How inspired work prepares us for thriving in uncertainty

We are all keenly aware of the upheaval that is rippling throughout our current world state. While a new paradigm has been gestating beneath the surface of our conscious awareness for a long while, the physical reality of what is being transformed just started to become more obvious during the pandemic. It is a catalytic time of change for us as a humanity and the ongoing metamorphosis will only continue to intensify over the years to come. If we want to find any sense of peace within while navigating the turmoil without, we must be prepared to ride the waves of uncertainty.

After almost three decades working as an entrepreneur and building four unique businesses over that time, I have grown comfortable living with uncertainty. As mega-entrepreneur Alex Hormozi says, “The whole journey of entrepreneurship is turning the unknown into the known through a process of trial and error.” For myself, I find entrepreneurship to be a continual state of living on the edge. I am often having to solve problems I don’t yet know how to solve or put myself into situations where I have not yet gained proficiency or create new opportunities for the yet-to-be-realized potentials to emerge. Because I am continually facing this kind of uncertainty in my work, I do count on some other aspects of my life to remain constant so there is a steadying presence. Yet, I just did one of the most destabilizing things I could – I just left the home that had been my bedrock for the last twelve years and I hit the road. Thankfully, my experience with my inspired work has prepared me to navigate this life choice with as much ease and grace as possible.

In an era when there is already so much instability, it might sound questionable to make such a decision, however, I made it for very good reasons – it allowed me to delegitimize a fear that had been causing me to stay stuck, cauterize an emotional wound that had been bleeding since my youth, and release an inner block that had been hindering my growth and evolution. In retrospect, it was a fantastic decision. Ultimately, I set myself free.

It starts with a decision

For the last few years, I had felt trapped in my living situation, all the while growing increasingly bitter and resentful. I was mired in a toxic relationship – the relationship between “tenant” and “landlord”. Even mentioning the word makes me shudder. The thought of some other person “lording” themselves over me is offensive to every cell in my body and yet, this is what I had been living. This is the same dynamic that led me out of employment into entrepreneurship all those decades ago. I would much rather have the challenges that come with the responsibility of being a creator versus the constraints that come from being under the command of another. Granted, not all living or employment situations have the same level of disparity as mine did, nonetheless, if you are drawn to doing your own thing, you can likely relate.

In regard to my living situation, while I tolerated a gross inequity of power for years, more recently the idea of being beholden to another in any capacity had become unbearable. I felt misaligned with my choice to live in what was essentially a feudalistic system, however, I couldn’t see a pathway to what my heart truly wanted, which was my autonomy. So, I stayed where I was, silently seething. However, when I finally came to recognize that my compromising myself meant I had lost my own self-respect, I reached a breaking point. I could no longer deny what was true – I had to leave as soon as possible.

What had been keeping me from leaving earlier was that I didn’t know how to reconcile what my heart wanted with my perceived “reality”. In other words, I didn’t yet have a “solution”, but my situation had gotten so insufferable, I had to make a decision. I decided to leave without knowing where I was going. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find out that it was only after I made my decision that I was actually able to see the solution that had been in front of me the whole time.

It was only after I made my decision that I was actually able to see the solution that had been in front of me the whole time.

Once the decision was made, the energies rushed in to support me. It was like I had caught the perfect wave. My entire being relaxed into the flow. Every cell in my body cried out, “Thank goodness.” “It’s about time.” “Hooray!” “What a relief.” “Let’s go!” It was obvious that I had actually made the decision internally a long time before and was only now allowing myself to experience the thrill of the ride I had been creating in my imagination for years.

As I said, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Over the decades, this is the exact same process I have followed in my work that has allowed me to thrive throughout the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.

8 steps to thriving in uncertainty

First, I want to briefly clarify what I mean by “thriving”. My definition is that we are able to live a life true to who we are and maintain our eagerness for each new day, no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in. Whatever uncertainty we are facing – be it a health issue, an economic recession, or the loss of a loved one – to thrive is to have the resources within to navigate our situation.

Thriving is to live a life true to who we are and maintain our eagerness for each new day, no matter the circumstances.

