The Science of Handling Uncertainty | Maya Shankar

1. Cultivate Malleable Self-Identity

To better navigate change, attach your identity to the core features or motivators of your pursuits (e.g., human connection, impact, self-growth) rather than the specific pursuit itself. This makes your identity more durable and stabilizing when circumstances change, allowing you to find those underlying traits elsewhere.

2. Embrace Humility with Change

Approach change, whether willed or unwilled, with profound humility, recognizing that humans are bad at forecasting how major life changes will affect them. This metacognitive awareness helps you avoid overly simplistic models and be open to unexpected positive or negative outcomes.

3. Audit Yourself During Change

Actively audit yourself throughout change experiences to understand how they are impacting you in unexpected ways, as changes in one area often have spillover effects into others. This self-awareness helps you identify personal growth or unintended consequences that might otherwise go unnoticed.

4. Foster an Open Mind

Cultivate an open mind to reduce the desire for ‘cognitive closure’ and become more resilient in the face of uncertainty. This means being more okay with ambiguity and literally having an open mind to all the ways a change might affect you and others, rather than categorizing it as simply good or bad.

5. Reframe Identity for Resilience

Reframe your self-identity by aspiring to be someone who excels or thrives during times of uncertainty, is challenge-oriented, and enjoys problem-solving. This conscious labeling can be a helpful reorientation and reframing of how you experience change.

6. Practice Distanced Self-Reflection

To gain clarity and objectivity on your problems, imagine you are giving advice to a friend from a third-person perspective. This technique helps you distance yourself from your emotions and see challenges more clearly.

7. Establish Small Daily Rituals

Create simple, reliable daily rituals that you can consistently perform, especially during times of significant change. These rituals provide a sense of control and stability, anchoring you when the world around you feels uncertain.

8. Seek Awe-Inspiring Experiences

Regularly expose yourself to awe-inspiring experiences, whether in nature or man-made, to gain perspective and distance from your ego and anxieties. Feelings of awe help you see the world as bigger than yourself, fostering emotional resilience and healing.

9. Be Selective When Venting

When confiding in others, be selective about who you vent to and communicate whether you need emotional commiseration or cognitive reframing strategies. While emotional validation is important, sometimes the best support involves helping you see your problem through a different, more productive lens.

10. Own Your Goals

Increase your motivation and likelihood of achieving goals by being the one who defines your own targets. Even when given guidance, choosing from a set of options can foster a sense of ownership, making you more committed to the pursuit.

11. Set Goals in Similar States

Set goals when you are in a psychological and physiological state similar to the one you’ll be in when striving for that goal. This bridges the empathy gap between your present and future self, making your targets more realistic and achievable.

12. Reward Quality, Not Time

When motivating yourself, reward the quality or amount of work completed rather than the time spent working. This prevents merely ‘running out the clock’ and ensures that your efforts are focused on productive outcomes.

13. Keep ‘Middles’ Short

Be mindful of the ‘middle problem’ where motivation drops after the initial enthusiasm and before the final push, by keeping your ‘middles’ short or non-existent. Break annual goals into monthly or weekly mini-goals to maintain consistent motivation.

14. Give Advice to Motivate Self

Motivate yourself by giving advice to someone else who is trying to achieve a similar goal. This process helps you recall past successful behaviors and form specific action plans for your own future.

15. Practice Temptation Bundling

Pair an unpleasant activity with an intrinsically rewarding one, denying yourself the pleasure of the rewarding activity at any other time. This makes you look forward to the harder tasks because they are bundled with something you enjoy.

16. Capitalize on Fresh Starts

Take advantage of ‘fresh start’ moments like birthdays, moving, or the beginning of a new week to integrate new habits. During these transitions, a new set of behaviors is already expected, making it easier to adopt new routines.