New! Matt's Guides: You Did WHAT? 99 Playful experiments to live healthier and happier
Sunday, May 24, 2009 at 1:07PM I am delighted to announce the first in my series of productivity and living guides, You Did WHAT? 99 Playful experiments to live a healthier and happier life. While there will be plenty of productivity ones coming soon (including a forthcoming one on procrastination), this one popped out first. (As Steven Pressfield writes in The War of Art, "But the muse had me. I had to do it.")
This one is my guide to small activities you can easily try that help you be more engaged with your world. Unlike other books on improving your life, our approach uses small observations to foster change naturally through awareness.
The book starts with an essay introducing our unique perspective on treating life as an experiment, details the procedure for how to run them (including managing your experimenter's notebook and celebrating your results), and then lists 99 of them grouped by topic - Mindset, Emotions, Relationships, Being present, Community, Just for fun, Health, and Work.
Here's a sneak peek of a bonus one from the financial realm:
- Saving Money: For one month count the times you eat out at a restaurant. Don't worry about changing your behavior, just tally them up. Afterwards, look at the final numbers. Did the total surprise you? Did you become more aware of the cost? Did you find yourself thinking about whether to instead eat at home? Were there any patterns you could discern?
I invite you to buy a copy, and to feel free to share your stories [1] with me. Cheers!
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You Did WHAT?
99 Playful experiments to live a healthier and happier life Downloadable PDF Price $9  |
References
- [1] As an aside, our site thinktrylearn.com is on hold while we finish up our first prototype of edison, our experimenter's log that will let you track the experiments you start, make observations rapidly via your cell phone, and share what you discovered with others. On top of that will be a large self-help repository documenting the major ideas and techniques for personal development, along with suggested experiments. We'll tag each with categories like productivity ("Does GTD work?" "For who?" "For how long?"), health ("What diets have others had success with?"), personal development, etc. Finally, we'll ultimately have a statistical AI layer on top that will act as a guide to answering the question, What methods have most helped people like me? Overall this TTL PLATFORM will replace the current "search engine" mode of getting help (1. Search a massive self help section. 2. Find a thousand possibly-related pages. 3. Wander through the top hits on your own. 4. Maybe try some, probably with no careful testing. Etc.) Instead, our approach will be a more personal (and scientific!) one, based on trusted guidance and empirical results. More as it progresses!
Reader Comments (9)
Looks very interesting, but I think it would be nice if you provided a sneak peek of 1 or 2 out of the 99 experiments so we could have a better idea of what kind of material this is.
Thanks for the nudge - I'll do just that.
Any chance of selling a hard copy through print on demand? Lulu?
Hi Abe. Thanks for asking. I looked at Lulu but decided against it for two reasons: cost (they take a big %) and the need to send the cover separately. For a book this size (9 pages - it's formatted in two columns for readability and to save space) I figured my readers wouldn't mind printing it on their own. Let me know what you think - Do you think getting a printed copy, esp. for a book this size, is important?
Thanks a bunch for the comment.
That's reasonable. On the flip side, if it's that short, I might consider giving away for free to anyone who joins your mailing list. Or turn it into a blog/twitter series. By putting it behind a paywall you're limiting the opportunity to really grow your authority as a voice on experimentation/TTL as a path to self-improvement. Doesn't seem worth the tradeoff to me *unless* the book turns into a pretty solid revenue stream.
Thanks for the feedback, Abe. My goal is for a few of these to be helpful to each of my customers, and therefore well worth the $9. That's in addition to the experimental perspective, which I briefly describe at the start.
There's a balance between giving away all my value by blogging (as I've done for four years) vs. being paid for very solid parts of it. I need income to keep the IdeaMatt enterprise moving ahead, and as I concluded from my [ survey results | http://matthewcornell.org/2009/05/i-know-about-you-i-think.html ], writing guides like this is a way to do this.
This is an experiment. Until now, I've not provided ways for my readers to contribute financially. I'm building up a model of my readers and what they find valuable, and creating information products is my current focus. By the end of the year I plan to have a dozen guides, with a strong focus on productivity ones. Combined, I'd love to have some solid income as a result.
As always, I appreciate the comment. I'd love to hear more ideas.
Hi Matt:
I had fun reading your 99 experiments, thought of copying them and handing them out to students, but obviously I need your permission for that. School is over this week, so its probably too late even with permission --but should i get the chance, consider free copies for students! My general comment is that you are a wonderful, encouraging writer and if we did only a few of the 99, we would be better off for it.
Here's a few specific comments/ideas:
Mindset:
I know some of these experiments are methods from "positive psychology" --but like Marty Seligman, in describing how to "learn optimism" you leave out the mistakes we made in our "mindset" in terms of positive events. While, in our pessimistic mindset we think anything bad that happens is our fault, will generalize to multiple areas in our life, and will go on forever, but that is just half the story on pessimism. The other half is how we explain or interpret positive events that happen in our lives --the pessimistic road has us believing that anything positive is due to someone or something else (someone else made the good thing happen, luck made it happen), the good fortune will be short-lived, and finally, will effect little in our lives. In one study using Seligman's measure of explanatory style, we found the style of explanation for positive events was more highly associated with depression, than was the style for negative events. And yet Marty doesn't really address it in his conclusions for how to treat a pessimistic explanatory style.
