Uncertainty vs. Unhappiness
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a scientist. Having just learned about global warming and the hole in the ozone layer. the 8-year old me and my buddy, Kevin (who was 7 years old at the time), aspired to become scientists one day to try to stop global warming from destroying our planet. Needless to say, I was a small kid with a big dream (And I have no idea why I was more interested in learning about global warming than watching Naruto or Pokemon). As we progress into different stages in life, our goals changed. My buddy, Kevin, is now on track to graduate from one of the top schools in Taiwan to become a Civil Engineer; while I became more interested in Social Psychology and Human Behavior.
As we grew, our interests changed, and the world changed with us. As I entered the workforce, I noticed that a lot of us look like we have it all figured out, but we are actually stuck in a whirlpool of unpleasant-contentment. Many of us aspire to be different things, whether it is starting a business, start a YouTube channel, being our own boss, or be a traveler; whatever it is, despite our desire to go in a particular direction, we voluntarily chose to do the opposite and stay in a job that makes us miserable.
With one of the most common regrets of people in their deathbed being, "I wish I hadn't worked so hard," I really can't help but wonder, why do people choose a life of misery, one that they would regret?
As a continuation of The Best Job in the World, however you define what your dream job is, I was reminded of the notion of "Uncertainty vs Unhappiness" in making ambitious decisions. Though often known for its ideology on passive income and entrepreneurship, the popular book, "The 4-Hour Workweek" by Tim Ferriss also gives good insights on how uncertainty influences our decision making. Ferriss stated, "most people choose to be unhappy rather than uncertain." Uncertainty is a state of feeling that arises with fear. Your desire to start a business or take a year off to travel has a certain degree of uncertainty —and that feeling of uncertainty is almost always accompanied by fear. Change is an interesting thing; while it may be a change that you have wanted to make for a while, you will always be hesitant to take the first step. When facing fear, our automatic response may be to go back to our comfort zone, even if it makes us unhappy. You might be dreaming about running a business and enjoying the freedom that comes with it, the uncertainty will be enough to put you back into the chair of the job you hate. This ultimately fulfills Ferriss' claim that "by not attempting at something we want, we often stop at uncertainty and chooses our current state of unhappiness."
To combat such thought or our inherent response to uncertainty, Ferriss challenges us to ask the following questions when deciding if we should pursue uncertainty:
What are you not doing because you're scared?
What are you missing out on by not doing?
Why aren't you doing those things?
What is the absolute worst-case scenario?
If the worst happened, how would you fix it?
By doing this, you should be able to clearly outline and balance the pros and cons to help you in making a decision that benefits you, in terms of happiness and life satisfaction, in the long run. Ferriss also encouraged us to, instead of thinking about what would make us happy, we should be thinking about what would make us excited.
Optimizing Excitement
Personally, I find the feeling of excitement more powerful than the feeling of happiness. The strong feeling of excitement is more likely to motivate me into action even in the means of elevated risk. One of my goals for 2021 is to start a side hustle, whether it is a small business, freelance job, or even a Youtube channel, I definitely find the thought of an exciting outcome more motivating than a happy outcome. By thinking about the things that excite me, I am more willing to make decisions that would lead to better stories, interesting experiences, more risks, and more results further down the line. Ultimately, anyone who is looking for change should be optimizing excitement rather than happiness.
Having a heart full of motivation is great, but it won't last you. The fuel to a successful change is always action —the consistent baby steps you take towards your goal. Tim Ferriss says when it comes to setting and achieving ambitious goals, here are what you need to do:
List 5 things you want to have, 5 things you want to do, and 5 things you want to be. Ideally, you would have 15 goals on your list.
Within these 15 goals, chose the top 4 goals you want the most.
Come up with 3 action items that will help you achieve these 4 goals.
Do the first action for each goal RIGHT NOW.
I bet you did not expect the 4th step, did you? Though it may be tough, I do think Tim Ferriss' call for action right-away is necessary. Like with any other habit change, getting started is often the toughest part. If you are trying to get in shape, the idea of going to the gym isn't as tough as going to the gym after work when you are used to relaxing on the couch. But at the end of the day, once you get past the barrier of starting, you enter a state of flow, and the habit change becomes a habit itself.
""Someday" is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you...If it's important to you and you want to do it "eventually," just do it and correct course along the way.” - Tim Ferriss
