Highlights from "Tiny Experiments"

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

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.

our brain is uncomfortable in the in-betweens. We are wired to quickly label situations as good or bad, an evolutionary mechanism designed to protect us from unknown risks.

When we fixate on finding one singular purpose, we rule out the side quests that help us grow the most.

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

I will [action] for [duration]. The pact is the fundamental building block of personal experimentation, a self-invitation to try something new and learn from the experience. It’s a call to escape inertia and live in forward motion.

We have very little control over how we feel, which is why it’s hard to force ourselves to feel motivated. A pact solves this challenge by emphasizing doing over planning. As psychologist and philosopher William James explained: “Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.”

To live in Kairos time, we need to shift the focus from what we do with our time to how we experience each moment—what you might call mindful productivity. 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.

Many believe they are morning larks or night owls but haven’t reassessed this in years. As you grow older, changes in your lifestyle and responsibilities can influence your natural rhythms.

Managing your physical resources ultimately boils down to discarding the unrealistic expectation of always being “at your best.” Energy naturally fluctuates; attempting to maintain a perpetual peak is not just impossible but detrimental to your well-being. Respecting your natural rhythms can lead you to have a healthier relationship to work as well as increased productivity and creativity.

Striving to put 100 percent effort into everything you do is a recipe for burnout.

At any given moment, ask yourself: What is most important right now? In which domain do I strategically choose short-term mediocrity to enable long-term excellence?

it’s not about always being the best at everything all the time. Excellence is a marathon, not a sprint.

metacognition is curiosity directed at your inner world—your thoughts, your emotions, your beliefs. It empowers you to be the master of your mind, providing you with the tools to shape these inner experiences in a way that brings you closer to your aspirations.

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).

When your aim is to learn, quitting is not an admission of failure. It’s an exercise in adaptability. There is no point in rigidly clinging to an obsolete path when everything else has changed. Pausing is the appropriate move when the data you’ve collected strongly indicates a new course of action, when your efforts are negatively affecting your physical or mental health, or when there is no joy or clear value in continuing.

The only failure is to confuse mindless movement with mindful momentum. As long as you keep on adapting, learning, and growing, you are winning.