“Uncertainty must be present in the quest to create anything deeply meaningful to you as the creator and, should you choose to seek value from others in exchange for your creation, to the world.” – Jonathan Fields
A lot of people ask me the following question:
“Pat, when you were laid off and decided to do business for yourself online, how did you know it was going to work?”
The answer is, I didn’t.
But that’s why I think it worked.
The fear of not being able to provide for my family and the fear of not knowing what was going to happen next gave me the drive to take action and go above and beyond my normal self to make something special happen.
Without the catalyst of fear and pressure, I would not be where I’m at today.
Think about that.
Fear – something that we as humans typically try to avoid – was an important ingredient in my success, and it’s an ingredient that we see in a lot of other people’s success stories too.
One story that truly spoke to me was a story from Jonathan Fields, a brilliant author and entrepreneur who I met briefly last year at Blog World Expo 2010 in Las Vegas. I really got to know him when I watched his 20 minute TED presentation, Turning Fear into Fuel, which I’ve embedded for you below.
After watching this I became very inspired, but it’s also when I realized just how important a role fear played in my own success story too.
Uncertainty
Jonathan recently contacted me to see if I’d like to take a look at his upcoming book, appropriately titled: Uncertainty – Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance.
To be honest, I get asked to read other people’s new books all of the time and review them here on the blog. 99% of the time I say no and often I just don’t have the time, but since I already knew and respected Jonathan and his work and this particular topic of taking leaps of faith and going into the unknown is very personal to me, I was happy to accept and read a free copy to review.
I have seldom recommended books here are on the blog and there are only a select few that I would actually count as required reading – The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk and Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath – and I would absolutely add Uncertainty to that list.
We all know that the unknown can paralyze us and just stop us from doing the work that we need to be doing in order to reach our goals. In this book, Jonathan shows us how to harness that fear and actually welcome it and use it to our advantage.
A lot of it has to do with our mindset, obviously, but the book also reveals exercises and actions that we can take that will bring us to a level of certainty and confidence to move forward create.
There’s a chapter that I especially like called “See the Forest” that really struck a chord with me because it talks about balance, and what happens when things get in our way and the questions that enter our brains like whether to keep going, change course or just give up and start something new take up most of our energy.
Jonathan, if you’re reading this thank you for sharing your knowledge with us and allowing me to get an early read of your book. It’s very different from the other books I’ve talked about on the blog before, which is why I speak highly of it.
The book comes out on Thursday, the 29th of September – but you can pre-order it at the discounted price off of Amazon if you wish.
That’s not an affiliate link and I don’t receive any kind of compensation if you purchase this book. The only thing I did receive was a free copy to review and I would not write this post if I didn’t feel it was a book worth reading.
It’s always good to read a good book, and I’m always happy to pass along the good ones that I’ve read to you.
Have a great weekend everyone!
One more week until the Financial Blogger’s Conference, and if you’ll be in attendance I can’t wait to meet you there!
Cheers!
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{ 57 comments (Click Here to Leave a Comment Below) }
I love uncertainty it makes me feel all gooey inside
I also have a draft blog post on it that has never been published lol
I think its so important to achieving your goals tho, very inspirational post pat!
Oh, the irony, Vinay!
Seems there is some uncertainty as to whether or not we will ever get to read that post from Vinay….
LOL
The uncertainty is crippling me with fear! I must read this pending post now, to overcome it.
I digress, great post. This was motivational juice I needed, very time appropriate for me.
Looking forward for your presentation Pat. I’m not in US, but i hope you ll upload the video so that people like me can watch it.
Great post Pat! Thanks so much for sharing this. Inspiring and perfect timing. cheers, brian
Hi Pat,
Thanks for sharing. I am definately going to check Uncertainty out. I know that I fight uncertainty every day, writing for my blog, working towards a competition, and deciding what the next chapter of my life will look like. Good luck at the Blogger’s conference. I hope you win for best Podcast.
Tammy
Thanks for a great tip Pat. Will definitely read the book when it is out.
Thanks for the post. It’s scary when we have to put ourselves out there to do what we love, but encouraging to hear each other’s success stories. We grow with each new risk we take!
Cheers, Mo
Pat – Thanks so much for the kind words and for sharing the book with your community. The topic is really close to my heart, hope the book helps a lot of people do what they’re here to do.
I will definitely be buying your book!
Pat,
Thanks for the tip. I’m behind in my reading but I will be sure to add it to the queue.
-Mark
I just did a post last week on fear. To quote John Mayer, “Fear is a friend who’s misunderstood.” Can’t wait to read the book.
And thanks for all that you do!
I read this alot with bloggers – use the fear, lose the fear, *uck it, get over it, go for it, take the leap, jump.
