If It Works…

Albert Einstein is often quoted as saying “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. Clear, logical wisdom that we can all relate to and apply to our lives, I’m sure.

…Although, what if doing the same thing over and over and expecting the same result is equally insane?!

We all experience the self-evident truth in our lives that change is constant. Einstein was also very keen on the nature of time, and without delving too much into the nuances of his theories, we can all recognise that we perceive the passage of time through changes in the weather, the length of our nails, the movement of hands on a clock, the position of the sun and moon in the sky, the decreasing temperature of our coffee etc. etc.

The concept of time can thus be recognised as an expression of the reality that everything in the universe is constantly changing state, degrading, growing, multiplying, moving, colliding, detaching and so on. Nothing is ever ‘the same thing’ from one moment to the next, otherwise there would be no ‘one moment to the next’ or ‘over and over’.

So, because change is constant, different results are inevitable each time we do ‘the same thing’.

Except, of course, it isn’t possible for us to do ‘the same thing’ anyway, because so much has changed between the last moment in which we tried it and the next.

So in fact, it’s unavoidable that we actually live our lives constantly doing different things all the time and experiencing different results, regardless of what we expect (bearing in mind that our expectations are also always changing because we form them each time as a changed entity ourselves!)

So how do we deal with all this change and find any consistency and certainty to stop ourselves going insane?

Well, the truth is that we all basically make it all up as we go along, take our best guess and adapt to the results.

The received wisdom that arises from this is expressed in quotes such as “Do something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn’t, do something else.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Such wisdom perhaps only really becomes useful in life if we apply it regularly. Because change is constant, just because you’ve found something that worked, that doesn’t mean that’s all you need to do from now on. In fact, it isn’t possible to anyway for precisely the reason that change is constant!

When we reach a point where we think we’ve learnt all we need to know and can now accurately predict, that’s when insanity beckons!

It’s clearly a good idea to generally be prepared for the possible need to do something different every time you do anything.

So what can we do with this? What do we base our decisions on?

Well, I would suggest that authenticity is key – doing the thing that seems most aligned with who you are, or at least who you’d like to be. And I think probably the best way to be authentic is to not try to do anything in particular or be anything in particular, but to simply follow your instincts in the moment and focus on who you’re pleased to recognise yourself managing to be when your decisions seem to lead to good results, then imagine what that you would be doing instinctively going forward.

I’m going to hand the last word on this to David Bowie, who I think stands as an example to us all as someone who enjoyed success through staying true to what drove him in the moment; “If it works, it’s out of date!”