Uncertainty – such a short but, at the same time, powerful word. We all experience it at some time in our lives, even with some of us several times. Uncertainty creates instability, shows our darkest sides, and plays with our emotions.
Based on what we have built as a character, the impact of uncertainty can be shacking, weakening-up, or destructive for us.
We tend to think we are strong, motivated, engaged, and focused on success, and then , one day, uncertainty pops up in our lives, showing us how wrong we are.
Uncertainty is a complex state of body and mind that shows us that we must slow things down and focus on reinstating our powers toward the world around us.
Many people feel exhausted when dealing with uncertainty, lost, and weak. It shows us how inexperienced we are in challenging situations and how much our self-awarenes, or the lack of it, makes us feel helpless about what is happening around us.
According to a short survey and analysis provided by APA in 2022, there are more than twelve thousand programs and courses worldwide to help deal with uncertainty. These helpful structures are presented to thousands yearly, combined with individual coaching psychological and psychiatric help courses, to help people become more self-confident and deal quickly with uncertainty.
But what if you don’t have access to those programs? Or may you not know that you feel uncertainty until it hits you directly with some physiological expressions, often seen by you and those around you. Can you try to deal with uncertainty alone?
If you ask professional helpgivers like psychologists and coaches, it is almost impossible to do it yourself. If you ask people who already progressed with dealing with uncertainty, they will say to you that there is a way and there are several simple steps they follow.
But who to believe – those who sell help or say to you, “I somehow overcame this uncertainty, you can do it too.”
There is no clear answer here; if there is one, it is “depends.”
It depends on your situation, how well you know yourself, and how effective you are in changing yourself, your mind, and your understanding with limited or no help from outside. Suppose you define yourself as a solid and independent personality with an internal locus of control (e.g., You believe that everything is in you and it is up to you to deal with it). In that case, you can try negotiating with uncertainty alone.
To progress in this set of actions, you must focus on three simple steps.
Observation
Imagine you have just discovered something unusual in your behavior. How are you dealing with it? Do you start experimenting or collect information to analyze and build a strategy? If you answered for yourself in the light of the observation, then you are correct. Observing helps the person to go through the experience they have already built. It builds self-awareness and creates a database of cases, situations, and reactions. At the same time, emotions you may demonstrate but not be aware of pop up on the surface and become visible to you and others. You can identify moments of panic and define what panic means to you. As a next, there will be a built history of overreactions and consequences that you will become familiar with.
Focusing on observing those elements builds the basis for the next steps and creates an effective strategy for dealing with uncertainty.
Acceptance
Although most people move successfully with the observation stage, they get stuck in this next stage. Often, we have an illusionary understanding of what we are and how we impact the environment. And when reality shows that we are illusional, then we step back to defend what our comfort zone has become. For example, a person who is acting negatively indirectly toward the environment and the team may be surprised to understand that their behavior is inappropriate when given feedback, capsulate themselves, and take a defensive position in accusing everyone else of what they are and not including themselves in the whole picture. This is so common that there may be no one who hasn’t experienced it already.
Acceptance is the turning point for everyone dealing with uncertainty. When looking at what is happening and accepting it, the person gets some power to deal with the change needed. The more a person agrees with reality, the fewer the barriers to learning how to deal with uncertainty become.
In other words, being aware of your behaviors and accepting them as they are in the moment of happening opens the door for learning, self-improvement, and upgrade of your personality. Without that step, there is no chance that the person will start changing for good.
Realizing the positives
When learning, we often discover ways to move forward, which is unnatural for us now. Uncertainty may have a negative scar on us and others initially, but growing in how to deal with it makes people more creative, open to changes, flexible, and positive. Accepting that things are what they are, the person creates the basis for change. And from this basis, that same person starts to jump through different levels of self-development. Initially, this means short jumps with insecure power, but then it turns into more self-confident steps, with longer jumps and more significant results. While doing this, the person grows professionally, personally, and psychologically simultaneously. The more they realize that trying new things doesn’t stress them but creates opportunities for positive change, the more accelerated the process of personal change toward uncertainty becomes for them.
IN CONCLUSION:
People today live in a high-speed society where stress, complexity, and change are constants. Often, these elements impact unique personalities and create uncertainty. Establishing an understanding of uncertainty and a clear strategy for dealing with it is a great way to build a unique approach to overcoming it and growing as a person and professional. And yes, in some situations, people may need additional help, but learning the basics on how to deal with uncertainty can limit that external help impact and boost internal capabilities and self-confidence in these same people.
The Human place 