Certainty is a trap designed by shame and fear.

Raise your hand if you like certainty and guarantee. As humans, our brains are hard-wired to avoid discomfort.

Fear keeps us safe by eliminating possibility and uncertainty, which, over time, 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 it is, never plays a game of risk — any possibility of a negative outcome and we will feel immediate pressure to withdraw or hide.

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 in front of us. I get it; there is comfort in staying inside the walls of safety. There is a calmness inherent in predictability.

And a life of risk-averse, comfort-living only equates to stagnancy, leaving us all to exist and perfect our clouds of predictable crappiness.

Let’s change the narrative. No, it doesn’t mean you have to throw caution to the wind. It doesn’t mean that comfort and predictability aren’t valuable. The key is balance.

How has your brain been working overtime to keep you stuck in the predictability and stagnancy of your everyday life? Where do you long for but find yourself steps away from grabbing that change? Where do you need to lean into 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?

Share it with us in the comments and let’s make space to broaden our thinking and build some community in our process!