There is a pattern I keep meeting in coaching conversations with founders. A situation feels hard and heavy. But when we explore it, it’s rarely anything they could not make good progress with. It feels impermeable because the known and the unknown have tangled together, so the whole thing feels like a brick wall.
All of us need some level of certainty to feel safe. As entrepreneurs, we signed up for a higher-than-average dose of uncertainty. That part is given and it does not go away. What can change is how much the uncertainty messes with your mind.
The first step in navigating uncertainty is to separate the things you feel rather sure of from the things that make you hesitate or feel stuck. The amount and magnitude of what is uncertain stays exactly the same before and after. Yet the decision becomes easier to make, the action quicker to take, because you have stopped treating the whole situation as one undivided threat. Instead, you have a list of identified, individual elements you can work on.
Naming what is uncertain turns the volume of the unknowns down. It does not switch it off, and it does not have to.
Here are three common situations where this sorting is useful:
The decision you keep circling.
This might look like a decision you have been carrying for weeks, maybe months. Every time you think of it, it feels like one big risk.
Certain/uncertain factors sorted, it can turn out you are sure of more than you thought. What remains are the open questions you can get an answer to. Sometimes it comes through seeking more knowledge or connecting with the right person. Sometimes the answer is to accept the uncertain factor instead of converting it to certainty.
Founders who sort situations this way can often make decisions quicker. And they feel more confident about their decisions. At least they can now say what they still need, which is meaningful progress.
The person you are worried about.
This might look like a key team member who seems restless lately, and the worry has started colouring everything: their comments in meetings, their calendar, their tone. Sorted, the sure side might hold the quality of their work, what they have actually said, and what is yours to offer. The unsure side holds their plans, which you cannot read from the outside, but you can ask. A conversation you have been avoiding tends to become easier to open when you know which part of your worry is observation and which part is guessing.
The thing everything seems to hang on.
This might look like a big renewal, a market shift, or a platform change that your plans feel hostage to. Sorted, you may notice how much stays true in either outcome: what your business is capable of, the clients who are staying, the runway you have. The open question remains open, but planning becomes clearer when you can build on what holds in both worlds instead of waiting for the one answer.
Sorting out the sure from the unsure
Choose a situation that currently feels like one heavy thing. Write it down in one or two plain sentences. Then make two short lists: what am I sure of here, and what am I unsure of. Look at the things that you are uncertain of. Things that you can’t control or influence are good to name, too. When named, they are easier to manage mentally.
For those you can do something about, and are worth your time and energy to work on, brainstorm actions that transform them from an unsure thing to a sure thing. Which ones need more knowledge? Which one a certain person could solve? Which one do you already have an answer to?
Choose the top three actions that would help you the most and put the actions in your calendar.
If you would like to share how this exercise helped you move forward with something you have been stuck with, write back to me.