Lean In To Your Ambiguity

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As humans, our brains are hard wired to avoid discomfort. Fear acts to keep us safe by eliminating possibility and uncertainty, which, over time, it has equated to threats and safety hazards.

When we are faced with ambiguity and uncertainty, our brain works quickly to assess the likelihood of a negative outcome. And fear, being the conservative that it is, never plays a game of risk. Any possibility of things going awry and we will feel an immediate pressure to withdraw or hide, sometimes acting on it before we can even identify it.

But our brain forgets that growth can only occur in the face of uncertainty and discomfort. And while it thinks it is keeping us safe, it is also working against the opportunities and possibilities facing us. I get it, there is comfort in staying inside the walls of safety. There is a calmness inherent with predictability. But to me, comfort equates to stagnancy, leaving us all to exist within our cloud of predictable shittiness, every. single. day.

If I stayed in that comfort zone, I never would have left Milwaukee, WI. I never would have ended a relationship that I was not happy in. I never would have started my own business or dared to chase the dreams I so longed to make a reality. I never would have experienced failure in the same ways - failure that allowed me to grow and evolve to become a better business owner, friend, partner, and person. I never would have met the people i have and had the opportunity to help so many. I never would have been sitting here, right now, writing this post. And knowing the possibility for even greater fulfillment lies behind the mountains of ambiguity before me gives me great hope for the journey and the climb.

Reflection time:

  • How has your brain been working overtime to keep you from escaping the bubble of “predictable shittyness”?

  • Where do you need to lean in to the uncertainty and allow for the possibility of greatness?

  • How can you flex your fear muscles to be more inclusive of opportunity and possibility without ascribing an outcome to what has not yet occurred?