The world is your lab

I love all the CSIs. Especially CSI:NY.

I love it when they go lo-tec and use basic science. It's still beyond me but "proves" that they can find what they're looking for even without all the fancy computers.

I had a bit of a catch up this weekend and in one episode, Stella and Mac were in Greece and declared that the whole world was a lab. They used a fountain for a special kind of water they knew existed because they're magical scientists. Then they located a coffee burner as a heat source and Stella sacrificed a platinum earring to ____ (OK, I tranced out a little then and don't know what chemicals they were using but it was impressive).

In real life, it's easy to get sucked into familiar ways of doing things and not even try to improvise when things get a little off track.

But finding ways to turn the world into your lab - somewhere you can experiment with different approaches to problems until you find a strategy that works better - can help you shift things.

You don't have to start with something high risk and scary but if, for example, you're trying to become more assertive, rather than jumping in with your boss / partner / whoever you have the most issues with, start small. Experiment with writing a complaint letter or email in a way that enables a company that's let you down to respond in a way that allows everyone to win.

If you're trying to pluck up the courage to ask someone out after being single / in a relationship for ages, practice saying a simple Hello to people you normally wouldn't engage with (a chat at the checkout counter when shopping? Starting a conversation with a stranger at the bus stop)...

There are all sorts of ways you can experiment more.