More now than ever, I feel like Stephen and I have had a lot of uncertainty in our lives. Don’t get me wrong, there have definitely been other points in time where he or I have been unsure of what the next step was, but right now we are both navigating through that question of “what’s next” so I guess it seems more prevalent. I was sharing this on IG and I had some of you ask if I would write a blot on how to move through times of uncertainty so here we are!

To be a little more clear, I feel like the things that Stephen and I are working through right now are what is going to happen with Tier 3, what role will Stephen play with my business when he graduates this month, and what direction I am looking to go in (I’ve been mulling over some pretty hard decisions the past month but more on that later). So since both of us don’t necessarily know what the future holds, it can feel disconcerting and anxiety filled if you let it. With that said, I wanted to share some tips that have helped us move through these periods with confidence and excitement versus anxiety and doubt.

Be confident in your decision and move forward with certainty once you’ve made it. This is something that I’ve heard Ed Mylett and Rachel Hollis talk about and I couldn’t agree more. Once you make a decision you need to COMMIT to it. It doesn’t do you any good to make a choice but then continue to debate the what ifs in the back of your mind. Not only is it stressful mentally but it isn’t going to help you execute on the decision you’ve made. If you’re constantly distracted and thinking about the other option, you’re not giving the current decision your best effort.

Think of the unknown as having endless possibilities. The unknown can be scary if that’s how you choose to view it. But I prefer to look at the unknown as anything is possible. You can make your future anything you want it to be and knowing that is a great feeling. It may take you a while to get there, and it will mostly likely take hard work but it is possible.

Nothing lasts forever. Right now you might be feeling like you have no direction, or that you’ll never get to where you “want to go.” But everything in life is temporary. So make the most of your situation now and look at the bright side of things. There is always a silver lining to things, you just have to look for it. Also, just because you don’t understand why something is happening now, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a reason. I didn’t understand why I didn’t get into this accelerated nursing program at the time but since I didn’t and ended up doing a traditional program, I met Stephen during a summer internship. Last year I didn’t get signed with a big influencer management agency that I really wanted to be a part of. Now, I have my own team which is a much better set up than that would have been. At the time I was super disappointed by those things happening, but I knew that there would be a blessing somewhere later on.

Be flexible and know that things will go “wrong”. If you know that things are going to “go wrong” and you prepare for that, you’re much less likely to be thrown off. Whether you have a plan or not, sh*t always goes wrong! That’s just life. The more readily you accept that the easier things will be.  As a side note, when something goes awry, don’t dwell on the problem. They say that leaders and people who solve problems efficiently, are able to solve 85% of problems in 15 min or less. Other people will take that time to dwell or complain about why the problem happened, whose fault it is, etc. instead of JUST FIXING IT. So when stuff comes up, address it, move on and know that’s part of the process.

Know that everyone has experienced uncertainty. It can be easy to look around (on social media) and think that everyone’s life is perfect and no one has had any obstacles except for you. I’m guilty of thinking that too at times. But remember, no one’s life is perfect and people have obstacles in their personal and professional lives everyday that we aren’t privy too. So just take comfort in knowing that even the people who are super successful have had points in their lives where they have felt uncertain, or not known what the future would hold for them. A big part of being successful is taking risks and so you have to be able to put yourself out there and experience that uncertainty to get to the end point.

Any other tips you can add? I hope that these helped! xxC