Your No Experiment

Pick one area of your life where you say yes too easily — and design a real test to find out what actually happens when you stop.

Write your hypothesis

Complete this: 'If I say no to ___ more often this week, then ___.' Be specific — name a real type of request, not a vague category.

The one variable

Name the single behaviour you will change. One thing only — not a lifestyle overhaul.

What stays the same

List two things you will NOT change, so the test stays clean and the result is readable.

Control 1

Control 2

How will you measure it?

Choose one concrete signal that would tell you the experiment worked — something you can observe, not just feel.

Predict the result

Mark where you think the outcome will land after one week. Commit to a position now — before you run the test.

Nothing changes

Everything changes

What would prove you wrong?

Name the ONE specific result that would force you to abandon your hypothesis entirely. Look back at step 1 — does your hypothesis still feel safe, or does naming this result already shake it?

The real question

Are you more afraid of the experiment failing — or succeeding? Write one word that captures what is actually at stake for you. Then write one sentence explaining why that word, not another.

Why that word?

Discuss Tell your partner: what would genuinely change in your working life if your experiment succeeded?

Psychology01