Have you ever “ooched”?

In 2013 I read the book Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath.

In the book, they introduced “ooching”:

• Running small, low-risk experiments to test a decision before fully committing to it.
• Gathering real-world evidence to support a decision instead of trying to predict how things will work out.

This week I’ve continued my “ooching” on finding my solopreneur value and direction.

Why it matters

In the past, I’ve tried making life direction decisions based on one of three things:

• What some “guru” I admired recommended.
• What I predicted and projected for myself.
• What promised money.

The problem? I had no data for those decisions based on my past successes, interests, and experiences. Weird for a person trained in data analysis.

My poorly conceived decisions led to expensive college degrees I never used, books and courses I never finished, websites that never got past the design phase, and plenty of other costly skeletons in my closet.

This time, I’m slowing down and gathering data using “ooching”.

The data

“Ooching” has uncovered the following so far:

• Finding the Smart Brevity writing system to produce content I find satisfying and maintain production.
• When teaching, I rely on experiences and storytelling to bring insights, not theory.
• Discovering I hate recording talking head YouTube videos giving advice. I love to move, act out, and demonstrate ideas. I’m equal parts performer as educator.
• Getting feedback from my best friend that I’m a great trainer because I care that people understand and learn, I’m good at breaking things down and explaining, and I bring a good energy to the learning environment.
• Receiving complements on my cartoons and how it’s a skill I can bring to liven up anything I do.
• Creating data visuals really engages me. It’s the organizing information visually for clear communication that I love. I once took a career direction test and scored high on both intuitive and logical organization. I think creating data visuals engages both thinking styles.

The bottom line

“Ooching” is turning out to be a very important data collection tool.

If I were to coach somebody, I’d blend ooching with Tiny Habits to see what sticks and is sustainable in terms of keeping up the work, feeling satisfied, and finding value.

It helping me find my way.

See you next week!

Philip