“In doubt, just do”

Regaining momentum in moments of high uncertainty

Some months ago I have decided to take a career break.
To reassess where I am at in my life and my professional trajectory.

A lot of beautiful things have happened since then, but, after the initial few happy summer months, reality started to sink in.
New professional directions would have taken years to develop, and required me to learn how to deal with a deep sense of uncertainty over a prolonged period of time.
All possible future paths implied trainings and network building, while strengthening my self-confidence and resilience.

And that is when I have began to feel stuck.

A sense of uncertainty started to suffocate me, while I was quickly losing hope.
Fears, self doubts and drops in self-confidence materialised.
Together with lack of motivation and decision-making paralysis.
A sort of “What the hell I am doing with my life?” type of feeling.

The most immediate reaction was to quickly end the break and come back to what I was doing before, so that I could feel useful and regain some sense of purpose.
At the same time, I kept reminding myself that there was a reason why I had decided to take a pause. And reassess the future. And that I deserved this opportunity.

But this sense of emptiness did not disappear.
How could I find some sense motivation?
Escape this paralysis and achieve some progress?

Speaking with a few people in my network gave me the reply.
Across the board, there was one, main advice:

“In doubt, just do”.

Do? But do what?
Apparently it did not really matter.
Regardless of the personal history or background of the person in front of me, they all recommended to just do something.
Go for a run, or write, or train the dog. Study or read. Meet people.
The “what” was not so important.
It was instead fundamental to get some sense of progress to regain momentum.

So I have started “to do”.
To write, to watch online lessons, to read. To meet people and tell them about my vision for the future, about my current struggles and where I was feeling stuck.
Why I believed this break was the right thing for myself in this moment.
And which line of reasoning had brought me there.

And then, something fantastic started to happen.
By doing, I started to feel a sense of accomplishment. To realise I was making progress. And to regain vitality.
By talking to people, I have started to get encouragement, introductions and advice. Understanding and recommendations.

Thanks to that, I was finally back on track.
With renewed momentum.
And more self-confidence than before.

Action was the antidote to get back into motion.
And will help me when I will feel stuck again.
So that the outlook will start to look less grim, a smile will appear on my face and things will start moving.

It has worked for me.
And I hope it will for you too.

“In doubt, just do”.

Have a good, active journey,
— Livio

24/09/2022

P.s.: I am sharing my experience on making decisions in the face of high uncertainty. Subscribe to follow my journey and learn from my mistakes ;)