Uncertainty gets a bad rap. Most people find the experience of being uncertain uncomfortable, frightening, and disturbing, so they see it as negative and unwanted. Yet, there’s good reason to get excited about feeling uncertain and make the most of the situation.
Uncertainty heralds in possibility. It’s a state of having access to a myriad of future potentialities. The only question is: What will you create in the space of uncertainty?
That question is at the core of why many feel afraid of uncertainty. People don’t know what to create in that void. After all, they are uncertain, which means they are unsure about the present and the future. They have doubts about what they want to create or what comes next.
The Opportunity Hidden in Uncertainty
Therein lies the problem…and the opportunity.
You’re not completely confident or sure of something if you feel uncertain. Things are undecided, unknown, or doubtful in some way. And you are afraid to consider moving toward something you aren’t sure you can create.
On the other hand, if you have certainty, you are sure of something. You know. And that gives you the courage to go after what really matters to you.
Periods of uncertainty offer the opportunity to remove doubt about what you want. It’s a chance to gain clarity and decide what matters to you and what you will create from this moment forward.
It’s a chance to decide to go after your dreams.
That decision changes your future and moves you out of uncertainty.
Uncertainty Leads to Indecision
Part of the problem is that uncertainty makes you feel lost. You believe you don’t know what you desire and are, therefore, unable to make a decision about what you want to create. You don’t know what to do next or how to proceed.
Plus, you doubt that you can create what really matters to you. Therefore, you hold back, wait, and keep your desires in a “safe zone” that seems more achievable. Yet, you won’t even decide to take action toward those dreams.
Uncertainty places you in limbo, an uncertain waiting period for a decision or resolution. You are waiting to decide how to move forward. Yet, your decision is the resolution and way forward.
And most people wait for uncertainty to pass. However, making a decision and taking action leads you out of uncertainty. The longer you wait to make a decision or act, the longer you remain in limbo.
Make the Most Out of Uncertainty
So, how do you make the most out of uncertainty? Let’s explore three specific things you can do.
1. Use uncertainty as a time to gain clarity.
You can only feel uncertain if you lack clarity, specifically clarity about what decision to make. To gain clarity, list the pros and cons of your choices. Ask your intuition or soul for guidance. But seek clarity.
Once you have enough clarity to make a decision, seek clarity on what to do next. Your decision has obvious next steps. What are they?
However, you may also need clarity on what you desire or what is important to you. Make a list of what you value most, what you feel passionate about, what inspires you, or what you want to create. Prioritize these things or, again, feel into them using your intuition.
2. Develop your decision-making ability.
With clarity, you can decide. However, you might find yourself overthinking your choices or decisions. Overthinking tends to occur when you doubt—have uncertainty about—your ability to decide or make good decisions.
If you have a lot of doubt, make small rather than big decisions. Give yourself the chance to become a good decision maker by making lots of them daily. These can be small, like when or what to eat, when to exercise, what to wear, or where to meet a friend.
Then, with more confidence in your decision-making ability, make decisions about your future. Make decisions about what to do to bring your dreams into reality.
3. See uncertainty as a vision quest.
When you find yourself in a period of uncertainty, see it as a vision quest. A vision quest is a spiritual practice common among many Native American cultures. During a vision quest, you seek clarity or a vision or revelation from the spirit world.
See uncertainty as a chance to explore what you want and the type of future you want to create. Take time to allow your soul to bring you a vision of what is possible for you or what is for your highest good. You can meditate and ask to be shown what is next for you.
Lean into this as exploration. What would you want your future to look like if anything were possible?
In a journal, describe your vision. You can even write it in the past tense as if it already happened. Then, visualize it; imagine what it will look and feel like to create that future. And what becomes possible when you create it?
4. Make uncertainty a test of courage.
Reducing uncertainty requires courage—to make decisions and take action. So, test your courage and do those things!
Or develop a higher level of courage by taking bold action daily. For example, take action on the decisions you have made to date about your future. Do something—it can be a small action—that feels scary or uncomfortable, like sending an email to apply for a job that seems “beyond you.”
The more bold action you take, the more clarity you get. And that clarity leads to decisions and action—and less uncertainty. In the process, you become a courageous person able to easily move through uncertainty.
5. Open to possibilities.
Anything is possible 100% of the time. Know that, and be open to possibilities you have—and haven’t—considered. Remove all mental obstacles, like your beliefs about why you can’t create what matters to you. Let go of the fears and reasons why you have doubt or don’t know.
Allow yourself to believe that knowing and deciding with certainty is possible. Trust that whatever you envisioned is possible…and if not, something better is ahead of you.
If you don’t believe in possibility, you trap yourself in a box where things have to look or be a certain way. And if you don’t know how to control that result, you fall back into uncertainty. Be certain that anything is possible.
Be Certain
Miracles flow from certainty. So, if you want something to be possible, stop doubting that it is. Be certain.
Know, without doubt, that what you desire is possible. Maybe what you desire at this moment is clarity on your next steps—so you can decide and move forward with courage and confidence. Believe that is possible. Feel certain it is. Be someone who has certainty.
Do you struggle with uncertainty? Tell me in a comment below. And please share this post with those who might benefit from reading it.
Image courtesy of yourapechkin.
