4 Unique Experiments to Change Your Life for the Better
They are easy to implement but not everyone has the courage to do it.
I am a huge proponent of change especially of change that does well in the long-term.
People don’t like change and why would they even if it is good for them. We humans love to follow set patterns and routines. If it is working for us and leaves us feeling good and satisfied, then why in the world would we want to embrace change?
It turns out there are some things in life that have a crazy appeal to us human beings, but if we constantly embrace it and allow it to settle in our lives, then we take a turn for the worst.
We become so used to some things that we can’t imagine our lives without it. Some examples include mobile phones, social media, fast food, etc.
However, we need to do and embrace change so we can improve our lives for the better.
“Change begins at the end of your comfort zone.” — Roy T. Bennett
If you have the courage to even think about doing some of what I am going to say, then please keep reading.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Good luck!
1. Eliminate social media for 1 week
Now why did I choose this experiment?
Simple.
Social media is freaking addicting and life-draining.
Here are some statistics about social media:
- In 2018, 3.1 billion people were users of social media.
- 210 million people have been estimated to suffer from social media & internet addiction and that number is only growing.
- 50% of people who drive while using a smartphone are actually checking social media.
- The average time spent on social media is around 2 hours & 25 minutes every day.
When social media first started gaining steam, especially after the launch of Facebook, people viewed it as a way to connect and interact with people. That is still true today. However, social media has slowly taken a foothold in our lives where we don’t feel complete without excessively indulging in it.
Instagram, Twitter, and other social media have made it easier to share and express our content but that has come with an enormous cost that we are all too familiar about.
A few likes, comments, or even the sound of a notification is enough to make us stop what we are doing and to run towards our phones eager to see the surprise.
Once we start scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, we feel satisfied and this causes the release of dopamine (the feel-good and reward hormone). That is why it’s hard to put down our phones once we start using them.
So, we all know how social media is ruining our lives for the worst.
Time to make a change.
For the next 1 week, commit to eliminating all social media from your life. This does not mean to delete your social media accounts unless that is something that you want to do.
For the whole week, you are not allowed to use any form of social media which includes Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, etc. You also can’t look up other people’s social media profiles.
After you do this experiment and you feel good about it, why not extend it to 2 weeks or a month or even a full-year?
The purpose of this is to show you how the time not spent on social media can be spent on other more productive and life-boosting things such as reading books, spending time with family, improving yourself, exercising, etc.
2. Meditate for 20 minutes every day for 1 week
First, let’s talk about meditation.
It’s basically about reaching an emotionally calm state where you practice focus concentration and bringing yourself back to the moment.
Now, why did I choose meditation?
Time for statistics:
- In 2017, 284 million people worldwide had an anxiety disorder.
- Almost 1 in 5 American adults say that their mental health has declined since last year (2020).
- 1/3 of people around the world have reported feeling stressed or worried in 2019.
Life is uncertain, stressful, and not fair. That is the truth.
Social media, work issues, health problems, family problems, money issues, etc. all exacerbate the stress and tension we face in life.
The world has problems, and we need solutions. Fast!
While there are many ways to cope with stress, many people have resorted to meditation, and for good reason.
Meditation has been shown to:
- Reduce stress and control anxiety
- Improve focus and concentration
- Fight substance addiction
- Assist with memory and lengthen attention span
There are so many ways to meditate but the most common form is “mindfulness meditation.”
This type of meditation involves slowing down racing thoughts and simply acknowledging them as they pass and go. It helps you reach a calm state, like all forms of meditation.
To start,
- Find a comfortable and quiet place to sit with no distractions.
- Close your eyes.
- Slowly breathe in and out while focusing your attention on the air moving into your body and the rise/fall of your chest.
- When your mind wanders, it’s okay and gently return your attention to the breath.
- Do this for a set amount of time.
- Once you are done, simply open your eyes.
For this experiment, I want you to meditate for 20 minutes a day for 1 entire week. You get to decide at what time of day you want to meditate.
Make sure the place you choose is quiet and distraction-free.
