Experiments

Talk is cheap.

Essential to Raptitude is the idea of experimentation. Concepts and insights can be useful and encouraging, but it is the application of those ideas that effect big improvements in one’s life. It can be very revealing (and fun) to try on a new habit or technique for a week or two (or four), and observe the results.

I will conduct experiments in my own life and post my observations and conclusions. I would love to hear about your experiments too.

All Raptitude experiments will be listed here.

Raptitude Experiment No. 1 — Sharpening the Mind

In this experiment I attempt to engage in formal sitting meditation every day for thirty days.  I’ve meditated many times before, but not in a disciplined stretch like this.  Will I become the Buddha, or succumb to the restless monkey mind?

View experiment log no. 1 – View final report

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Raptitude Experiment No. 2 — Strength, Soviet Style

In this experiment, I employ a low-tech Russian implement, the kettlebell, to see what sort of improvements I can make to my physique in six short weeks. Will I achieve world domination, or will the kettlebell crush me under its ironclad boot?

View experiment log no. 2 – View final report

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Raptitude Experiment No. 3 — 30 Days Without Drugs

In this experiment, I attempt to throw off the cultural shackles of casual drug use, notably alcohol and caffeine. Will I stand sober and self-assured amidst the crowds of tipsy twenty-somethings, or will I find I don’t belong anymore?

View experiment log no. 3 – View final report

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Raptitude Experiment No. 4 — Defensive Eating

In this experiment, I set out to renegotiate my relationship to food and lose the “spare tire” that has formed during this summer’s ice cream binges. Eating with care and mindfulness, I vow to no longer eat to the point of sluggishness, and to hit the kettlebells again. Will I deliver a fit and strong David to New Zealand this fall, or will I slip quietly back to “almost healthy?”

View experiment log no. 4 – View Final Report

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Raptitude Experiment No. 5 — The End of Negativity

In this experiment, I aim to eliminate the habit of casual negativity using a simple method pioneered by a Missouri minister. The experiment will be over when I’ve gone 21 consecutive days without complaining, disparaging or gossiping. It will probably take a lot longer than 21 days.  Will I achieve a state of total non-negativity forevermore? Or will I finally collapse into a heap of cursing and bitterness?

View experiment log no. 5

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Photo by ArtemFinland