4146: [Part 1] A Helpful Guide To Lifestyle Experiments by Anthony Ongaro of Break the Twitch on Lifestyle Design

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[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_00] This is Optimal Living Daily, a helpful guide to lifestyle experiments, part one by Anthony Ongaro of Break the Twitch.com. And I'm your narrator, Justin Malik, reading you blogs every single day of the year. Now today's article is a little longer than normal, so I'll read the first half today, then finish up the rest tomorrow. So with that, let's get right to part one as we optimize your life.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00] A helpful guide to lifestyle experiments, part one by Anthony Angaro of BreakTheTwitch.com. Feeling stuck can be the absolute worst. You know you're really not happy with your current circumstance, but also might not know where to start to get unstuck. With millions of solutions out there, there's no shortage of offerings for things to buy, diets to try, and quick fix answers to your problems.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00] Most often, the answer requires nothing but a little bit of science, lifestyle experiments to be exact. Over the last few years, I've tested dozens of lifestyle experiments to see how the change would influence my and Amy's life. In fact, you could call our rounds of decluttering and downsizing as several lifestyle experiments, ones that led to the eventual launch of this website, and massively positive life changes over the following years. So, sound interesting? Let's get into it.

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00] A lifestyle experiment is just like a science experiment, but instead of science, you're experimenting with changing your lifestyle to see how it may improve or worsen your circumstances. Once a conclusion is reached, you can choose whether to continue that lifestyle change. Lifestyle is the way a person or group lives. Experiment is a scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate unknown fact.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00] In this post, I'll walk you through everything you need to know to successfully execute a lifestyle experiment and share some ideas of experiments to try. At the very end, I'll share some of my most successful lifestyle experiments that I've tried over the last few years. Types of Lifestyle Experiments Although there are infinite lifestyle experiments to try, they tend to fall into one of just a few categories. To quickly explain and demonstrate each type, I'll use drinking coffee as an example.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00] A single lifestyle experiment drinking coffee might be any of these. 1. Add. Start drinking coffee. 2. Remove. Stop drinking coffee. 3. Swap. Drink tea instead of coffee. 4. Create. Only drink coffee that you brew yourself. 5. Track. Record how many times per week you drink coffee. It's pretty straightforward, right? General guidelines for lifestyle experiments.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_00] 1. Timeline When designing your lifestyle experiment, you'll want to choose a set period of time to perform the experiment, at the end of which, you'll make a decision based on the result. The timeline should be short enough that you can complete the experiment, but long enough that you'll be able to fully experience any long-term results from it. I highly recommend a minimum of 21 days and a maximum of 90 days. Don't try to swing for the fences, especially if this is your first time trying lifestyle experiments.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_00] You can always extend the timeline longer than you'd like, but it's not helpful to cut it short, unless the results are really negative and you need to stop. With that in mind, do not push yourself beyond what you're comfortable with. If something isn't working for you, stop and try something else. 2. Difficulty.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00] Make small changes, test new ideas for set periods of time, and let those changes compile as you grow. None of this is instant, so when starting out, make it easy. 3. Trackable If the experiment isn't easily trackable, you don't have much of an experiment. Whether in a notepad or your favorite smartphone app, you need to track your progress and record your findings along the way. Armed with that information, you'll be ready to make a better decision when the time comes.

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00] Results may come quickly or not at all, and that's okay. As my 7th grade science teacher, Mr. Bradley, taught me, even nothing is something. Especially when removing something like a recurring expense, you may find that you feel no different, but end up saving the money you would have spent. That kind of nothing is certainly something in my book. 4. Isolation. While it doesn't have to be anywhere near perfect, I wouldn't recommend trying five different lifestyle experiments all at once.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00] Isolate your results by choosing one at a time and see what results come. Trying too many things at once will not only exhaust you, but lead to confusing results at the end. For example, was it drinking more water every day that made me feel better, or drinking less coffee? Just like a good science experiment, if you have too many variables, you'll never know what actually caused the positive change. Lifestyle experiment, and ideas. Now that you have your lifestyle experiment pro tips,

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00] it's time to start designing your own. As you consider what lifestyle experiments to try, make sure you're prioritizing safety first, and do some research on any potential side effects before beginning your experiment. And there's a list of 20 lifestyle experiments to get you started in this post. Tips to stick with it. Hear that in tomorrow's episode. You just listened to part one of the post titled, A Helpful Guide to Lifestyle Experiments,

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00] by Anthony Angaro of Break2Twitch.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_00] they'll ask you how you heard about superpower. Tell them OLD sent you to support the show. Take it to Anthony. Check out Anthony's post, which is linked in this episode's description to see that list of 20 ideas. Really great ideas there. I didn't want to read them all to you because you'd probably forget and they're all written there for you on his post. Again, you can find the link to this article in the show notes of today's episode in your podcast player or at oldpodcast.com.

[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_00] The one general guideline that I really believe in here and can't stress enough based on my own experience is difficulty. I do agree that timeline, tracking, and isolation are important too. But if those didn't happen, you still can succeed if that behavior isn't too difficult. Whereas if you followed all the other guidelines, but the behavior was too difficult, you'd still have a really, really hard time making it last.

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_00] So definitely take that to heart. Could make all the difference. But we'll hear more tomorrow, so I'll stop there for today. Have a great weekend if you're listening in real time, and I'll catch you on tomorrow's episode where we'll finish up this post. So I'll see you there where your optimal life awaits. It's

[00:09:47] Thank you.