In All Uncertain Terms.

Preventing the invasive weed of uncertainty from gaining ground cover in our brains.

Lately, I can’t seem to shake the doomsday reports of climate change, the economy, and politics. Compounding this are worries about my health, financial stability, and whether A.I. will make my coaching services obsolete.

If you feel like uncertainty is becoming progressively more pronounced, you’re onto something! According to The Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, which allows us to observe trends over time, “Uncertainty has roughly doubled for the global index since 2000.”

There is some good news here. If you are struggling with ambiguity, there are many practical steps you can take to manage it. It’s as simple as actively choosing to manage the fear and helplessness that uncertainty imprints onto your psyche.

But as we know, simple isn’t necessarily easy. Let me explain.

A maddening trait of uncertainty is that it continually lures our attention to the future. And when we’re focused on possible impending events, we are not able to live in the present.

When we’re ruminating on fatalistic future possibilities, we progress down a spiral that starts with uncertainty and morphs into worrying and (for some of us) careens toward worst case scenarios. That negative energy can become dead weight, anchored in future dread. We get trapped in a negativity loop that makes it progressively harder to maintain focus in the present.

Meditation practitioner Tara Brach calls this the state of “trance”. Because our minds can’t be in two states at once, practicing mindfulness is critical.  

So how are you and I supposed to manage the growing uncertainty in our world? The first step is to notice when a sense of worry, irritation, frustration, helplessness, or confusion presents itself. At the root of each of these emotions is fear. They’re just packaged differently.

The challenge is that we’ve been socialized to not feel our feelings. We’ve been bullied by expectations into “sucking it up”, “pushing through”, and “buckling down”, all in an effort to mitigate our emotions.

The reason it’s so important to make the invisible visible is that once we recognize these emotions, we can do something about them. We can ask ourselves whether the subject of our worry is real or a phantom concern.

You see, we humans have a negativity bias. 80% of our thoughts are negative. To add an interesting twist to this statistic, 95% of our thoughts are repetitive. This explains how our brain has been deeply conditioned toward ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts).

When you catch yourself assuming something is awry, ask yourself, “Is this a real issue?” This question serves to pull you back into your executive brain, rather than remaining tethered to the reptilian brain, which is famous for harboring worry. That’s right— curiosity is the gateway to the present!

Once you catch and label the worries, you can release the thoughts deemed phantom worries. When the issue warrants attention, there are many techniques to address almost any challenge.

This all helps in the moment. But since you’re invested in your “response-abilities”, consider strengthening your resilience, too! Here are three practices to embed into your day to help you maintain Emotional Equilibrium. Think of it as the resilience to remain responsive in murky situations.

Complete the stress cycle each day. When you’re faced with a stressful situation and eliminate the stressor but don’t address the stress, your amygdala stays on high alert. The hum of adrenaline remains, and cortisol continues to ‘drip’.

This may be why so many of us frequently find ourselves feeling irritable, impatient, or anxious about uncertainties at work. When you find yourself in situations that cause those emotions and don’t work them through or, even worse, you suppress them, there are hormone residuals after the situation is mitigated.

It’s crucial to find closure with your stress— whether it be journaling, meditation, exercise, or a driveway minute to intentionally address what’s on your mind. This is how your neurochemistry can be ‘cleansed’ from an incident. You’re closing the cycle.

Consider your triggers. For me, a big trigger is the news. Understanding that “good news doesn’t sell”, I’m still stumped and saddened by how the news media have become entertainment rather than the deliverers of vital information.

Years ago, I discovered that unless I was intentional about my news consumption, I was perpetually toxic. If this is true for you, consider how you can stay informed while protecting yourself from constant exposure. Is there a "morning brief” or a week-in-review from a trusted source that you can consume on your own time? A balanced media diet will afford you the freedom to stay informed but not emotionally immersed.

Control your controllables. Health is our most important asset. Thus, I’m perplexed that so many colleagues, friends and loved ones worry about their health without taking steps to protect it. I take the second arrow of worry from health issues by removing the resistance from my personal health maintenance. I schedule my annual physical and my next dental hygiene visit while I’m attending the current appointment. This eliminates the need to remember to book the visit and keeps me to a consistent cadence.  

These three practical practices will free up your emotional energy so you can address the challenges that need your clarity of attention. What are some of your tips to manage uncertainty in today’s environment?

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