How to live in uncertainty
Uncertainty creates doubts and forces us to review plans repeatedly, looking for vulnerable details. It makes you feel anxious and insecure about tomorrow and every next step. After all, vulnerability is becoming pervasive. It’s like walking through a minefield without a map or a flashlight. Sometimes, you want to stop and wait for dawn, but the process can continue indefinitely.
Keeping life on hold for several years is also not the best choice, so you must adapt. One day, the sun will rise, and by that moment, you can still be in the open field or move in the chosen direction, not only without losses but also with gains.
What does it change?
With this question, it is worth assessing what is happening in your life. Uncertainty makes planning difficult, but does it change that much? You can easily recall dozens of reliable (like Swiss watches) plans that have entirely failed. Everything was provided for. Moreover, it probably was. However, each person does not exist in a vacuum; it is in a vast and complex world where something can happen at any moment.
An unforeseen accident can disrupt the most thoughtful algorithm of actions. The inability to plan is offset by the ability to improvise and make decisions on the go. Unfortunately, this skill is not taught in schools and universities; it remains to take lessons from life. It’s never too late to start. To boost your self-confidence, look at planning from a different angle. In most cases, your plans were based on faith with a slight admixture of arguments and objective assumptions, which is why they collapsed. Faith gives hope, but it does not guarantee the achievement of the goal.
Focusing on the short-term
Caught in a storm in the middle of the ocean, you should put aside thoughts of finding a treasure island, traveling around the world, or discovering America. The main goal is to save the ship; everything else will be later. Lower the sails so they are not torn to shreds, and strengthen the barrels with supplies. Otherwise, they will be overboard. Focus on short-term goals and tasks that were previously ignored.
This applies to work, other financial activities, and personal goals. Now is the best time to satisfy pent-up desires. Visit. A F R I N I K .C O M . For the full article. They don’t require much planning, just a bit of determination and a willingness to spend some time and money. One day, stability will cover you again, and then there will be no time for fantasies. In life planning, long-term goals should prevail over short-term ones.
What is more important is not what kind of person you are now but who you will become in 5-10 years. Nevertheless, the movement towards the future takes place in the present. Step by step, every day. Direct actions and achieving many short-term goals determine the general vector of development. Simply put, you can’t immediately become a millionaire or take a seat on the board of directors of a large company.
But the key word here is “immediately.” Based on the opposite, it would be fair to say that you can do all this only gradually, having gone through many steps. Uncertainty sometimes slows progress, but it happens that it picks up and carries you through several flights.
Long-term goals in conditions of uncertainty
Another essential detail worth understanding is that the impossibility of long-term planning does not oblige you to abandon long-term goals. Regardless of the scale of the disaster, you are free to maintain your views, ideals, and dreams. Let them, as before, serve as visible landmarks everywhere. Perhaps the path leading to the lighthouse has disappeared into the swamps, but a warm day will come when the swamp dries up, and the path becomes passable again.
You should be collected and ready to move immediately to the goal by this point. Try to complete all the preparatory activities during bad weather. This means splitting a significant and long-term goal into small elements. Some tasks can be solved in any weather. A little forward movement is better than idle waiting. If you complete one or two of the ten planned steps, it will be some result, not a complete lack of it.
It will definitely pass
It can’t rain forever; the elements will calm down sooner or later. Most likely, this has already happened in your life. I felt like a weak-willed puppet being carried into the unknown by unknown forces. Then comes a short phase of nothingness and awakening. The realization that it’s over doesn’t come immediately. The fact is that the expectation is not justified. Life doesn’t get back to the same. If you remember what you have experienced, the old carelessness will no longer be available. Shattered hopes will make you look at the world without rose-colored glasses.
Prolonged uncertainty inevitably leaves scars on the soul and sometimes on the body. Time gradually heals, and then the question arises about the lessons learned and the work done on mistakes. A bright sun will replace the rainbow, but one day, clouds will cover the sky again. Uncertainty will return more than once. For the rest of her life, she will try, if not to make friends with you, then at least to surprise and cheer you up a little, to distract you from the gray everyday life.
Tactics for everyday
You need not only some philosophical reflections but also practical advice. Life is a long—term phenomenon, but it consists of short-term segments. There are twelve months in a year, four weeks each month, and seven days a week. At the same time, you need to live not in general, somewhere out there, but here and now every day. Of course, tactics depend on the specific case, personal aspirations, available skills, and reserves. However, something can be singled out in universal advice when uncertainty is high and it is difficult to predict the future, even a few days ahead.
First of all, don’t risk too much. Especially if the potential prize does not pay off the likely costs. Usually, people talk about risk as a noble cause from the outside or after they are pulled out of the abyss by Lady Luck. Everyone else, having learned from bitter experiences, prefers to keep quiet. Learn from the bitter experiences of others. Uncertainty sweeps away plans, which leads to rash, often risky actions. See the plan and don’t believe in chance.
The probability that you will be lucky is the same as before. Don’t burn your bridges, even if you think your life will change dramatically soon. Maybe not? Do not slam the door loudly when quitting your job, and do not break off relations with people through public censure or a grandiose scandal. Leave loopholes everywhere. These connections come in handy one day. By saving them, you don’t lose anything; by cutting off connections, you lose, even if not material, but still the capital that has accumulated over the years.
We can also summarize the recommendations: Do not make sudden maneuvers in low visibility conditions—they are dangerous. Now, you must navigate through the storm, carefully keeping what you have. Your inability to plan allows you to focus on the little things. Weigh your words more carefully, be more selective about your surroundings, and finally, take care of yourself physically and mentally.
Check what your views and values are worth and whether they can withstand the elements. If your attention is occupied with everyday tasks, you naturally don’t have time to be discouraged and talk about an unfair fate. This practically negates the effect of uncertainty.