Trading uncertainty for the life of your dreams

Jun 24

"Don’t sleepwalk through life.” – Derren Brown

Life is full of uncertainty, especially in your twenties when you face three pressing questions: career, location, and life partner. Yes, you can decide and change these things later on. But it becomes more difficult when you have a ticking timeline and more responsibilities.

We’ll focus on the career pillar since it’s usually your first major decision and influences the other pillars.

Why it’s essential to manage uncertainty

Uncertainty arises when you either don’t know what you want or can’t control the outcome. When you’re unsure of what you want, it’s easy to absorb other people’s opinions. I remember when I was in college and felt lost about which career path to pursue, so I got funneled into finance. In reality, a large part of me wanted to be a writer, but I lacked confidence and instead listened to everyone who said it wasn’t practical.

I essentially let other people determine my future and ended up in an industry I hated. Four years later, I left my career in finance to pursue writing. Yet, if I had confidence in my beliefs and dreams, I could have saved a lot of time and been further along with my writing skills. If you don’t make and stand by your opinions, other people will decide your fate.

Conviction is the antidote to uncertainty

Instead of feeding into doubt and indecision, decide what you want to pursue and stick to it. And don’t wait for the perfect moment because you can never be 100% certain of what you’re “supposed” to do. You determine your own outcomes, so replace your doubts with decisions. And procrastinating is just as bad as letting others decide for you! The only difference is that time is the one closing doors.

Instead, focus on the general direction you want to go in based on what you love to do, whether that’s writing, architecture, engineering, or another passion (Robert Greene has a great video explaining this). This general direction will guide your actions and enable you to spend your time more meaningfully, working towards a larger goal and building a solid foundation in an area you’re interested in.

Well, how do you know what to pursue? We’re getting there!

You already know what you want to do

Yes, I know this answer is annoying, but I genuinely believe that everyone has an idea of what they want to do, and it often stems from childhood activities. Reflect on what brought you joy as a child—those activities reflect your natural affinities. For instance, if you liked playing with Lincoln Logs, architecture or design might be a great fit since you likely enjoy building things.

Once you have a list of ideas, look for the intersection of what you like, what you’re good at (or could become good at), and what people would be willing to pay you for (your ikigai ). The goal isn’t to find a perfect match but to determine a general direction.

Lastly, listen to yourself! Your intuition is trying to guide you!

Make space for good things to come your way

The last step is to get rid of what you dislike for better things to come your way. There’s a principle called The Vacuum Law of Prosperity which establishes that nature hates empty space and will fill it. Opportunities arise when you release what no longer serves you. For instance, if you’re working in finance but want to be a writer, you can’t expect writing opportunities to come up naturally. Yet, once you leave finance, a world of opportunities opens up.

By eliminating what you dislike and what doesn’t align with your goals, you create space for new and better opportunities in your life.

Final thoughts

It’s essential to think about what you want from life and go after it. There isn’t a perfect path or an ideal time to decide, but it’s crucial to start. Once you choose, have faith in yourself, drown out your doubts, and keep moving forward!

Do you have any other tips? Leave a comment on my page with your thoughts!