According to leadership author Patrick Parker, many of us feel pressured to have all the answers - as if life were a test we’re meant to ace.
Uncertainty often brings a sense of dread, which in turn drives an impulsivity to act, just to ease our discomfort. But what if, Parker asks, instead of fearing what lies around the next river bend, we eagerly anticipate it, paddling into the unknown with intrigue and joy?
He argues that becoming comfortable with uncertainty is essential for reaching a more self-actualised way of living. It’s how we can rise above the human compulsion to fix. His advice? “When uncertainty arises, let curiosity activate.”
A curious outlook is about seeing what is just around the next corner in the adventure of life. It’s about taking one step at a time and letting more be revealed as you become who you are.
Curiosity accepts that not everything has an answer, and that’s okay. No one has all the answers. Rather than wasting energy trying to force clarity, Parker encourages us to let go of the need for answers and instead focus on meaningful questions that help us grow and align with what we aspire to become. Asking meaningful questions – those that help us find meaning and become who we are – enriches our lives. It allows us to build a life that honors what matters most to us and support choices aligned with our true selves.
He goes on to quote Rainer Maria Rilke, who wrote in Letters to a Young Poet:
“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It’s a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day.”
By asking questions, Parker assures his readers, we are guided toward the next right step in our life’s journey and career. Sometimes this happens quickly, sometimes slowly.
To learn more about how curiosity can guide you through change, read Patrick Parker’s book Navigating Uncertainty.