I happen to suffer from an anxiety disorder and while those words are inspiring they dont last very long after I got out of their page or stopped reading the book. While I may be a little more sensitive to anxiety I believe this is a common reaction.
Fear is there for a reason, it keeps people alive. Fear keeps people feeding and cloathing their kids. So when there is a ledge, one jumps for the following reasons
1) Thrown off of it – a catalyst like getting fired
2) Suicidal- Usually young with nothing to lose
3) know that over the ledge there is a safe spot, know how to jump and how to land – arming yourself with information
The point is that I believe any “balance” of uncertainty has to come from knowing yourself, what you want, what your values are and if that leads you to entrepreneurship then the only way to be succesful is to educate yourself properly. and luck lol.
Thanks for the timely inspiration. Jonathan hits the nail on the head. I’m 49 and have walked that path of extreme change. 8 years ago I was laid off and followed my dream with a business opportunity. I painted the picture of failure but embarked anyways. There were hundreds of challenges along the way. I kept pushing on and figuring it out. Business grew to fast we couldn’t keep up. So we developed new systems and figured it out. Things were good! In 2008 gas shot up to $4 a gal.; suppliers increased prices, deliveries cost more and I couldn’t raise my prices because I had a government contract. The biz took a big hit. I lost 10s of thousands. That didn’t stop me, I kept battling and turned it around. Things were good again! Then another devastating blow occurred this past May, we lost our contract. This one isn’t recoverable at this point. I’ve tried! My fears are starting to coming to fruition; I’m losing my house, losing my business and in debt $150,000. My wife is besides herself but coping. I’ve had major decisions to make in the last few months and I’ve decided I’m still following my dream (against the wishes of my wife, she wants me to find a job…yeah right!). Steve Jobs summed up my feelings perfectly. Especially at my age; time is running out, I’m as naked as they come and there’s no reason not to keep following my heart (even though it’s been run through a shredder). Thank you for all the wonderful inspiration and information you share, YOU are my favorite internet mentor! Wish me success!
Good luck steve.. it is a harder road but one that will keep you the man who you are in doing what your love.. hang in there! and thank you for sharing.
Pat this happened me too! I started part time online in November 2009, and in January 2010 I got made redundant, my business online could not even pay my mortgage, but I decided to focus on it and the fear drove me, my sales for November 2011, two years online will be $500,000! If I didn’t feel the fear i dont think I could have done it! Also I got married and had a baby in this 2 years!
I’ve often wondered if having a regular 9to5 job is any kind of hold up to having better success in this industry. Maybe I lack a sense of urgency that others have but that’s just a random thought on the subject.
Pat you should write a post of books and ebooks you’d recommend for beginners, intermediates and experts all to read. It would probably be quite helpful to all levels.
I posted super long messages 3 times and they didnt get through…not cool…and yes i clicked the appropriate buttons.
Mostly this is a test to see if its the system or the computer or if they’re waiting moderation or something lol
There weren’t too many buttons – you were using language in your comment that wasn’t acceptable. That’s all
I posted your comment with an edit so it could go through.
and here I was getting mad at the computer… just my bad words lol sorry and thanks.
When you have your own business the Fear never really goes away because you always have risk. Fear pushes you through the tough times when you’re contemplating quitting. Fear is what has kept me in business for the last 9.5 years. Most entrepreneurs do not want to talk about this subject. I’m glad you broke the barrier! Excellent article Pat!
Tom
Sounds like an interesting book. The concept mentioned above, using the fear as fuel is one that I’ve used in my own blogging – and one I think a lot of the financial bloggers you’ll be talking to next week – use as well. A lot of financial bloggers start blogging when they’re in a place of desperation, trying to make ends meet, trying to dig their way out of debt and take up second careers and blogging as a way to supplement their incomes, with the hopes of one day going full time as you have.
Look forward to meeting you at the conference Pat! I’ll be the stalker in the front row hanging on your every word!
jk.
It does sound like an interesting book! I will check it out next week when I’m traveling!
There are 2 types of fear…the real fear where your life is in danger such as having a gun pointed to your head, and then then is the fear the Seth Godin calls “the lizard brain.” As you have done, we should all try to shut up that lizard brain and push through the uncertainty!
Hey Pat,
I just recently came across Jonathan Field’s blog through a random tweet and was REALLY impressed with his writing style and infinitely valuable content. Funny enough, about a week later we were talking to Chris Ducker (requested a VA through VSF) and he mentioned how amazing Jonathan was and how he felt privileged that he had the opportunity to interview him. It’s funny I keep running across mentions of him…his word of mouth or viral marketing is working quite well! I think I’ll have to pick up this book…thanks for the recommendation!
Uncertaintly is a nice feeling when you have a previous experience where uncertainty turns into positive results through constant adjustment and tweeking of the original plan because in the back of your head you know there is a way but it is just that it has not found you yet.
