I recently heard a radio spot promising, ‘The Joy of Certainty.” The commercial promoted the services of a company offering psychic readings. I understand why certainty seems appealing to people. However, it is clear why people do not find the comfort they seek. Certainty is not the answer.
Reflecting on the thousands of hours I have spent in deep, probing, and valuable dialogue with the CEOs and other executives I coach, I have found that, while most people prefer certainty over chaos, the problem is that uncertainty is what drives our imagination, fuels our quest for discovery and creates the intrinsic value of things. That is true of financial investments, personal relationships, and all business pursuits. You can generally only find certainty in the finality of things. It is why people quit. Giving up or ending things creates relative certainty, while waiting for things to play out rarely does. Pursuing certainty does not provide a refuge from chaos and is more likely to bring frustration, disillusionment, and failure.
Uncertainty drives innovation, exploration, and creativity. You rarely find peace and joy of deep satisfaction in pursuits with guaranteed outcomes. The better answer is to embrace uncertainty and recognize that this is where you find opportunity and the challenges that cultivate your imagination and personal growth.
Collin Powell famously suggested that making sound critical decisions requires learning to trust your gut. You need to act when your certainty level reaches 40% or more. That is consistent with the idea that “perfect is the enemy of progress.” Demanding perfection of yourself (or others) leads to paralysiswhen you realize it is a moving target or simply an impossible destination to find.
Any worthwhile journey presents uncertainties you must contend with and tends to offer the benefits of more valuable experiences than the destination you aim for. Your aims drive your journey, but the benefits of the challenges, decisions, and perspective you gain rarely await you at the end. Destinations may promise certainty but are often not what you expect or hope for.
To be a competent decision-maker and accomplish things that matter, you must get comfortable with the discomfort of uncertainty. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is what we define as having grit. It is not the pursuit of pain that benefits you. You must get out of your comfort zone and your own way, especially when facing adversity.
Embracing uncertainty requires a deep and clear sense of purpose to inform your goals. Understanding your purpose guides your belief in what is inherently right or wrong. It is what fuels you to be conscientious and dedicated in your pursuits. The certainty psychics promise enables people to hide, trapped in their comfort zone, when what you need and desire requires that you muster the courage to venture into the world, wonder what’s possible, and find the deep sense of joy that comes from accomplishing things that truly matter.
