Certainty

Just like expectations, we seek certainty. Certainty is also a sign of confidence because it displays to the outside world that we know what we’re talking about.

Certainty without humility is dangerous though. If we simply seek to always be right and are so sure of ourselves, we set ourselves up for failure. This also begins to lean away from confidence and into cockiness.

There is a famous quote attributed to Mark Twain, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

We seek certainty because it makes this increasingly complex world make more sense. It’s also what other people say they want from us. However, it has the power to hurt us if it turns out we don’t really know what we’re doing.

Certainty with humility is the answer. Ask for help. Ask those around you their thoughts. Don’t act like you have all the answers. Make a decision and do it decisively, but do it with the understanding that the world is complex and you are probably wrong. That’s okay, but by doing it with the help of others, you back each other up to learn and grow to make an even better decision next time.