BEING FREE AND LIVING THE BETA LIFE

I’ve mainly used Yahoo for e-mail for the last decade. And for much of that time I’ve been working on a ‘beta’ version. Beta is a test version. Software developers used to put the beta version out to a select group in order to iron out any bugs (though I’m sure software developers don’t ‘iron out’ bugs, but please don’t write in with what they actually do with their bugs) before releasing onto the mass market. It’s a fine and simple idea to test something before you release it fully. You’d like to think that the new headache drug you buy at the drugstore has been thoroughly tested before you take it. Same with your software, as software bugs can be lethal.

Well, I remember being a little surprised whenever it was, years ago, when Yahoo suggested that I try their beta version. They told me how much better the beta version was than the ‘original’ version that I was using, and that I could switch back any time. I was somewhat hesitant. Why would I want to use an unfinished system, especially for something as essential as e-mails? Why can’t they be bothered to finish it before they release it to me? But they kept asking me, pleading with me even, to try it… they kept telling me about all the new features that their beta version boasted. So I went for it. And I liked it. In fact, I pretty soon forgot that it was a beta version. And so did they, it seems, because they never asked me if I’d found any bugs they could iron out. Clearly there were Yahoo worker ants somewhere in the world rapidly ironing out any bugs that people were telling them about (or rather shouting at them about, which is more likely the case).

I was happy, anyway. But what I noticed is that they continued to refer to this version as the ‘beta’ version. It never seemed to become the real version (whatever that would have been: Yahoo 7.8 or something). It stuck stubbornly to beta. And this was interesting to me.

Then, a couple of years later, when I logged into my account, I received a new invitation to upgrade to their new ‘beta’ version. This puzzled me. I was under the impression that they were still testing the old version and here they were trying to get me to use yet another version, and ‘beta’ at that. But I went for it – more easily this time. And it was good. But I wasn’t asked what I thought. They continued to call it beta… yes… you guessed it… until the next beta version came along.

And I realized that it must all be a game, that Yahoo had somehow shifted the idea of ‘beta’ for all of us. They’d clearly seen, in the early days of beta versions, that many people wanted to have the beta version, even if it contained some bugs, because it meant you had the very latest version. You were an early adopter, living in the frontier land of software design. A beta version implied – yes, something that wasn’t quite finished, or polished, or perfected – but also something that was edgy, pushing the boundaries. Its rougher, edgier, unfinished quality became its benefit. And Yahoo (and I should think many others) saw that and offered it to the mass market. Who knows how ‘beta’ those versions really were.

And I’ve seen this beta version mentality everywhere on the web. Everything is faster, shoot-from-the-hip, suck-it-and-see. It’s easier to try something out and then change it if it doesn’t work. Brands don’t spend a whole year planning and developing ad campaigns anymore – you can knock up a viral bit of video in a day and put it out there and see if it sticks. If not, do another one. Try something; it doesn’t have to be perfect, in fact it’s even better if it feels a bit rough and edgy. If it doesn’t work, dump it, and try something else. Do this so frequently that, after a while, the aim ceases to become finding the perfect answer, or software, or piece of communication, but just the act of putting stuff out there and keeping the conversation going.

And what a way that would be to live! Look how most of us live. We like to get things right, deliberate big time before making any decisions, worry about putting a foot wrong, plan ahead in detail… we even see ourselves as a project that we’ll improve and develop to the point where we smooth off the rough edges and become calmer, kinder, more generous, more educated, more efficient, etc., etc. We tend to have a ‘perfect’ version of ourselves in mind that we then work toward.

F**k It.

How would it be to live a Beta Life? To live in perpetual test mode; to try things out and if they work, great, if not, to dump them; to not have a fixed idea of where you’re heading, (you’re certainly not heading toward some far-off perfect version of yourself), you’re just happy trying things out on a daily basis. The pressure is off. It’s time to play. And that’s what beta is about: living by your wits. The Beta Life requires that you’re not so bothered, the essential F**k It quality. After all, because you’re trying new things out all the time, you’re more likely to fail (just as you’re more likely to hit gold, in whatever realm you’re operating).

F**k It Living is Beta Living. Open to a new way of living. Relax and take your foot off the pedal. Shift your perspective – things don’t have to be perfect; you don’t have to be perfect. Tune in to see what you feel like doing. Trust the value of that message. Follow and do it – test it, and find out if it works for you; if not, move on. Quickly. It’s an organic, living process, this life thing, by definition. It’s us that try to fix it, hold it, remodel it, perfect it. But life isn’t like that. Life is ever-changing, totally dynamic, rough, imperfect, unpredictable. ‘Life’ isn’t just calm, peaceful, consistent, sorted, predictable, perfect, reliable. It’s everything else, too.

And so are you. If you tune in, fully, to your instinct, it is all of everything, too. Because your instinct is your fastest way to that ‘life’ energy. So practice Beta Living and you’ll very soon be living your F**k It Life.