Try Out The New Thing

“Reinvention is a verb-created phenomenon. You don’t experience a reinvention. You reinvent. You don’t think your way into a new life. You don’t manifest it into reality. You don’t dream it. You act it into reality.” -Sahil Bloom

“You cannot think your way into a new life; you have to build your way into it. Drop the heavy blueprints, build a low-stakes prototype, and step into the future you want to experience…A prototype isn’t a commitment; it’s a conversation with your future self. Try stuff, gather the data, and let the real world guide your next move. Your life is always a work in progress.” –Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

I love this post about reinventing from Sahil Bloom.

If you’re seeking to make a big change in your life but feeling anxious about doing so, why not split the difference? Before outright quitting, try out the new thing. Take it for a test drive.

As Sahil advises, set a goal of 30 minutes a day for 30 days in a row of doing the new thing. Take action on it.

Depending on your desired change, this could involve things like:

-Having casual learning conversations with people who are doing the new thing you’re interested in.

-Having conversations with trusted friends and/or family members.

-Attending industry or networking events.

-Reading books or articles about your new field

-Reaching out to potential clients for your new business idea.

-Building your website or a simple landing page for your product/service offering.

-Writing a strategic or business plan, including budget and financial projections.

If 30 minutes for 30 days is too daunting, do 20 for 20. The point is, make a commitment to trying out your desired change (aka “prototyping“) and then do it.

You’ll either find out that you love the new thing and then be much more ready to go all in on it. Or, you’ll find you don’t love the new thing as much as you thought you did. You’ll stick with what you were doing, yet work to find something else.

And if you can’t or are unwilling to commit to trying out the new thing?…Well, now you know you’re not ready or it’s not the right thing.