Uncertainty Isn't The Enemy

Uncertainty isn’t the enemy. You’ve just been taught to treat it like one.

In this episode, I break down why your brain resists the unknown, how overthinking and “being careful” are often just fear in disguise, and what’s really keeping you stuck. More importantly, you’ll learn how to shift your relationship with uncertainty so you can stop hesitating and start getting into action... without needing to have it all figured out first.

If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe!

Stay in touch: Connect with me on LinkedIn

Share your thoughts: Drop me an email

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Outsmarting Your Brain. Today we are talking about uncertainty and how it's not actually the big, bad, scary monster that we tend to make it out to be. When we talk about uncertainty in the personal development world, it usually shows up in a really specific kind of way. We talk about our limiting beliefs, we talk about hesitation, and we talk about not taking the actions that we know we need to take. And the reason that gets cited over and over and over is fear of uncertainty. Fear about how things might turn out. What this actually looks like in practice is over planning, overthinking, and trying to account for every possible outcome. You might say things like, I need to make sure that I get this right. I just can't afford to get it wrong. And I just want to be sure. And on the surface, all of that sounds super reasonable. It sounds like due diligence. It sounds like you're being careful, that you're being thoughtful and being thorough. And in theory, that is fantastic. But in reality, what is actually happening is that you are trying to avoid the discomfort of not knowing how things are going to turn out. Because when you don't know, your mind fills in the blanks. And it tends to fill in those blanks with the worst possible scenarios. Why does it do this? Well, it's because your brain is trying to get you to stop. And that's what makes all of this so fascinating, right? At the deepest level, the fear of uncertainty is about survival. And in this context, what that means is maintaining the status quo. Because your brain's job, as I have said many times, is it's not to make you happy and it is not to make you successful. Your brain's primary job is to keep you alive. And the way that it does that is by keeping you safe, keeping you quite firmly planted in your warm and fuzzy comfort zone. And so when you start to move towards something new, something that requires growth, that pushes your edge, it freaks your brain out. And that means that you start feeling fear. Your brain starts throwing out all of these worst-case scenarios. And remember, fear is nothing but a big flashing neon stop sign. And if you don't recognize that for what it is, then it tends to work, right? You hesitate, you hold back, you don't take the action, and you play small. But here's where it gets really sneaky. Because you are so smart, you don't just feel the fear, you justify it. And you're really good at it if you're honest with yourself. You'll tell yourself things like, well, I'm just being careful. I'm just planning ahead, covering all my bases. But what is really happening here, and this might sting a little, but what's really happening is you are playing not to lose instead of playing to win. And I want you to sit with that for a second. So I'm gonna say it again. When you are justifying and rationalizing playing small, all you're doing is playing not to lose. And that is very, very different from actually playing to win. Here's the reason that overthinking never really goes anywhere. You're trying to predict the future, but deep down, you know that you can't do that. And so no matter how much you analyze, no matter how many different scenarios you run, that uncertainty never goes away. And that means that the discomfort that you feel about that uncertainty never goes away. It just gets bigger. It's like that mosquito bite that keeps itching no matter how much you scratch it. And that's because you keep feeding it, you keep giving it energy by focusing on it. And what that does is it amplifies the fear. It turns that uncertainty into this big, scary monster that is hiding in the dark and waiting to pounce on you. But here's the truth: the idea that uncertainty is something that you need to fear, that you need to avoid or guard against, well, that's just a story. It's a story that you are telling yourself about what uncertainty means. But the uncertainty itself, that not knowing how the future is going to be, that just is. It is neutral. And the meaning that it has is something that you are giving to it. Here's a different way to look at uncertainty. Do you remember the last time that you were super excited about a new movie? You know, you already got tickets and you're looking forward to it, and you just cannot wait for this experience. And then some clueless, oblivious asshole goes and spoils a plot. It pisses you off, right? Because the fact that you didn't know how it was going to play out, well, that was the whole point. That's what makes it enjoyable. That is the thing that you're looking forward to. And that's uncertainty. When you're experiencing it as something exciting and new and something you're anticipating, well, that's we call that novelty. But it's uncertainty at its core. And when you look at that same unknown through the lens of fear, well, now it's a thread. It's the exact same thing, but the only difference is the meaning that we give to it. Look, the future is unwritten either way. No one knows how it's gonna go. And you can't know how things are gonna turn out until you actually experience it. But the only difference between novelty and the big scary unknown is the story that you tell yourself about it. And so what would change for you if you looked at that decision that you've been hesitating on, the one that you are overthinking, overanalyzing, and researching to death. And instead of thinking, well, what if this goes wrong? You ask yourself, what if this goes right? What would you do differently? How would you show up different from how you've been doing it? Because one of the biggest differences that I have noticed in successful entrepreneurs, it's not that they're fearless, it's that they have a different relationship to uncertainty. They still feel the fear, but they don't let it run the show. They choose to act anyway. And they choose to see the unknown not as something that is out to destroy them and to be avoided, but as something that might actually surprise and delight them. And honestly, like a lot of this comes down to the fact that you're likely making this a lot heavier than it needs to be. You are putting so much pressure on the outcome. Like this one decision is going to determine everything that happens from here on out. And the truth is, is that it's not. This decision is not the last decision you will ever make, and you must learn to stop treating it like it is. It's just one step. That's it. So here's what you can do: start noticing when you are actively turning uncertainty into a big thread, where you're making it mean something potentially catastrophic, and then ask yourself what if this was just step one in an experiment? What if it was just the beginning of an adventure? What if I don't need to get it right, just need to get moving? Because you don't need to eliminate the fear. Look, you're human, we're all human. You're gonna feel what you feel. But even if you can't control what you feel in the moment, you always get to choose what you make it mean, and you get to choose whether you buy into that story or write a new one. So here's my challenge to you, my friend. I want you to notice all the ways that you have been treating uncertainty like it's the enemy and start experimenting with flipping the script and taking a different perspective. Because remember, another name for uncertainty is novelty. And we like novelty. That's why we can't stop scrolling. That's why our brains light up when something new pops up in the feed. Well, what if you brought that same energy and excitement to your decisions, into your business, into your career, into your life? What if this wasn't the end-all-be-all decision, but just the beginning of your next adventure? If this resonated with you, make sure that you subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And if you do decide to take that first step, if you lean into uncertainty instead of trying to avoid it, I would love to hear what happens. Send me a message and tell me what did you expect and then what actually happened. And always remember that you are just one decision away from stepping into your next big adventure. Thank you for listening, and I'll see you next time.