Our inspired work is helpful to us in that it is a creative process that requires us to unendingly take action without any guarantees. By stepping into the unknown over and over again, no matter if the result is failure or success, we build our capacity to handle any trial or tribulation that arises.

Whether we are creating our work or our life, the process is the same:

1. Make a decision

Too often, we want to wait until we have a “plan” before we make a decision, which ends up blocking the creative life-force that brings forth our reality. When we attempt to hold back the natural flow of that which wants to be realized in the world, it often becomes so difficult as to be painful. The situation before us evolves much more effortlessly when we first make a decision and then allow the energies to line up and reveal the path ahead. The good news is that it doesn’t even have to be the “right” decision, it only needs to be resolute. Life will offer us feedback that helps us make course corrections as we go.

2. Let go of knowing the actual outcome

While we can always imagine what’s possible, we cannot know the actual outcome before we make our journey. This is tricky for us certainty-seeking humans. We want assurances that we will be happy with the results of our decisions. But this need to know is what prevents most of us from taking the very necessary steps in our lives that allow for our growth and evolution. The good news is that our willingness to embrace uncertainty is what makes life such an exciting adventure. (How boring would it be if we knew how it was all going to turn out?)

3. Trust you will be supported

As a youngster attending summer camp, I was never thrilled when it came to the “trust” challenge. We were made to stand atop a large tree stump, one at a time, close our eyes and fall backwards into the outheld arms of our campmates. We were being shown that we can trust in that which we cannot see. Whether as a child or an adult, it takes great faith to believe that we will be held, especially when we think our physical wellbeing may be at risk. Oftentimes, in an attempt to ensure our safety, we try to control life’s circumstances, however, this tends to limit the experiences we can have. It is through our surrender that our grandest experiences can unfold.

4. Listen for your own inner guidance

Whether you call your inner guidance your “intuition”, “gut”, “inner voice”, or “master self”, we all have an inner compass that connects us with a broader knowing and helps us orient ourselves in the world. To access this knowingness, we must forget the stories of our past, withdraw from our projections into the future, and become present in the now. From this inner stillness, we are able to attune to our divinely-guided next steps.

5. Let the way be shown to you

To follow the path of the unknown is uncomfortable. In our urgency to reestablish a secure state of being, we might bound ahead, letting our mind completely override the previous steps, usually in reaction to fear. We will seek to discharge the feeling of discomfort rather than accept it as part of the journey. To move forward, we must get our mind out of the way and instead receive the subtle impulses that arise within our bodies. This requires us to allow all the feelings that arise, including the uncomfortable ones.

6. Follow through with action steps

One of the many joys of being human is that we get to actively participate in the creative experience of our existence. Our role as the creator is to receive the nudges of “what’s next” and follow through with real-world action, one small step at a time. It is through inspired action that we incrementally transform the unknown into the known.

7. Notice what happens and respond to the feedback

As mentioned in the first step, the decisions we make don’t necessarily have to be the “right” decisions. Think of life’s creative journey more as an experiment than a “plan”. After we take action, we will receive feedback through observations both internally through our own self-awareness, and externally by the results we achieve. With that information, we can reassess and make minor adjustments to help us continue our journey forward.

8. Repeat indefinitely

This cycle is repeated until what was initiated by our decision has come to a natural conclusion. Then, a new desire is born and the process continues.

Prior to making my decision to leave my home, I had forgotten what my inspired work had already taught me. Because of my indecision, I couldn’t take any of the next steps as outlined above. I was preventing myself from seeing what was the perfect solution at this particular time in my life. It was my rigid need for certainty that was actually keeping me trapped rather than the circumstances themselves. Once I made the decision without knowing where it was going to take me, then the rest unfolded easily and naturally. It was exhilarating, actually.

For the near future, I have chosen to be a free bird without a permanent home. Ironically, it turns out this means I won’t have a singular home, I will have many beautiful homes. But more important than that, my willingness to forsake certainty allowed me to regain the only thing that actually mattered to my heart, which was my autonomy. Now I am beholden to no one or no thing. As a result, my fear is gone. The wound has scarred over. The barrier to my evolution removed. By living in uncertainty, I am able to truly thrive.