Ambiguity Is The Enginefeatured

There is a lot of ambiguity in the air. The election results. Concern about our own lives. The climate. The state of the world in general. The changing economy. The replacement of jobs by freelance work. What are you supposed to do?

When the scarecrow points both ways and we don’t know which direction is best.

A false cure for the discomfort of ambiguity is to make up a story. “It will all be okay because bla bla bla….” “It will be awful and there is nothing I can do because bla bla bla…” “I don’t need to do anything because someone else is bla bla bla…”

Yes, those stories can temporarily take away ambiguity’s discomfort but they also take away its motivational value.

Instead, create a vision for how you want things to be and ask yourself what the first next step is to get there. If you have a vision for a just, fair world, what is a first step you can take? If you have a vision of using your skills and talents in line with that vision on a daily basis, what is your first step towards that?

Your first step won’t take the ambiguity away. All a first step does is reveal the second step. Use the discomfort you have with the ambiguity to motivate you towards taking that second step. Then, a third step will be revealed. And on and on.

Don’t try to escape ambiguity by making up stories; escape your ambiguity by taking actions towards a vision for a better life and world.

Then you can say that your ambiguity is your engine.