Test your chosen path
Test your chosen ideas to assess if they can take you from where you are now to where you want to go.
In the previous life design phase, you determined a life path by selecting three ideas that you think can help you achieve your design goal: I'm going to <your three ideas>.
If you have not yet completed the previous phase, you can find the instructions by clicking on this link: https://www.a3lifedesign.com/blog-english/determine-a-path-to-where-you-want-to-go
In this phase you test your ideas to assess how likely they are to work for you. Testing doesn’t guarantee that your ideas will actually work, but it can significantly increase the chance that you'll build a life path that helps you achieve your design goal.
What is testing?
Testing is a research phase in which you determine the likelihood that your life path ideas will help you achieve your design goal.
Designers are prone to action. The only way to know if an idea works is to test it in the outside world. Testing is doing something in practice, trying something out in real life, because only there will you find the answers you are looking for. Each test is a real-world experiment where you want to learn something about one or more important aspects of an idea.
Testing should be relatively fast and cheap. The sooner you know that an idea probably won’t work for you, the better. You can then move on by testing another idea. Fail fast and move forward. To counteract confirmation bias (see the References section if you’re interested in the details), your intention should be to consciously look for information that contradicts your belief that the idea will work for you.
Testing reduces your fear of failure. Each test is relatively small, so little money or effort is involved. And the aim of a test is not to succeed or fail, but to learn something about yourself or the world. The success is in what you learn from the test, not in the actual result of it.
Why test?
The purpose of testing is to reduce the chance that you waste a lot of precious time or a lot of money on ideas that are unlikely to work for you.
Your ideas can be influenced by biases such as survivorship bias (focusing on successful outcomes only), the focusing illusion (overestimating the importance of something just because you focus your attention on it), and the affect heuristic (judging and making decisions based on your current emotions).
Your ideas may be based on unvalidated assumptions due to biases such as the narrative fallacy (your tendency to create incorrect cause-and-effect stories) and confirmation bias (your tendency to search for and favour information that supports your pre-existing beliefs).
See the Reference section if you’re interested in detailed information about biases.
The greater an idea's potential impact on your life, the more thoroughly you should test the idea before implementing it. For example, you should thoroughly test ideas about choosing a study or job, buying an expensive sailing boat or moving to another country. The results of your tests can help you make an informed decision.
For example, suppose you are sure you want to become a general practitioner. What is this belief based on? What tests have you done to check for biases and unvalidated assumptions? Have you interviewed GPs about the aspects of their work that are important to you? Have you shadowed a GP in a healthcare setting? Have you seen documentaries or read books about the profession? Have you volunteered or worked in healthcare? It would be a terrible waste of time, energy and money if, after many years of study, you discover that the profession of general practitioner is not for you.
How do you test your ideas?
You test your ideas by first formulating test questions about aspects of the idea that matter to you. You interview people and conduct relatively small experiments to find answers to these test questions. Then you draw conclusions and decide how to proceed.
1️⃣ Formulate test questions
Testing an idea starts with formulating questions about aspects of the idea that matter to you. Don’t assume you know all the answers because what you think you know may be based on unvalidated assumptions. Focus on testing the assumptions that will have the greatest negative impact if proven wrong. For example, the assumption that a certain study or profession matches your personal values and personality. Or the assumption that moving to a Mediterranean climate will make you happy.
Each test question should focus on one aspect of the idea so that the question is specific, concise, and provides enough direction to determine how to test it. Avoid compound questions that ask multiple things at once.
Some suggestions to help you formulate your specific test questions:
👉 In general: Which aspects matter to me for this decision? Which assumptions about these aspects are important for me to test? What do I want or need to know more about before making a decision?
👉 Choosing a study: To what extent does this study match my interests / personal values / life purpose / skills / strengths / personality? Can I achieve my career goals with this study? What are the job opportunities in this field? How satisfied are professionals working in this field? What are the good / the bad / the ugly / most challenging aspects of this field of study?
👉 Choosing a profession: To what extent does this profession align with my interests / personal values / life purpose / skills / strengths / personality? What are the long-term career prospects in this field? What is the income potential in this profession? What does a typical working day look like in this profession? What are the good / the bad / the ugly / most challenging aspects of this profession?
👉 Moving to another country: What are the good / the bad / the ugly / most challenging aspects of living in this country? What is the security situation in the country? What is the quality of the healthcare system? What is the climate like in the country?
👉 Choosing a sport: Will I really like this sport? What is the risk of injury in this sport? Will choosing this sport allow me to achieve my social goals? What are the available coaching and training opportunities?
🖊️ Formulate and write down your test questions for the ideas of your life path.
2️⃣ Conduct informational interviews
Find answers to your test questions by conducting informational interviews with people who have relevant expertise or practical experience related to your area of interest. Talking directly to people allows you to test your assumptions. It is also an excellent way to expand your network. The best opportunities (e.g. jobs) are always shared within people's network.
This step can be performed in parallel with step 3 below.
Some examples of people you might want to interview (depending on your test questions):
👉 Choosing a study: academic counsellors, your current and former teachers, mentors, current and former students of your desired study, professionals working in your desired field of study.
👉 Choosing a profession: career counsellors and coaches, mentors, network contacts, professionals working in your desired profession.
