https://nesslabs.com/big-fears

People fear of failure. But look it in another way:

• We put off doing things because we’re unsure how they will turn out.
• We avoid situations where we may have to try something new in front of other people.
• We avoid doing things we know will improve our lives because we don’t have all the necessary skills.
• We give ourselves the illusion of growth by reading, researching, watching videos… Anything but doing the thing and risking being judged by others.

We just don’t do things.

“Tiny Experiments” means something small enough that there’s no excuse not to try. As long as we find it, we just DO IT.

Instead of imagining all the ways you may fail, turn your doubts into questions. Maybe nothing good will happen… but a child would certaintly not take the answer for granted.

How to do that thing immediately? just like this:

Practically, here is how you can start applying this approach of deliberate experimentation right now:

• Pick something you’ve been putting off because of fear. Is it public speaking? Starting a blog? Producing a podcast? Launching your first product? Write it down.
• Define one tiny experiment you can design to explore this fear. It should be actionable – something simple enough that you can just do it in a few days at most.
• Do it! Don’t plan anything. Don’t research the best way to go about it. Don’t announce it on Twitter. Just do it.
• Reflect on what happened. Any negative reactions? What about your emotions? What did you learn? Write all of these thoughts down. It’s a great way to practice metacognition (Plus Minus Next works great for this).
• Rinse and repeat. Keep defining incremental steps in the form of tiny experiments that fall out of your comfort zone but are not scary to the point of being paralyzing. Again, avoid overthinking it beforehand. Just do it, and reflect only after you have performed the experiment.

That’s it.

Notes at 2025-02-17