THE PROCEDURE FOR LIFE

You might recall that I wrote about the scientific method and how we should adopt it in our everyday lives. But the question is how? There's been a few ways in which I have given this my best attempt over the years. I have had a great experience with it. There aren't many things that sound appealing to me that I haven't done because of the principles below. These are the principles that I used to get where I am today. They were all instrumental. I hope they serve you as well as they have served me.

There is a litany of valuable information out there to leverage. In the science realm, if you have questions about a topic, you look up the research pertaining to that topic. These papers are just the collections of ideas from individuals who had the same questions/interest and took the time to explore. Similarly, there's people who have done just about everything you can think to do. Just like you'd look up and read academic articles, look up and connect with the individuals who have done what's interesting to you/the things you have questions about.

Coffee dates/phone calls

The power of a lunch, coffee meeting, or regular old phone call is immense. People love educating and they love talking about themselves. Is there a career field you have seen and are interested in but know nothing about? Perfect, jump on your computer, or phone, go on LinkedIn, and start searching that position. You'll find job openings, average salaries, and companies who need that role. Once you know a little bit about the role, go to one of the company pages, find the person that either performs that job or did perform that job. Email them and ask if they'd be willing to jump on the phone or grab some coffee so you can ask about what they do, the path they took to get there, and how they enjoy their work. I can't emphasize enough how easy it is to get people to meet. I have met with people who have insanely high net worths by simply sending a friendly email. Successful people like sharing, people in cool positions like sharing. It's the trait that can be thought of as annoying in human beings, but if you learn to leverage it, it can work wonders for your life experiment.

Think of it like this: When researchers are going to conduct a new study on a topic, they start with reading the current literature. What are people already discovering in this area that I can use to help guide my research. That's why you normally see academic papers have a reference page of hundreds of other papers. As we go out into the world running our life experiments, we should be looking to others to gather relevant information to be better informed when establishing our experiment. People can share valuable insight and save you time and money. This resource costs you no more than a cup of coffee and can lead to life-long relationships. Now remember, we're trying to blaze our own trail here, test our own hypothesis. We need to use these conversations of supporting evidence, our "works cited." Don't plagiarize. Write your own damn paper.

Shadowing

Here you need to be bit more convincing because somebody is going to have to let you into their inner circle. Shadowing is a free service that you offer to somebody to gain experience. Many people will go online to look up shadowing opportunities. This is the wrong place to go. It's like any good real estate investor knows, the deals that are out on the internet and being advertised are not the good ones. The best deals are the ones you find off the beaten path by just doing some digging yourself. Once it's known by everybody, it's no longer going to be as lucrative as demand/competition reduces return. We're trying to find the off-market deal. The one nobody knows about. So how do you find these shadowing opportunities? Phone calls and emails! Our favorite.

Find somebody who does something that interests you. It doesn't even have to be a lot of interest. Reach out to them to get coffee or lunch or just to chat over the phone. Build this relationship, and when the time is right, ask them if they would consider letting you shadow. How do I know when the time is right? This is going to be where having good social skills comes into play (or being able to write a good email). You need to establish some credibility, why should they give you the time of day? Come from a place of genuine curiosity. You might end up not liking what they do and that's exactly what shadowing is for. They understand that when they agree to let you shadow. You need to be curious about what they do, you do not have to pretend like you like it.

Prioritize Experience (Risk)

Do things that peak your interest. Especially while you're young. You know what a 20 year old has over a 60 year old? 40 years of time. Time to do what? Gain experience. That might mean traveling to see new places, starting that business you've considered, picking up new hobbies, etc. There's so many things out there to try that you'd never even think twice about until you try it and see how you like it. A great example of this from an anecdotal standpoint would be my experience roasting coffee.

I was ignorant about coffee up until a food chemistry course that taught me about it. I expressed interest in it and my mom bought me a little coffee roaster for Christmas--a $180 table top roaster. I ended up running a coffee roasting company for years selling to grocery stores, restaurants, cafes, etc. I was selling to our first grocery store using that $180 roaster.... This never would have happened if I didn't dive into that curiosity and explore a little. There were many times that I was in over my head and didn't know what would come next, but I just kept making decisions and moving forward until I figure things out. I was constantly just running experiments over and over and over. That's how we've acquired all the knowledge we possess as a species. It's a very powerful thing.

Don't be afraid of being wrong

The best scientists set out on a mission to prove their claims wrong. Each time you're wrong, there's one less way you know how to not do that thing. As Thomas Edison was famously quoted: “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” If you worry about stumbling into failure, you've already failed... It's inevitable and very powerful as we've discussed before.

Our fear of failure needs to be turned into a love. We often follow the cultural script of life because it's the path that yields the least amount of failure. That means the path that yields the least developed individual. You're the least true version of yourself to exist because you lack the experiences that will shape you. Think about it.

Stop assuming

Some of these principles have been around for so long it's a shame you don't seem them implemented more. We love to assume, on both small and large scales. An example of assuming on small scale would be assuming the intent of another person. Let's say somebody does something that you convince yourself was done specifically to hurt you. You assume that instead of having a conversation. They didn't mean to do that thing and can't fix it or give you insight as to why they did or didn't do that thing that made you upset. You expect them to use their non-existent Jedi powers to read your mind and approach you first about the situation. You ASSUME that they know what you know and are aware of what you're thinking and feeling. You are looking only from your point of view. This is selfish. This will severely limit your growth and progress in this world. Remember that people are ignorant. Do not punish those who know not what they do--be the one who likes to solve the issues, not let them fester and grow. Slay the dragon while it's still young as Jordan Peterson would say.

Assuming on a large scale would be making the assumption that you're in the right place and doing the right thing in life. Don't assume. Find out. This means exploration. Experiencing new things, constantly. Why do you think ice cream stores offer samples? They understand the principle of trying things before you commit to a whole ice cream cone. And that's ice cream. Now imagine not trying out a few options before choosing YOUR CAREER. Crazy.

When we assume, we only deepen our level of ignorance. We prevent ourselves from making any discovery because we believe we already know. Understand that you're ignorant. Embrace that you're ignorant. To be ignorant is to be human. Be a human. Accept that ignorance exists so you may combat it via the acquisition of knowledge.

There's more but this is getting too long. I'll add to it at some point.

Get out there and have some coffee with some cool people.

~ Bonde