👉 Moving to another country: people who successfully moved to the country and people who were unsuccessful, legal and financial advisors.
👉 Choosing a sport: personal trainers, sports instructors, physiotherapists, your general practitioner, people who practice the sport.
Make a list of people you would like to interview. Incorporate people you know and who have relevant expertise. Also add people you don't know yet, using resources like LinkedIn and Twitter or asking people you know for referrals to them.
Don't be afraid to approach people you don't know yet. In general, people like to share their experiences and knowledge. The worst thing that can happen to you is that someone refuses your request. So what? Everyone has the right to refuse requests without giving reasons. You don't know the other person's reasons, so don't take refusals personally.
Below are some general hints and tips that are particularly relevant for informational interviews regarding study or career choices.
Prepare invitations
Prepare some general material that you can use as a basis for all invitations.
👉 People can only help you if they understand what you’re looking for. Create a brief explanation of your background, the purpose for which you are contacting them, and what you hope to gain from the interviews.
👉 Don’t ask for more than 30 minutes of their time and always suggest meeting at a time and place that suits the other person.
👉 If you're looking for information about a profession, don't give the impression that you're asking for a job interview. Make it absolutely clear that you are asking for an informational interview. A request for a job interview will likely be denied, and if it isn’t, you won’t receive the unfiltered information you need (the good, the bad, and the ugly).
Invite
Invite the people on your list for an informational interview.
👉 Use the general material you’ve prepared, but personalise each invitation. For example, by mentioning how you are connected through a mutual friend or colleague, and by indicating why you want to interview this person.
Prepare interviews
Prepare well for the interviews by doing your homework.
👉 Create a brief introduction about your background and what you’re trying to achieve, which you can narrate in no more than two minutes at the beginning of each interview.
👉 Practice having informational interviews with friends and family so that you get used to asking questions and listening.
👉 For each interview, write down the test questions you want to discuss with the interviewee, based on their specific expertise and experience. Don't include questions to which you can find the answer online.
Conduct interviews
👉 Thank the interviewee for making time and introduce yourself within two minutes maximum.
👉 It's about getting information from the interviewee, so don't talk too much about yourself.
👉 Always bring your list of questions and use it as a guide for the interview. Listen actively and, if necessary, ask probing questions to go deeper into what you hear.
👉 Be genuinely curious (like a journalist) and open to unexpected possibilities that arise.
👉 At the end of the interview, ask if the interviewee can recommend anyone else you should talk to.
👉 If you are looking for a job, you can help fate a little by asking an open-ended question at the end of the interview such as: How can I become part of this company?
👉 Keep track of time and complete the interview within the agreed time.
Follow up
👉 Always immediately thank the interviewee for their time by sending a short thank you note, via email or handwritten, and mention one specific thing from the meeting that was helpful to you.
👉 Never ask for a favour immediately as this is inappropriate and considered bad manners.
👉 If possible, be helpful by, for example, sending the interviewee the link to a magazine article you mentioned during the meeting or inviting them to an upcoming event that might benefit them.
3️⃣ Try things out in practice
You learn the most about yourself and the world by doing things and looking curiously at the results. So get answers to your test questions by trying things out in practice. Gain practical experience by briefly experiencing what something is really like. You can compare trying things out to test driving a car, or dipping your toe in seawater to feel how cold it is.
This step can be performed in parallel with step 2 above.
Just like the informational interviews, trying things out is an excellent way to expand your network and encounter all kinds of unexpected opportunities. Think of and try out things that are relatively cheap, don't take much time, and don't tie you into long-term commitments. If you have little to no ideas about what to try out, use techniques such as brainstorming or brainwriting to generate ideas.
Some suggestions to help you determine what to try out:
👉 Internships, job shadowing and experiential learning: Participate in internships, job shadowing, volunteer opportunities, projects or part-time jobs in your area of interest to gain hands-on experience and a better understanding of what the work is like.
👉 Trial and error: Try out different sports to find one you enjoy and that suits your goals. Attend open practice sessions or free trial classes to experience the sport first-hand before making a long-term commitment. The same applies for activities such as hobbies, dancing, meditation and yoga.
👉 When you want to move to a city in another country, rent a house in that city for a few weeks or months to experience life in this city and find answers to your test questions.
4️⃣ Draw your conclusions
After running your tests, draw your conclusions and decide how to proceed.
Reflect on the knowledge and experience you gained during the tests and draw your conclusions about the ideas of the life path: Which of the three ideas will bring you closer to your design goal?
👉 If you don't expect these ideas to get you closer, determine a new life path by selecting other ideas you generated in the previous phase of the life design process, or by determining a new life path from scratch.
https://www.a3lifedesign.com/blog-english/determine-a-path-to-where-you-want-to-go
👉 If you expect at least one of these ideas to bring you closer, start building your life path with these ideas. If necessary, select an additional idea and test this idea in parallel with building your life path.
🎉👏🎈
Of course, there’s no guarantee that you will achieve your design goal, but by testing your ideas before building your life path, you’ll have increased your chance that it will.
References
Designing Your Life, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
My blog posts about biases can be found via this link:
https://www.a3lifedesign.com/blog-english/category/Biases
My blog posts about Life Design can be found at this link:
https://www.a3lifedesign.com/blog-english/category/Life+Design
