Living experimentally in a goal-obsessed world

Between juggling deadlines, tracking the latest trends, and trying to "keep up," it often feels like we're all running on cognitive fumes. We scroll endlessly, consume heaps of information, and chase productivity hacks, yet still end up feeling anxious and inadequate.

The truth is that our brains haven't evolved nearly as fast as our environment. We're using Stone Age wiring to survive in an age of algorithms. The result is cognitive overload—a state where the sheer volume of information and expectations overwhelms our ability to think clearly or act meaningfully.

But what if the solution isn't to do more, but to do smaller?

The power of tiny experiments 

In a world obsessed with big goals and grand plans, the idea of "tiny experiments" is almost rebellious. Instead of trying to overhaul our entire life in one heroic sweep, this approach asks us to take small, curiosity-driven steps, actions designed not for success or productivity, but for discovery and delight.

According to neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff, these micro-experiments shift us from a linear model of success ("first do A, then B, then C, and you'll arrive at happiness") to an experimental one, where curiosity leads, failure is data, and the goal is learning, not perfection.

In this mindset, success isn't a straight path, it's a series of loops. We try something, observe what happens, learn from it, and tweak. Scientists do this in labs all the time, but few of us apply it in real life. 

Rewire anxiety to awareness

Modern life constantly tempts us to react—to every email, notification, and headline. But between stimulus and response, as Viktor Frankl famously wrote, lies a small gap and in that gap, our freedom to choose (how or whether to respond).

Reclaiming authority over our response in that space, doesn't entail ignoring the emotions, rather it leads us to name them. Psychologists call this affective labeling, or simply, putting words to your feelings. When we say "I feel anxious" or "I feel frustrated," we're not being dramatic, but we're regulating the brain in a way.  Research shows that labeling emotions actually reduces activity in the amygdala, the part responsible for our fight-or-flight response, and increases activity in the rational prefrontal cortex.

If words fail you, even describing the emotions as landscapes ("It feels like a stormy forest" or "a fog over calm water") can help. The act of acknowledging what you feel is an act of power, it makes space for clarity before action.

Research even shows that uncertainty is more stressful to the brain than pain itself. When we can predict pain, we prepare; when we can't, we spiral. And yet, without uncertainty, there's no evolution. As paradoxical as it sounds, we must learn to seek discomfort, to invite the unknown if we want to expand.

The three subconscious mindsets

So much of what we do isn't conscious decision-making, it's habit, or worse, default programming. Psychologists have identified three default "mindsets" that often block growth:

The cynical mindset, where curiosity and ambition are both low. You doom scroll, criticise, and withdraw, numbing yourself to possibility. 

The escapist mindset, where curiosity thrives but ambition fades. You dream big, but don't take actions to achieve it, lost in distractions and daydreams of "someday."

The perfectionist mindset, where ambition runs high but curiosity dies. You chase goals not out of wonder, but out of fear, working to prove rather than to explore.

Modern neuroscientists offer an antidote to this - the experimental mindset, where curiosity and ambition exist in balance. You stay motivated but open-minded, goal-oriented but flexible. You see failures not as verdicts, but as data points.

Try something, observe what happens, learn from it, and tweak. Scientists do this in labs all the time, but few of us apply it in real life

Information isn't always knowledge

In the digital age, our brain thirst for information the same way it thirst for water. But information is not knowledge. We scroll, read, and collect opinions like pebbles, but real understanding comes only from doing.

When we confuse information for knowledge, we become passive consumers rather than active learners. We choose safety over experimentation, certainty over curiosity. Yet growth only happens when we embrace uncertainty, when we're willing to not know, and to see what happens next.

Research even shows that uncertainty is more stressful to the brain than pain itself. When we can predict pain, we prepare; when we can't, we spiral. And yet, without uncertainty, there's no evolution. As paradoxical as it sounds, we must learn to seek discomfort, to invite the unknown if we want to expand.

Breaking free from our cognitive scripts

Much of what holds us back are cognitive scripts—internalised "stories" about how life should unfold. We replay them automatically: the sequel script, where we keep making the same choices because "that's just who I am." The crowd-pleaser script, where our decisions orbit around others' approval. 

And finally, there's the epic script, society's favourite myth that everything we do must be monumental, ambitious, world-changing. This is especially seductive in the age of "find your purpose" culture. We're told that anything less than extraordinary is failure, that a quiet, content life is somehow small. But this obsession with purpose often leads not to meaning, but to burnout.

Winning the war against procrastination

Procrastination isn't always laziness. Sometimes, it's a message from your mind that something isn't aligned. The "triple check" method helps decode that message:

• Am I intellectually convinced this is worth doing?
• Do I emotionally want to do this?
• Do I have the tools or resources to do it well?

If all three are aligned and you still can't move forward, the barrier may be external—your environment, workplace, or system might not be supporting your focus. Sometimes, the most radical experiment is to change the environment entirely.

Become an anthropologist of your own life 

Just as an anthropologist observes participants, documents behaviours, and conducts ethnographic interviews, living experimentally means becoming a kind of self-anthropologist. Observe your habits, note what gives you energy, and question your assumptions. What makes you feel alive? What drains you? What stories about success are you still carrying that no longer serve you?

You don't need to find your grand purpose before you begin. You just need to design your next small experiment. Try something new for two weeks. Write daily for ten minutes. Walk without your phone. Track how it feels. Adjust. The world may be changing faster than our minds can process, but with curiosity as your compass and experimentation as your method, you can surely turn overwhelm into discovery and progress.

Miftahul Jannat is a journalist at The Daily Star and can be reached at: miftahul@thedailystar.net

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