小小实验，大大发现｜Tiny Experiments, Big Discoveries

往下拉阅读中文版。

A gentle guide to finding your path by being curious

Have you ever felt like everyone around you is racing ahead - getting better grades, more likes, or cooler hobbies? Maybe you've asked yourself, “Am I fast enough? Smart enough? Successful enough?”

You're not alone.

Today, we live in a world where it's easy to compare ourselves with others. Social media shows us a giant scoreboard of everyone’s lives. And sometimes, that can make us feel like we need to be super busy, always achieving something big. This is called toxic productivity - working so hard that we forget to take care of our minds and hearts.

But what if there's another way?

💡 Discovering your purpose isn't about chasing it - it's about following your curiosity.

Many happy adults say they didn’t plan their dream job. They found it by exploring. That means:

• Trying new things

• Playing around

• Making mistakes

• Learning what excites you

You don’t need a perfect plan. You need tiny experiments.

🧪 What’s a tiny experiment?

It’s something small you try, just to see how it feels. Like:

• Writing a poem each day for a week

• Baking your own recipe

• Trying out a new hobby just for fun

These experiments help you learn what you enjoy - not what the world thinks you should do.

🧠 Why does our brain get overwhelmed?

Your brain is amazing - but it hasn’t changed much in thousands of years. It still tries to keep you safe by gathering tons of information. But now, there’s too much! News, videos, homework, future goals... your brain gets overloaded.

When we feel unsure or scared of the future, it’s called uncertainty, and our brain really doesn’t like that.

But here's the trick: instead of running from uncertainty, we can turn it into an adventure.

🌈 Be an explorer, not a perfectionist.

A perfectionist wants everything to be perfect. But perfection can feel like a heavy backpack. An explorer wants to try things out and learn as they go. And that’s where the magic happens.

🧭 Build your own life experiments

Start by asking:

• What makes me smile?

• What do I always want to learn more about?

• What drains my energy?

Then try a “pact.” That means a promise you make to yourself, like:

“I’ll draw one picture a day for a week and see how I feel.”

After that, you can choose to:

• Keep going (if you love it)

• Pause (if it’s not the right time)

• Change it up (if it needs a little twist)

🌱 You don’t need a BIG purpose to have a meaningful life.

Some people think they have to change the world to matter. But that’s not true. A quiet life, full of kindness, creativity, and small joys, is also a beautiful life.

What matters most is:

• Being curious

• Being kind to yourself

• Listening to your emotions

• Trying new things

🕵️‍♀️ Try being a “self-anthropologist”

That means studying yourself the way scientists study nature.

Watch what gives you energy, what makes you tired, what makes you happy. Ask:

• Why do I enjoy this?

• Why do I get bored of that?

• What’s one tiny thing I want to explore this week?

Your life is not a to-do list. It’s a story you get to write - one tiny experiment at a time. 🌟

你有没有觉得，好像身边的人都在不停地快跑、往上爬、追逐、冲刺 - 有的人成绩特别好，有的人运动特别厉害，有的人在社交网络上每发一条动态都有成千上万个赞？你可能会悄悄问自己：“我是不是不够快？不够好？不够优秀？”

不是只有你一个人会这样想。

在这个时代，我们很容易把自己和别人比较。社交网络像一个巨大的排行榜，让我们不停地往上爬，想证明自己“厉害”、“成功”。久而久之，我们变得太努力、太忙碌，甚至忘了照顾自己的心情和身体。这种状态叫做“有毒的努力”。

但是，活着的方式有很多种。

💡 找到人生方向，不是去“追”，而是去“玩”。

我问过很多幸福感满满的大朋友和小朋友，他们很多都说，他们的梦想不是规划出来的，而是在“玩”“试”“误打误撞”中找到的。

也就是说：

• 去尝试新东西

• 去探索

• 去犯错

• 去发现什么能让你早上一醒来就开心

你不需要完美计划，只需要一个个小小的尝试，小小的实验。

🧪 什么是“小实验”？

小实验就是你想做的小事，不用特别正式，只是“试试看”。

比如：

• 连续一周每天写一首诗

• 自己发明一种新做法的蛋糕

• 尝试一项你从来没玩过的爱好

这些小实验，会让你知道：你真正喜欢什么，而不是别人觉得你应该喜欢什么。

🧠 为什么我们常常感到“好累”、“好焦虑”？

我们的脑袋，其实跟几千年前祖先的大脑差不多——它会尽量收集信息，好让我们“安全”。

但现在信息太多了，新闻、视频、功课、考试、未来……让我们的大脑快“爆炸”了。

当我们面对“我不知道会发生什么”的时候，大脑会特别不安。这种不确定，会让我们焦虑。

但如果换个角度，不确定也可以是一场探险！

🌈 做个“探索者”，不是“完美主义者”。

完美主义者总是想要一次做到最好，但这像背了一个好重好重的书包。

而探索者呢？他们更喜欢先去试一试，再慢慢学习和改进。这样不但更轻松，还更有趣。

🧭 自己设计“人生小实验”

你可以先问问自己：

• 什么事情让我笑？

• 哪些内容让我想知道更多？

• 什么让我感到疲惫？

然后为自己定一个“小约定”，比如：

“我会连着一周每天画一张画，看看我喜不喜欢。”

做完之后，你可以选择：

• 继续做（如果你喜欢）

• 暂停一下（如果现在还不合适）

• 换个方式（如果觉得需要改进）

🌱 你不一定需要一个“伟大的人生目标”。

很多人觉得：我必须做一件很厉害的大事，才能让人生有意义。但其实，温柔、简单、充满好奇与创造力的小生活，也一样很珍贵。

最重要的是：

• 对世界充满好奇

• 对自己温柔一点

• 感受自己的情绪

• 多试一试新东西

🕵️‍♀️ 做自己的“生活小侦探”吧！

就像人类学家研究自然一样，你也可以开始研究自己！

去观察：

• 什么让你充满活力？

• 什么让你觉得没劲？

• 你喜欢跟别人聊什么话题？

• 你最喜欢做哪些事？

慢慢地，你会发现：人生不是一张“任务清单”，而是一本你自己写的故事书。一页一页的小实验，写出属于你自己的精彩。🌟