Being positive about uncertainty may seem like a contradiction. We see rapid change happening all around us. Some changes are for the better, compelling us to alter or adapt the way we think or the way we live. However, other changes may leave us feeling unsettled, confused, and ineffective. Some personality types do not naturally cope well with change, and being positive about uncertainty is even more challenging for them.
Many of us have made plans – where we want to be in our careers in five years, what our relationships will look like, where we will live, etc. When you look at those plans, how do they make you feel? Do you feel disappointed you have not achieved everything you set out to by this point? Or have you achieved what you wanted and now question whether you are satisfied with what you have?
Introducing Positive Uncertainty: we’d invite you to consider using positive uncertainty techniques and principles as an approach to making creative decisions in your career, your relationships, your financial decisions, and retirement. In fact, Positive Uncertainty techniques and principles can and should be applied to everything significant in your life.
Many people fear uncertainty as it causes them to feel powerless. After all, how can you control what is not certain? Let’s think about this carefully. Is there positivity to be found in uncertainty? Before you answer, don’t rush to the literary meaning of the question. Understand this: the range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice what we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change – until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds. Or, in short, we don’t know what we don’t know, we don’t even know we don’t know! And we don’t know what’s coming around the corner.
Understanding that the only certain thing is uncertainty and that uncertainty means opportunity worth exploring is the theme of this article. The critical thing we all must do is find a way to accept uncertainty without being paralysed by it. It is vital because it allows us to be flexible and adapt our plans to the circumstances we find ourselves presented with, which will help us achieve our objectives. By continually reviewing and adapting, we can also evaluate whether the goal we are working towards is still the goal we want to achieve.
Imagine working hard all your life to achieve your goal only to realise it isn’t what you wanted. How disappointed would you feel?
The rapidity of change and the powerful impact of the pandemic and economic realities have forced us to re-evaluate what’s going on in our “outside” and “inner” worlds, which has made the idea of positive uncertainty more acceptable and necessary than before.
There is a certain sense of power and control you gain when you accept the concept of uncertainty. When you do not know what the future is, the thing you can decide is to view uncertainty creatively and as an opportunity.
Decision-making is generally defined as using what you know and what you believe so you can choose what to do to get what you want. Outcomes are uncertain because the future is unpredictable. That inevitable uncertainty between what you do and what you get is what traditional decision strategies try to eliminate with rational processes. Being positive about uncertainty increases possibilities and produces the opportunity for proactive creativity. If the future is certain, all you can do is prepare for it. However, when the future is uncertain, there are lots of possible futures! You can be part of creating the future rather than just preparing for it! How empowering is that!
All possibilities exist in the future. The idea of the future is an essential part of decision-making or goal-setting. There are three kinds of futures:
Possible futures – what could happen
Probable futures – what is likely to happen
Preferable futures – what you prefer to happen
It’s a good idea to have a view on what each of these futures looks like, but decision-makers usually focus on the probable and preferable futures. This focus blocks out the infinitely possible futures. With all the limitations on decision-making, it is a great advantage to increase possibilities.
That is why we should be positive about uncertainty – it’s all about increasing possibilities.
So, now, it’s up to you. What will you do with this new way of looking at uncertainty?
True or False: It is better to keep fluidity in your goals because you will be more likely to re-evaluate them frequently and maybe discover new goals and new possibilities.
