Last year I started a golf community called The Eighty Club.
The idea was it would be a place for likeminded golfers to be able to network, share their home courses with each other, and create a global community that prioritizes camaraderie and love of the game over anything else.
One of the promises of this club, was that there would be events at interesting golf courses around the world.
It’s easy to say you’re going to host an event, actually doing it is a completely different story.
When I started I’d never hosted any kind of golf tournament, outing, event – nothing.
So when I started planning the first three I was terrified.
It didn’t help that while one was in my hometown of Portland, another was 3,000 miles away in Philadelphia, and the third, wasn’t even in the United States.
How on Earth am I going to pull this off?
The old me, wouldn’t have.
He would have succumbed to the fear of uncertainty in the process.
“What if no one shows up?”
“What if everyone hates it?”
“What if all our tee times get canceled and we can’t actually play?”
All of these were thoughts that rolled over me as I began.
Back in 2008, I would have given in.
This is too hard. There’s too much uncertainty, can’t do it.
95% of people will spend their life fearing uncertainty. That’s phase one.
It’s treated like this terrible thing, we want to avoid at all costs.
And I get it, not knowing what the future holds can be terrifying. It’s what keeps so many of us from traveling, leaving a job we hate, getting out of a toxic relationship etc.
Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
There are two additional levels of Uncertainty, that when you reach them, you’ll find they can be your greatest asset as an entrepreneur.
The second, is overcoming the uncertainty.
When you overcome your uncertainty, you recognize that you’re still terrified to do whatever that thing is, but you do it anyway.
That’s what I did with these golf events. I knew that if I could figure out the event portion of the Club, it would be a huge asset as we grew.
In this case, for all the fear, the only thing to really be afraid of was a bruised ego. There wasn’t much money at stake, and the benefits far outweighed the risks.
If you can take the step of overcoming your uncertainty, just once, you’ll learn that it gets much easier with time.
Finally phase 3 of uncertainty is where most successful entrepreneurs thrive:
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Embracing the Uncertainty
When you embrace uncertainty, you’re telling yourself that because you don’t know what’s going to happen next, you can now make anything you want happen.
Steve Jobs recognized this.
Phil Knight recognized this.
And now that you understand what these three steps look like, hopefully, you can begin the transition from fearing uncertainty to embracing it.
Over a year after those first events, I look back at what a success they were. Were they perfect? Absolutely not, but all of my fears were put to rest after the first day.
This year, I doubled down, still uncertain about many aspects of it, but I told myself that because I’m not sure where this would go, it could go somewhere great.
So on top of hosting three events, we’re also doing a year long tournament with 60 players, playing matches all over the United States. Talk about a scary, logistical nightmare.
But if it works? New bonds are formed, members tell their friends about their fun experience, and the Club is better because of it.
Uncertainty is scary.
But if you face your fears when other people won’t, uncertainty has the potential to be your greatest competitive advantage.
So what have you been avoiding due to uncertainty? Is today the day you embrace it?
Inside Location Rebel Academy, we have an entire course devoted to embracing uncertainty. We show you how to recognize what your real fears are, break them down, and build them back up in a positive way so you can move forward with all of your goals. Ready to join us?
Sean Ogle
Sean Ogle is the Founder of Location Rebel where he has spent the last 12+ years teaching people how to build online businesses that give them the freedom to do more of the things they like to do in life. When he's not in the coffee shops of Portland, or the beaches of Bali, he's probably sneaking into some other high-class establishment where he most certainly doesn't belong.Join over 40,000 people who have taken our 6 part freelance writing course. Sign up below and let’s do this together.
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Sean I love this message buddy. I recall those days when I did not even bother beginning any venture because I feared uncertainty. I feared the same things; no one would show up, or buy the eBook. But diving in just gives you the most valued skill: being comfortable with being uncomfortable. Guys like Knight and Jobs mastered this skill.