Uncertainty as a Sign to Pivot

When you feel uncertain, what do you do? Do you jump in and take action, hoping that certainty will come? Do you research and ask for others’ opinions to know the way? Do you turn to other projects with a knowing that certainty will arrive in due time?

When I was younger, I had a habit of stewing in uncertainty. This meant that I kept saying, over and over, I am not sure what to do here. Which is a terrible affirmation when what you want is to know.

We all go through phases of being unsure of our next step. And we all enjoy taking action when we are sure-footed and confident. So how does a person go from being uncertain to taking action in certainty? The answer, I have found, comes through allowing.

In my experience, I can’t rush my inner knowing. I can take action and try to thrust myself into a place of knowing, but that rarely helps me. In fact, it often creates a failure loop because I take action before I am certain, thus leading to several missteps along the way.

So, I personally like to wait until I am sure, or in my knowing, before I venture out. What this has done for me is help me develop a habit of waiting for my knowing to arrive before I take a step forward. And in that waiting, I find that life tends to serve me other projects that demand my attention. In this way, I now show up in the day I am in and work what is in front of me where my knowing is certain.

Some life projects benefit from airing them out and understanding why you aren’t making the progress you want. And some life projects benefit if you just leave them alone and come back to them once you are certain. Because I like to stay in the flow, I abandon projects all the time as a way of saying, If this is for me, it will come back to me. And I have found that projects that are meant for me find me, regardless of how many times I surrender them.

Knowing is a state of being I prefer. I like to take action with certainty that I am moving toward something I want. I enjoy taking action when the path is clear. I love life more when I am confident as I throw myself into new projects and people.

Which is why I like to have many projects queued up for me. When I lose the thread on one (and feel a sense of uncertainty as to next steps), I pick up any project where I do feel certain and work that. It never fails me. It allows for certainty to find me. It allows me to maximize all my goals, as work when I am certain is super productive.

If you have a project where you feel uncertain, can you table the project and work on something else? Can you make it your goal to work on any goal that feels ready for you, rather than forcing yourself to work before you are ready? Where can you find a level of super productivity by only taking action where you are certain?