Welcome (back) to my word for the year! How can I add more curiosity to my life? What little changes can I make to feel more engaged, inspired, or playful? Enter my word for 2024: Experiment.
How do I set my focus, intention, or word of the year?
Unlike a resolution that tends to have an expiration date, setting a word for the year has become an annual process for me. “Experiment” itself is part of a bigger strategy because it is inherently active, and I can keep running experiments all year long. Reflecting, I have chosen this word to run in tandem with my 2024 goals and values.
“Experiment” is unlike previous annual word choices, starting with a story.
My 6-year-old godson loves to play, learn, and explore. When I watched him last month, we ran an experiment. Starting with some store-bought goo, we transformed the stuff over the course of our 8 precious hours together. Not-so-little man and I added sand, marshmallows, water, carrots, and probably more things.
We hypothesized that the anamorphous solid would change, but we didn’t know how, and so we waited, applied pressure, and gave time to see how it transformed. Ultimately, we combined all the ingredients, occasionally watching it, but we also played with other things so we weren’t simply waiting. Thinking like a scientist can start young!
My godson C and I were active participants in the 1-day long experiment, but we also let the stuff solidify, liquify, and solidify once more, the goo transforming to a more solid state. There are so many implications from this time together, from learning and letting go, to playing and resting. Inspired by my 6-year-old scientist of a godson, I am setting “experiment” for my word for the year.
2024 marks the third time I’m setting a word for the year.
2022 explored “grace”, and last year’s phrase was “inner compass.” “Grace” was all about what I wanted to give and receive, and “inner compass” focused on how I wanted to present to myself to the world, internally and externally. Experiment, by comparison, will challenge me to run small tests, mainly focused on what I think, do, and how I react.
This word is both active and responsive, giving ample space for choices and results. I am excited to make small changes to my routines, and I can choose how to respond to these updates. If I deem the experiment worthy of being integrated into my habits/systems/daily life, I may see larger or longer transformations to my well-being.
Conversely, I may not like the results of the experiment(s) and will choose a short-term, temporary experiment instead. There’s an element of potential while experimenting, and I cling to that curiosity of discovery. And there’s another choice, too, I can choose to share if an experiment affects others.
My goal is to run at least 10 experiments in 2024.
I plan to explore at least 1 question, hypothesis, or if/then statement every month of the year. With the 10 letters in “experiment”, I’m starting with e, then x, then p, through the rest of the word. I’ll share thoughts on the 10th of every month, following last year’s word for the year content calendar, as I posted about “inner compass” on the 10th monthly.
Therefore, in 2024, I will set the experiment on the 10th of the month and report back findings on the following month, going through the entire 10-letter word. Then, at the end of 2024, I’ll share final(?) thoughts, conclusions, and results on December 10th.
I am the subject and participant of these experiments, with the ultimate goal of positively affecting my life.
Since this is a year-long process, these small changes may affect my schedules and systems. By integrating creativity and playfulness more regularly, I can honestly examine my life, presently and retroactively. These are experiments on MY current life, using questions and if/then statements to determine what works and what doesn’t for me.
For example, my first experiment could be, ‘If I exercise first thing in the morning, I will be happier later in the day.’ Certainly, I may consider sharing with others if they might be influenced by the experiments’ outcome(s). For example, for the x in experiment, I am thinking of the question, ‘What happens when I express my emotions right away?’ As these answers/results may affect others, I mean no harm and am aiming for fun, flow, and fulfillment.
Therefore, my first experiment of 2024 is ready to begin. I want to ease into the year, and unfortunately, life has kicked me a bit. My car, family, and transition back to grad school/work need support. But I also desire more fun through learning, exploring, and creating. So for the E in “experiment”, I am choosing: engage.
Over the next 30 days, I will run my first experiment as an if/then statement: “If I track my phone use, I’ll engage with life more.”
I’d like to make habit swaps for mindless scrolling. Most of the time, such use is from alone time, often when I’d like to be sleeping. Scrolling feels like a mindless activity, often a time-sucker. I don’t have time for that.
Plus, as the next quarter of my grad school program in Library/Information Science just started, I’m back to regular studying and working, so my time is more precious. Friends, family, and coworkers deserve my attention, and I typically don’t have the phone out when I’m hanging with them, so I’d like to value such phone-free time when I’m alone, too. I’d like to engage with life in-person as much as possible, not on the screen.
This “engagement” experiment is three-fold:
- I have downloaded the Forest app, remembering the tool my friend Andrea used for productivity and positive reinforcement. I’ve never used it before, but I hope building virtual forests through time away can inspire me to maintain engagement with physical life.
- Forest says virtual coins can be used to plant trees on Earth. Trees are amongst my favorite things, so this is amazing positive reinforcement.
- I am not sure if the app provides a tracker for what I’m doing and when, so I may create a spreadsheet to manually track phone use/habits, too.
As promised, I’ll report back findings from this first experiment on February 10th. How much time will I spend on the phone, knowing minutes are tracked and could support tree-planting? I may even post results and ideas on my social media, with the irony not lost on me.
Are you setting a word, intention, or goal for the year? Feel free to share your comments and ideas. Cheers to experimenting and engaging with life!
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