Tackling Uncertainty for Personal Growth

“Hey Google, what’s the weather forecast?”

“Alexa, check the traffic on my route to work.”

“Siri, read my list of appointments for the day.”

Human beings are hardwired to crave certainty. That’s why many of us start our days gathering as much information as we possibly can. We want to know. We want to be prepared. We want to plan ahead.

But taking our assistant’s advice to grab an umbrella or leave five minutes early can only do us so much good. With or without AI, we can’t plan for every contingency. We can’t avoid every crack in the road. And we can’t eliminate uncertainty from our daily lives.

And we shouldn’t try to! Without confronting the unknown, we can never span the gap between who we are and what we could become, what our lives are like now, and what they could be.

Here are three ways we can learn to navigate uncertainty and make the most of opportunities for growth, learning, and advancement.

1. Gradual Exposure

You don’t build muscle memory all at once. You start with small reps and consistency. Our minds can be trained in a similar fashion.

When we’re faced with a massive unknown – a career change, moving to a new city, adjusting investment strategies, transitioning into retirement, or a weird noise at the end of a dark alley – our brains often trigger an “avoidance” response. This is the modern, more human version of “fight or flight” that kept our ancestors safe from wildfires and sabertoothed tigers.

Rather than forcing yourself to charge into battle, map out a couple of small, calculated steps that will help you get acclimated to what life might be like on the other side of uncertainty. Spend a long weekend at a potential new home base. Volunteer or work part-time in a new field you’re considering. As you get closer to retirement, cut back on your hours at work and test drive your new schedule.

2. Weighing Tradeoffs

You can’t move from here to there without leaving something behind. Coworkers. Friends and family. Your favorite coffee shop or public park. The familiar comforts of your daily routine.

But sometimes we get so caught up in what we’d have to give up to make a change that we overlook the potential benefits. This kind of thinking can lead to more avoidance: we don’t want to make “the wrong choice” and miss “the perfect path” forward.

Of course, in life, nothing is ever perfect. And in our life, work, and finances, we often have to weigh tradeoffs that put our current comforts and long-term goals in conflict with each other. For example, a healthy 63-year-old considering early retirement has to weigh the benefits of a couple extra years of earning and topping off their retirement accounts versus the benefits of enjoying a couple extra able-bodied years on the golf course and seeing the world.

Often, there’s no “right” or “wrong” answer in these uncertain scenarios. But considering the tradeoffs can help us gain some clarity on what really matters to us.

3. Learning More

We don’t know everything. But we can always know more than we do right now, especially when we’re confronting uncertainty.

• Talking to our spouses can help us explore how a life-changing decision might affect our families.
• Reading more and taking classes can help us learn new skills and understand the world better.
• An interview with a dream employer might help us understand if we really want to make a career pivot.

Let’s start working on a plan to make you feel more positive about your next step.

Investment advisory services are offered through Kingsview Wealth Management, LLC (“KWM”), an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through Kingsview Insurance Services, LLC (“KIS”), by individually licensed and appointed insurance agents. KWM and KIS are subsidiaries of Kingsview Partners.