The Hidden Cost of Certainty
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The Hidden Cost of Certainty
Here’s a question I wish I had started asking earlier:
Where am I accepting good because I’m afraid to tolerate the uncertainty necessary to reach great?
Over the last few years, I’ve reached an important conclusion:
Tolerance for uncertainty is one of the most valuable human traits.
Most people are so afraid of uncertainty that they leap at the chance to avoid it. Right on the verge of the breakthrough, they take the comfortable path. They settle. They relent. They accept.
The worst mistakes in life may not look like mistakes at all. Sometimes, the worst mistakes look like modest wins.
But the truth is that a mistake isn’t defined in absolute terms.
A mistake is defined relative to one’s true potential.
And the only way to reach that potential is to tolerate uncertainty long enough to unlock it.
Your success in life is proportional to the amount of uncertainty you can tolerate.
It’s easy to show up when the rewards are certain. When everything makes sense. When the path is entirely clear.
But there is no clear, linear path to the life you want.
That’s a myth. A fairy tale. A delusion adults have continued to believe.
The real path? It’s long. Foggy. Full of doubt and stagnation.
The real rewards in life go to those who can show up every single day when the rewards are uncertain. It’s showing up day after day without a guarantee. It’s taking the next step forward even when you can’t see where your foot is going to land.
Those who win aren’t always the smartest or most talented. They’re the ones who can hold their nerve the longest.
The one who can tolerate the most uncertainty is the one who will eventually win.
Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should do it. Get comfortable saying no to the good so you can say yes to the great.
Where are you accepting good because you’re afraid to tolerate the uncertainty necessary to reach great?
Your answer might change everything.
