Sunday, April 10, 2022

How to deal with micro and macro uncertainty in life, sport and business.

 

 How to deal with micro and macro uncertainty in life, sport, schooling, the military and in business.

 

The only things certain in life, is death and uncertainty. If you do not get mechanisms to deal with uncertainty , you will not get far in life.

This blog can give you a few empowering suggestions on how to deal with  micro and macro uncertainty.

Micro uncertainty: The immediate threat in front of you:  The exam: Unknown questions, In sport the unpredictable ball, The military: The unknown threatening situation.  

Macro uncertainty:  How to deal with life in its entirety.  



Here are a few pointers:

(i)                  Attitude:

The first thing to change is you attitude about uncertainty. Uncertainty is good. Live would be incredibly boring and monotonous if everything was certain.

(ii)                Uncertainty is part of the human condition

There are two reason for uncertainty:

We are not all-seeing: We cannot see into the future - we do not know what is coming.  

We are not all powerful: We do not know if I can handle something or if it is too big for my capacity.

(iii)               Uncertainty is  the mother of creativity

Creativity comes into action, where the is some uncertainty that must be handled. Because of our ability of creative response, we must know that uncertainty can be dealt with successfully.

(iv)               Your certainty does not lie in predictability, but in ability: Learned survival skills, and predictive preparation

There are two more reasons for  uncertainty:  One: we do not have basic learned survival skills to fall back onto. Two:  We didn’t do enough of what I call  ‘general predictive preparation’ We are under the impression that we can just do life and forget we must prepare and train  – just as you prepare for a match, or an exam. Obviously we can pre-learn survival skills, and do predictive preparation to handle whatever life throws at us in an unpredictable mannor.

 

The wrong methods: Trying to look in the crystal ball?  Not working. Bad futurists where their guess is as good as yours? Not a good plan. (Seek out good futurists such as Clem Sunter that could actually point out beforehand that something like 9/11 could happen).  Another wrong method is to try to make the world predictable in an obsessive compulsive way. Perfectionism is never a compliment – it is very often a dead giveaway for deep seated lurking feelings of inadequacy in uncertainty. The mistake here is that they break the first rule of successful stress management. The mistake is that they try to handle stress by taking the threat away, instead of focussing on their ability to handle the threat. British adventurer Bear Grylls, does not rely on the certainty of what he may encounter, but on his ability, and his survival skills, such as making shelters, and starting a fire, getting food from unique sources. He finds his security and survival in predictive preparation.

The problem with over controlling people and perfectionists, is that  focus on what they have very  little or no control over namely the threat.    They create enormous stress for themselves, because they try to control the unpredictable. Instead we all  should focussing on what we have full control over, namely your reaction  to the threat. Instead of efforts of obsessive manipulation, we must rather go for predictive preparation, focussing on train your overall abilities.  

Let’s make it practical: How should we deal with micro and Macro uncertainty? First Micro uncertainty:

1.       Take control of your involuntary stress response: The automatic stress response in your body kick-starts in a series of physical manifestations , bypassing your thinking: Fast breathing, hyper-ventilation, muscles tense up, heart rate increases, impulse to run away. You first step is to break that cycle. How do you do it?   Through: Box Breathing. An American speaker friend mine of  Robert Owens, Navy Seal trainer, says he is training his students Box breathing: The four sides of the square:

Up: Inhale for 5 counts.

Sideways top to the right: Hold your breath for 5 counts,

Down: Exhale for 5 counts,

Sideways bottom to left: Hold it for 5 counts,  before you inhale again.

Then repeat all of the above.

You do this, just before you start your speech, or start to write your exam

2.       Self-talk: You brain kicks now in again: You talk yourself up by saying something like: I know I can, and I will. If you are a spiritual person, then  add: I am not alone in this, God is with me (Psalm 121).

3.       Visualize your trained steps:  Obviously this presupposes training. This is whuy sports coaching is important before the game, military training important before you hit contact, and life coaching is important before you try to do life. The navy seal being parachuted into a unknown military situation will visualize the trained steps: land, release or roll up the parachute, hit deck, crawl to the first ground cover,  etc etc

4.       Execute micro steps and small goals.  The student in an exam will quickly glance through the exam questions; immediately start with answer you know best, then the second one, and then give a shot at those answers you don’t really know. 

These are the four steps to handle Micro uncertainty.



Here are some steps to handle Macro uncertainty in life:

1.       Ask and prepare:  Early in life you are given parents, teachers,  coaches. Have a teachable spirit and a willingness to learn: Ask questions and seek answers

2.       Gather information – as much as possible. About yourself: about your personality, test your muscles, get to know your talents. This includes watching the weather forecast before you travel to a destination.

3.       Develop your unique talents: Thinking skills, ability to control your own emotions (Emotional intelligence), action skills in sport and business.  Get yourself a life coach, a sports coach, and a business coach.

4.       Explore and get to know the world – see what is there to face.

5.       Develop the right attitude: Pessimistic? The worst! Optimistic? Second best. Rather be an Opportunistic Realist – the best attitude to my mind. (See my other blog about attitude).

6.       Get an overall life plan to crystalize your focus, and to narrow down variables ( Come do my live or online, life planning workshops, where you get an architectural plan for your life. Obvioulsly not everything will work out as planned, but at least you will have the methodology to design a new life plan, once the previous one was torn up by unexpected circumstances.

7.       In every micro situation: Take control what is within your control  (your stress response, your thinking, feelings and actions). 

8.       Surround yourself with a support network or system: (e.g.  Get your short term insurance with roadside assist, if you go on a road trip;  make back-up plans to be ready if your original plan is disrupted).

9.       Don’t be shy to ask for help, as far as you go, and from every expert who have travelled the life journey before you.

Remember: Life is the permanent creative tension between uncertainty and certainty.  One part of our being longs for certainty. But that soon becomes boring – then we need uncertainty again, that will activate our creativity and lead to new stimulating roads and solutions.

The answer to uncertainty is not predictability (although pre-information, a little organization , structuring and planning can eliminate a lot of variables).

The answer lies in skills training – to upskill yourself in coping mechanisms and life skills. That is why life coaching is the name of the game, if you want to be a winner in the game of life.



If you want more information on corporate interventions or how to make counselling/coaching appointments or book dr Gustav Gous for motivational talks, contact admin@gustavgous.co.za  or gustavgous@gmail.com or send a WhatsApp to +27825657451 
If you want  interventions for your team: Contact +27 12 3455931   0r  0825657451) or email gustav@gustavgous.co.za to discuss possibilities. 

Disclaimer:    Important notice to you as the reader:  Although the life coach (dr Gustav Gous) provide certain recommendations, the sole and final responsibility for decision-making remains your own and that the life coach or anybody associated to him and his company Short Walk Seminars Pty Ltd cannot be held responsible for any of your choices and reactions. You, the reader, must take full responsibility for your life, reactions and choices.  

www.gustavgous.co.za
gustav@gustavgous.co.za

 

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