Uncertainty

From the airport this morning, I’m reading on confidence. The book, “The Confidence Code” by Katy Kay and Claire Shipman defines confidence as the stuff that turns thoughts into action. They declare confidence as life’s enabler. The thing that propels us forward in our personal and professional lives. 

I like this definition and it has me thinking about what I haven’t done because I’ve been uncertain of the outcome. What risk I have not taken because I lacked the ability to put the thought into action. As a recovering perfectionist, my tendency has always been to move in the direction of certainty. Take the job where I would easily excel. Travel to the place where I spoke the language and could communicate. I’ve always done the sure thing to avoid the uncertain, scary thing. 


A few years ago I stopped making the certain decision and started stepping forward with more confidence. I booked a solo trip to Japan knowing that it would be filled with uncertainty due to a language barrier and navigating public transportation. Earlier this year, I started my coaching business. I have no idea how it will turn out but knew I wanted to do something other than law to serve others. To help people find greater meaning and joy in their lives. The idea of a more fulfilling, aligned career outweighed any risk. 


Uncertainty holds us back from doing so many things. It may prevent us from asking for the promotion. It may even prevent us from applying for a job when we don’t think we meet all the qualifications. Maybe it stops us from being vulnerable and opening ourselves up to love. Uncertainty can also lead to procrastination and overthinking decisions. The more we let uncertainty interfere with our decision making, the less likely we are to make big changes and ultimately see big rewards. 


I want to challenge all of you to consider how uncertainty is holding you back. What actions are you not taking because you are uncertain of the outcome? What decisions are delayed as a result of uncertainty? What happens if you put that uncertainty to the side and take the next step? 


Over the last few years I’ve started putting my uncertainty on the back burner. Maybe it’s there but it doesn’t really affect me anymore. I am going to turn my thoughts into action. I’m going to move forward and see what happens. There’s no sense in waiting to make a major change.


If you’re ready to dive into action in your life, it’s the perfect time to start 1:1 coaching. Let’s move past the uncertainty and level up together.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fear Goblin Frank

As I continue to grow my business, I feel conflicting emotions. The most obvious is fear. Fear of failure. Fear of judgment. Fear of the unknown. Negative emotions have a tendency to stand louder than the positive ones. They’re based in history, society’s views, and the pressures imposed by our parents and family members. Fear will almost always be present.  But, I experience other emotions too. A deep desire to help others and grow my business. A need to align myself with my values of independence and service. Excitement for what’s to come and the authority to make decisions completely on my own. It is an adventure and a learning experience.  Many will say that you cannot live with both the positive and negative emotions. That you have to overcome the fear and anxiety before you can succeed. I disagree. I believe that we will always live with some level of fear but that we have to learn to acknowledge it and let it live within and alongside our other emotions. It will always ...
Read more

Self Talk

I started a class on language which includes both verbal and non-verbal communication in conversation and interactions among clients, friends, family, and even strangers. One of the thoughts that really struck me is how much the words you say, or your body language, can affect your beliefs.  You talk to yourself more than anyone. Have you ever stopped to consider what you are saying to yourself that may be affecting what you believe about who you are and what you bring to the table? Is your mind littered with negative self-talk? What are you saying to yourself that is true and what is baseless? What beliefs have you developed as a result of what you say to yourself? We have a tendency to distort things, spiral, or get angry and let our brains run wild. We say so many things to ourselves that are not grounded in reality but the more often we say them, the more likely we are to believe them. If you tell yourself every day that you are unworthy, you’re going to start believing it. The...
Read more

Change

The last few weeks, I’ve really noticed how hesitant people are to make a change in their lives. So many colleagues, friends, and even family members are frustrated by their day to day but they don’t want to do anything different. I keep wondering why? Why not rip off the bandaid and step forward into the unknown? My guess is that it’s fear based. That doing something new or different is always scary. What if you get a different outcome than you did with your old way of doing things? What if you fail? What if you make less money? What if someone judges you for doing things a different way? It’s all fear and shame and it serves no purpose other than to cripple you.  Change is after all, inevitable. You will never be in the same job, relationship, place, home, etc. for your entire life. Things change fast and often without input from you. What if we started embracing those changes instead of fearing them? Regardless of whether they are self-imposed or a result of others. What if we c...
Read more