Become Successful By Embracing Uncertainty

Source: evanleavitt

If there is one common feature that I have observed from successful people, it is that they are willing to accept uncertainty. Uncertainty is a fact of life. We never really know where our next breath will take us, let alone what a switch in career, time away from work, change in relationship or living situation will bring. Successful people might not embrace the fact that uncertainty is a fact of life, but they do ACCEPT IT.

Don’t believe me? Try this little exercise out for yourself.

1. Get a sheet of paper and write down all the things that you have accomplished in the past five years that you are proud of. These could be things that occurred in your personal or professional life. Note: you can do this for the past year, or any other length of time, but I think five years is a good starting point.
2. Circle the items that you consider your top 10 experiences based on how impactful they have been on your life.
3. For each of these top ten accomplishments, rate them each on a scale of 1 to 10; with 1 being you were in complete control of getting the outcome and 10 being that the outcome was completely uncertain but you persisted anyway and it worked out well.
4. Take the average of your ratings. What is your number?

I just did this exercise, and my number was a 6.9!

That’s pretty darn high. It is super clear that many of the things in my life that I am proud to have accomplish have required confidence in my own ability, a clear desired outcome and pursuit of that outcome in the face of uncertainty.

Make uncertainty your friend. Accept that it is part of life. Also realize, that it is through uncertain situations that you will have your biggest breakthroughs and gain the most powerful life experiences that this world has to offer.