Experimenting With the System
Much of my earlier professional life was spent facilitating groups working in complexity. In that world, we often talk about 'probes' – small, deliberate experiments designed to see how a complex system responds. You don't try to fix the whole system at once because you can't predict how it will react. Instead, you try something small, notice what happens, and then do more of what works.
It's also a useful way to think about personal change.
Often, we approach personal development with a high degree of gravity. We assume we need a massive intervention or a complete overhaul to get where we want to go. But a more reliable route is simply to become good at trying and failing.
Not all approaches are right for everyone. The only way to actually know how something lands in your body is to experience it directly.
Yet, many of us default to saying no. We judge things from a distance, deciding we dislike an approach or a habit before we have even spent time with it. It's like refusing a particular food without ever tasting it.
When you allow yourself to treat change as an experiment, the pressure drops away. If you try something and it fails, it isn't a personal deficit. It's simply information. It means that particular probe didn't suit the system.
For me, a few small experiments eventually became foundational shifts: choosing not to drink, moving to a vegetarian diet, sitting in meditation, and eventually, working with breathwork. None of these were grand resolutions. They started as simple curiosities.
If you're curious about how your own system responds to a change of pace, you're welcome to join me for an introductory breathwork session. There's no ongoing commitment or program to buy into – simply a grounded invitation to explore personal well-being, run a small probe of your own, and see what you notice.
Are you currently noticing a specific area in your life or work where the usual effort has started to feel like it's running into a wall?