Experiment: For a week, every evening, note down a good thing that happened to you during the day, and explain it happening because of something you did, and think about it effecting a great deal in your life, and finally, imagine that this new "luck" you have created will go on forever. A week of this has an interesting effect.
Another mindset idea --Carol Dweck (and Claud Steele, Joshua Aronson etc) discuss "intelligence" as something that is expandable, and that smartness, success, achievement, is a function of effort. When people think IQ is permanent, unchangeable, fixed, they tend to put little effort into endeavors that at first seem difficult. When they begin to think of IQ /success/achievement as expandable, through effort, they begin to put in that effort, and they begin to experience success.
Experiment: For a week, any time you think that you are not good enough, not smart enough, to do something you want to do (or feel jealous about, when someone else does it successfully), write it down and think about expandable intelligence and the effort effect. Then put in some effort around one of the areas you've thought about, and see what happens.
Emotions:
I often interpret jealousy in some interesting ways that can be helpful to people. If someone feels a wave of "jealousy" I suggest that he/she consider that the emotion means two possible things: 1) He/she is trying to build the other person --the object of the jealousy- up because he/she feels sorry for the object, and he/she is only vaguely aware of it, but upon reflection, he/she often gets to wherever it is that he/she feels sorry for the object; or 2) We feel jealous as a way to signal ourselves, "Hey that is something that I want to do, I hadn't been quite aware of it, but now I am, and I'll find a way to do it, make it a goal." The point here is that we always have ambitions and sometimes we don't know what they are until we feel "jealous" of someone who has accomplished the thing we want to do. I have never seen anyone feel "jealous" of something that is completely beyond their reach. We all have ambitions for things that we have the power to achieve. For example --I might admire the gymnasts but I don't feel "jealous" of them, because that is something completely impossible for me to achieve. But when I feel jealous of someone upon hearing about a book they published --that is signaling me that I want to write a book, and its time to get working on it. It is something I can do.
We all have ambitions no matter what stage of life we're in. If someone loves gardening, when they are young they may build a large garden, that requires a great deal of strength to maintain. In the late stages of life, he/she might be eager to build a beautiful window box of plants, and then nurse that with the same love they put into the larger garden, in their youth.
Experiment: For a week, every time you feel a pang of jealousy, note it down. That evening think about the situation and decide: 1) Do I really feel sorry for this person, and by being jealous, I am building the person up? or 2) Do I really want to do the thing that I am feeling jealous about, and if so, what plans might I make to accomplish it. Put this in writing, and think long and hard about it.
Your 99 experiments are really fun, I hope many read them and try them out (myself included).
I'll get back to this when I have time to reply next week. This is super helpful, Lynn. Thank you.
Hi Lynn,
My general comment is that you are a wonderful, encouraging writer and if we did only a few of the 99, we would be better off for it.
Wow - I'm really grateful for that, Lynn. It was thoughtful for you to think of your students, too.
Mindset .. the pessimistic road .. anything positive is due to someone or something else, the good fortune will be short-lived, and will effect little in our lives.
Really interesting, Lynn. Yep, it stinks. One person put it this way: Would you rather be happy, or right? Ummm .. both? :-) Makes my wonder the evolutionary advantages of pessimism. We can imagine the worst cases?
Experiment: For a week, every evening, note down a good thing that happened to you during the day, and explain it happening because of something you did, and think about it effecting a great deal in your life, and finally, imagine that this new "luck" you have created will go on forever. A week of this has an interesting effect.
Great one. It goes into the TTL repository of experiment ideas (with credit). I also love your rationale before each one. The academic shining through.
When they begin to think of IQ /success/achievement as expandable, through effort, they begin to put in that effort, and they begin to experience success.
Excellent point. I think I've heard of a related idea around child education. The advice was to encourage effort more than "intelligence." Kids can control effort, but not the latter. Also, the determination to put effort into things will continue to pay off a lifetime. And as you point it, it's apparently expandable. Neat.
Experiment: For a week, any time you think that you are not good enough, not smart enough, to do something you want to do (or feel jealous about, when someone else does it successfully), write it down and think about expandable intelligence and the effort effect. Then put in some effort around one of the areas you've thought about, and see what happens.
[Sound of idea going into idea jar.]
"jealousy" .. means two possible things: 1) .. trying to build the other person .. because he/she feels sorry for the object; or 2) .. a way to signal .. "Hey that is something that I want to do, I hadn't been quite aware of it, but now I am, and I'll find a way to do it, make it a goal."
Yes! I had thought of something like the latter, but hadn't taken it into action. Good thinking!
GreatQuote: Jealousy exposes ambition. I have never seen anyone feel "jealous" of something that is completely beyond their reach. We all have ambitions for things that we have the power to achieve. -- LynnOconnnor
:-)
.. But when I feel jealous of someone upon hearing about a book they published --that is signaling me that I want to write a book, and its time to get working on it. It is something I can do.
Thanks for sharing that. Terrific insight.
Experiment: For a week, every time you feel a pang of jealousy, note it down. That evening think about the situation and decide: 1) Do I really feel sorry for this person, and by being jealous, I am building the person up? or 2) Do I really want to do the thing that I am feeling jealous about, and if so, what plans might I make to accomplish it. Put this in writing, and think long and hard about it.
Your 99 experiments are really fun, I hope many read them and try them out (myself included).
Your comment and encouragement have blown me away, Lynn. I'm humbled and grateful!