A study found that after just four days of daily 20-minute meditation, participants showed significant improvements in memory and had lowered stress levels.
If you liked this experiment, I would encourage you to make it a lifelong habit. Meditation brings an array of benefits and the longer you do it, the better the results.
3. Cut out fast food from your life for 1 month
Fast food is both a blessing and a curse.
It is relatively inexpensive (open to debate), convenient, and tastes so darn good.
However, fast food is known for being high in sodium, saturated fat, and loaded with calories. Plus, too much of it can accelerate the rise of conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.
If you haven’t noticed, I am regularly using statistics in this story to first scare you and then to convince your mind to carry out these experiments.
You’re welcome!
Statistics, here we go:
- About 85 million Americans eat fast food on a given day.
- A typical fast food meal represents almost 37% of your daily calories.
- 34% of children between the ages of 2–19 eat fast food daily.
Fast food once in a while is okay but when you consume it regularly, things take a turn for the worse.
The U.S. adult obesity rate is 42.4% and has increased by 26% since 2008. Much of this is because of the Western diet, which is high in saturated fat, sugar, processed foods, fast food, etc.
It’s time to cut fast food out of your life and to do this, I want you to stop consuming any sort of fast food, which also includes junk food.
So no pizza, hotdogs, sandwiches, burgers, ice cream, fries, chicken nuggets, tacos, etc. for 1 month.
After 1 month, if you like how you feel, continue this experiment for however long you want. Just remember, the more you keep doing this experiment, the better the benefits you will experience.
4. Wake up 1 hour before your regular wake-up time for 1 week
Time. Time. Time.
I have no time. Stop bothering me. The deadline is fast approaching. I don’t have the time to do this. I’m too busy. I can’t manage my time and my life at the same time.
HELLLLLP!!
I think we can all agree we have been there ^ at some point in our lives.
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” — Michael Altshuler
You know what time it is right?
Of course you do.
Time statistics:
- 48.4% of college students admit they don’t have enough time to do their course work.
- In a typical workday, 80% is spent doing tasks with little value while 20% is spent doing something important.
We all have 24 hours in a day and we are always in a seesaw trying to balance our time to accommodate life, work, priorities, family, etc.
Whether you are a student or a professional working at a company, anyone can benefit from better time management.
People feel that if they had extra time, they could get their assignments done on time, meet lengthy deadlines, work on their side-hustles or passions, etc.
But with so much to balance, how in the world do you get extra time in your day?
One effective way is to wake up early in the morning. Now I don’t mean waking up super early like at 3 or 4 AM unless that is what you want to do.
For this experiment, I want you to wake up at least 1 hour before your regular wake-up time.
So if you regularly wake up at 7 AM, start waking up at 6 AM. This experiment will also require you to sleep earlier than your regular bedtime to ensure that you still get 7–8 hours of quality sleep.
When you wake up 1 hour before than usual, I would encourage you to use this time productively. You can use it to work on an assignment, focus on your side-hustle, complete small assignments, etc.
What I don’t want you to do is to think that because you woke up early, you can use this time for social media, gaming, slacking off, etc. In the morning, it’s usually quiet so please reserve this time to do productive and efficient work.
After the completion of this experiment, if you liked how much you were able to accomplish, then change your wake-up and bedtime to correlate with your increased productivity.
Also make sure you regularly get 7–8 hours of quality sleep every single night.
Takeaways
All 4 of these experiments will require some change and getting used to. But once you start, you will slowly see how much of a positive impact it has on you.
When you wake up an hour before your regular wake-up time, you may feel groggy and sleepy since you are not used to it. However, keep doing it for a week and by making sure you are productive in that time you have, you will appreciate the benefits.
These experiments are one week long except for the fast food experiment which is one month long.
At the end of the experiment, evaluate how you feel. If you feel like nothing has changed for the better, keep doing the experiment since over time, the results may show.
If you felt that your mental health and physical health have improved, then I would encourage you to keep doing these experiments.
You don’t have to start with all 4 at the same time but if you want, go ahead.
“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” — Andy Warhol
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