improve. That’s growth.
Too many people do this backward.
They try one thing, and if it doesn’t blow their mind instantly…they quit.
But real growth is iterative.
Life gets better one experiment at a time.
Start your life experiments
Let’s make this real.
Pick an area of your life and try one:
Career
Launch a portfolio website in 7 days.
Try working from a coffee shop twice a week.
Reach out to 5 people in your industry for virtual coffees.
Health
Do 10 pushups every morning for 30 days.
Cut sugar for 2 weeks.
Walk 10,000 steps daily for 7 days.
Creativity
Publish a post every day on X for 30 days.
Start a Substack project and commit to 4 issues.
Design one graphic a day with Canva.
Relationships
Schedule one meaningful 30-min catch-up call weekly.
Leave your phone in another room during dinner.
Write a thank-you note every morning for 10 days.
The point isn’t to do them all, it’s to start one.
What about failure?
Let’s talk about the biggest fear: “What if I fail?”
Here’s a better question: “What if you don’t try?”
You stay in the same job, same habits, same routine for years, all because you're afraid something new might not work? Failure is only permanent if you stop experimenting.
And here’s the thing, even a “failed” experiment gives you clarity.
You realize what doesn’t work for you.
You build resilience.
You gain confidence in making decisions.
The worst case? You learn something.
The best case? You change your life.
Objections and answers
“But I don’t know where to start.”
Start small.
Pick one idea. Test it for 7 days. Track your results. Done.
“But what if people think I’m flaky?”
Let them.
It’s better to be growing than stuck trying to look consistent.
“But I don’t want to waste time.”
You’re already wasting time overthinking.
Action always moves you forward — even if the path changes.
Challenge yourself this week
Choose one area of life that feels stale.
Come up with one hypothesis: “What if I tried ___?”
Set a simple 7-day test.
Measure your experience. Journal one sentence daily.
Adjust next week based on what you learned.
You don’t need to change everything, you just need to start testing something.
The bottom line
Life isn’t a multiple-choice test but a series of open-ended questions. And you don’t need all the answers now. You just need the courage to ask better questions, and the discipline to explore them.
The people who grow the fastest? They aren’t the ones who plan the best but the ones who experiment the most.
So the next time you feel stuck…don’t wait for clarity.
Create it.
Your next breakthrough is one bold experiment away.
Dare to fail so you can dare to win - Moon AricaExpand your comfort zone here, tell me your thoughts:
Do you dare to try?
Have you experimented with important life events and fail / succeed?
Recently:
Thanks for reading.
“People prefer the certainty of misery to the misery of uncertainty.”
— Virginia Satir
It is interesting how many people coming from different perspectives arrive at the same conclusions. This quote was from a school thesis penned nearly 100 years ago.
If you're not constantly experimenting, you've either made it and life couldn't be better or you've grown too comfortable.