Sep 27 2011
What Uncertainty means for you
WRITTEN by,
At SOBcon, I had the fortune of seeing Jonathan Fields speak again. Having seen him at WDS, I already knew his talk would likely be one of the highlights of the weekend. (Last time, he inspired me to start writing the book I had been cooking up in my brain. This guy is fantastic.)
The talk was on uncertainty, also the title of his new book. After his talk was over, he left us with a question.
“What is the uncertainty you are dealing with?”
God, what uncertainty was I dealing with? Fuck, pick one. Between having a housing situation up in the air, a baby on the way, and a business I’ve been struggling with the direction of, my life is uncertainty personified.
Then, it occurred to me. My entire life has been lived in the flux of uncertainty. From the time I could think for myself, my living situation and finances have been temporary at best and fleeting at worst. And every moment I was in the midst of it, I wanted more. That’s why I worked my ass off.
It had never dawned on me that my ability to cope in this constant environment of uncertainty is why I’m so resilient. It’s why I thrive under pressure. It’s why I could never be anything but an entrepreneur. And it’s the greatest strength I possess.
It’s also why I yearn for some degree of stability. That used to be to my detriment, at least until I started discovering what that looked like for me outside of societal expectations and perceived obligations. Now stability looks like something worth keeping, and it’s much different.
But uncertainty isn’t a strength onto itself. It’s enough to drive to you to the edge. It’s the ability to reframe that uncertain circumstance into an opportunity to stay on your creative edges.
The most important concept Jonathan discusses in his book is reframing. It’s the part that’s easiest to forget and take for granted – until you’re feeling so stuck you shut down.
If you can reframe, your anxiety transforms into creativity. Reframing can take an ugly picture and make it much more bearable. You owe it to yourself to use this on that situation you swear you have no control over right now. Because you do. You control your attitude.
Your uncertainty is the opportunity you’ve been searching for. It’s the fuel for your fire. It’s the fear that can drive you to do something crazy – and potentially brilliant.
So I leave you with the same question. “What is the uncertainty you are dealing with?”
Get it out there. Let’s try reframing the situation so it works for you, not against you.
5 Comments
Uncertainty = opportunity – I couldn’t have put it better myself. You can either view life’s challenges as difficulties or as opportunities. I prefer the latter – although it’s often easier said than done.
For me the uncertainty is where I go once the debts are paid off and I am in a position to leave the paid employment that I’m tied to. It’s easy right now to say I have to keep the job to pay the debts (which I do) BUT once they’re paid (could be as soon as the end of next year!) I then have no ‘excuses’ – it will be time to make the big jump that I’m always on about. What I’m going to do is uncertain and, no doubt, will involve some degree of risk (and faith). But hey, life would be boring if it didn’t involve challenges and risks (and opportunities to be grabbed with both hands) right?
Steve
It’s true, Steve. But, I’m willing to bet you have more opportunities that will appear there than are surfacing right now. You have the fortune of having a “due date,” so to speak, so you ca be on the look out for additional opportunity to help ease some of the inevitable uncertainty you’ll be feeling later!
“Your uncertainty is the opportunity you’ve been searching for. It’s the fuel for your fire. It’s the fear that can drive you to do something crazy – and potentially brilliant. ” Love this!
We’ve got a copy in the mail, and I can’t wait to read it.
As per your question:
I just got my first client (Haven’t written for money in 3.5 years), and I’m not quite sure how it will fit into life, but am eager to make it work. I’m sure I want the work, but uncertain how it will get done:)
Life has been full of much scarier, edge of the cliff examples, but for now I will enjoy this little ride back into paid work.
It’s a great read. Read it in a couple hours on the train.
Are you talking to Nina over at http://www.shalommama.com yet? I think she’ll have some great tips for you.
The biggest things to remember for your case? Everyone has the same amount of time in the day, and routines help a ton.
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