I have had limited exposure to a real scientific lab environment, but I’ve worked with enough clients in this space to understand some of their approaches. In one instance, I heard a researcher describe a single-subject experimental design he called an N-of-1. In this design, you track a baseline using a standard protocol, then make one modification and track the results over time. This design is particularly useful for studying individual responses to an intervention, especially when you can repeat it over an extended period.
I highly recommend trying this type of experiment on yourself. To do so, you need discipline to do routine things every day and record the results. If you can repeat something every day and track the results, you can do this N-of-1 experiment and learn how diet, exercise, or behavioral patterns can impact you. The first big question, then, of course, is: How long does it take to see a meaningful change?
My answer: 90 days. You need to start tracking for 2 weeks before you make a change. For example, let’s say you want to drink an additional 16oz of water every morning to see how that one small change could impact your life. You’d track your water intake for 2 weeks before making the change, then start the 90 days, drink that 16oz every morning, and record the results. Those 90 days are long enough to capture many meaningful changes in mood, energy, fitness, and health, without unnecessarily committing an entire year to an ineffective intervention.
To make this work, identify what to track. Think of this in terms of results. I track my mood, energy level, fitness level, and overall health. How you do that is up to you, but here are some basics. For mood, I simply track a 1-5 scale. 1 being bad and 5 being great. Most of the time I am a 3, but last night, for example, I was a 1. I hated everything around me, and I was just mad at the world. This morning, I am a 4. I am feeling good about things and ready to take on the day. I track my energy level the same way. Mood and Energy are highly subjective, but if you track them consistently, you can start to see patterns emerge. The others are easier. You can track weight, pulse, blood pressure, waistline, or whatever works for you. Fitness level is easy to test at the beginning and end; for example, run 2 miles and time it. That is about the best fitness test that I have used.
So what is the timeline for change?
If you change your daily routine, you can expect to see an immediate response within 1-7 days in alertness, sleep quality, mood, and perceived energy levels. That is a good sign, but that is not a pattern yet. After 2 – 4 weeks, you will start to see early patterns. Sleep, fatigue, recovery, and overall performance will become obvious. Weeks 4-8 are when you start to see some of those “numbers” improve, and your mood will start to stay more stable. After that, you’ll see stronger evidence and larger physical changes, and after 90 days, if you keep going, you will see cumulative performance gains. The point is that after that period, you will have enough results to know how effective the change was.
Sometimes you can use this as an elimination strategy. I decided to eat a bowl of spinach every day at lunch for 90 days. I thought this was a good idea. What happened instead, was I felt horrible. My mood plummeted, my energy levels declined, and I started noticing inflammation in my legs and fingers while running. After my experiment, I realized I didn’t react well to a toxin in raw spinach. So I removed it, and within 2 weeks, all the symptoms went away. I am definitely not Popeye; without this experiment, I never would have known.
It is quite possible that you could be doing something that is harming you through your repetitive behavior and do not even realize it. The way you are sitting, the way you get out of bed in the morning, the way you get into the car. The food you habitually eat, what you watch every night. Feeling moody and depressed frequently, and nothing works? Then what are you eating? How are you sleeping? What activity do you do most often? Identify one of them and change it. Track your mood for 90 days and see what happens. This method, although it may seem slow, provides compelling evidence when you are done.
This is real scientific evidence, even though the target pool is only one: you. You can use this methodology to conclusively prove what works and what doesn’t for you. If you find something that works, keep it up, make it a habit for 365 days, and add to it where you can. This is how you can make meaningful, impactful change that can deliver incredible results. So in essence, learn to measure what is important to you, find an N-of-1 experiment to try for 90 days, and then keep what works.