Hi Pat,
I’d say you’re 100% as a book reviewer — time for a “recommended reading” resource box
. There is one book you’ve left out, and it was you who introduced me to it; “The Millionaire Fastlane” by MJ DeMarco. This is absolutely the best book about money and business ever written and should be required reading for EVERYONE.
I think you will also like Malcom Gladwell’s Books, he’s also on Ted Talks. Uncertainty, that’s a constant! It really feels good to read a book that could somehow change our perspectives.
Great video, thanks a lot Pat ! You cannot master timing (like signing this lease at the worst date) but can master the way you act.
anything that you recommend pat i will buy! its just that simple! haha
Unfortunately fear can also work in the opposite way for many people and actually hold them back from reaching their true potential whether it be in business, or some other field such as sports.
How’s that saying go? “Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can’t, you’re probably right?” ` Henry Ford
Have a great weekend everyone!
That video was exactly what I needed. I’ve been in a little bit of a rut. The beginning of this week I started so strongly but there were some events that transpired a few days ago, with my living situation, that have left me a little down. I haven’t had the motivation to work on my big projects and I have resigned to wasting my time.
I believe that talk has given me the little spark I need to finish up my book. I may pick up the book as your recommendations haven’t failed me yet.
It’s interesting that you mention the fear of not being able to support your family drove you to success. I actually just read Lea Woodard’s latest email from Location Independent where she answered a question from a reader that asked, ‘I feel like if I quit my job I could make my business successful much faster’
She responded that quitting would be a bad idea because that same fear of not having income would drive someone to make bad mistakes with their business because they had to do something to make a buck.
Personally, I have no idea how I feel about the topic. In some ways I hate wasting 9 hours a day at my day job when I could be launching my blog with much more force. But then I think again and I’m grateful for the stable paycheck while I work tirelessly into the night to launch my blog.
Clearly there is no right or wrong answer here. Is there a reason why you think the fear of not being able to provide for your family propelled you in a positive direction instead of a negative one? (If you don’t have one, that’s okay, this is just an interesting topic =)
Wow,
I am looking forward to the book and will surely get it.
Thanks a lot Pat for sharing the information.
Fear and uncertainty is something I stumble upon from time to time when I was a kid. And out of it, I learned that nothing so bad can ever happen to me that I cannot handle.
To quote Mary Kay Ash
“For every failure, there’s an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.” – Mary Kay Ash
Hi Pat and Good day everyone!
Thanks for the tip Pat on this book. Will have to be something I read. Also hope you will be posting your Blog World presentation later this year as I can’t wait to see it! November is just so long to wait!
When my husband quit his six figure job to do internet marketing, our mantra was “Failure is not an option”. Period. Having nothing else to fall back on is a great motivator. And many people don’t take the actions they need to succeed until their really up against the wall. My husband’s name is Pat, too.
This looks like a very interesting topic. Turning your fear into success is truly an amazing skill since fear is usually the thing that paralyzes us into inaction. Then again maybe it is the lack of fear …This just got added to my books to read for sure. Thanks
Blake G.
Yes AND you also did the work!
The reality is that hard work IS required for success – that work can take many forms, but it is always there.
Timely post Pat. I wrote about the same sort of thing on my blog last week. I just quit my job after 8 years to start fresh and begin my journey online…or at least my journey to being location independent. I first heard Tony Robbins talk about one of our human needs being ‘uncertainty’ a few years ago but only recently found out for myself he was correct! I am currently trying to embrace uncertainty and doing pretty good actually
You are an inspiration man. Thanks
Sounds really awesome. I dig Jonathan’s work so I’ll have to check that out. Hope he addresses the difference between being inspired by fear and being shut down by it. I think most people fall into that second category where you just can’t get anything done because of the pressure.
Pat,
This was a pretty powerful video-thanks for sharing. It was very well timed as I have an interview with Jonathan later today!
Thanks for pointing me to that TEd talk Pat, really powerful and inspiring stuff. Johnathan seems like a smart guy. I espeically like this line, “I cannot resign myself to the notion of living the rest of my life in a vacuum of regret”. Even better, I see the book will be released in the UK soon too. Definitely my next purchase.
This is a really timely post for me and it got me thinking. Although uncertainty can be an amazing driving force to achieve extraordinary things, its also that thing which can create very powerful voices of doubt in one’s mind which I have been experiencing in waves….I get so tempted to go back into the workforce when I lose the confidence in my ideas, but I know on the other hand that I have most of the know-how and am getting closer with each new experience and idea I execute. It’s just such a slow process on my own because I am at the mercy of my own doubts and waves of uncertainty.
I was thinking that perhaps a business partner with the same goals to achieve online passive income could be a good way to unite forces and accelerate progress and I couldn’t think of a more relevant audience than Pat’s blog! Pat, is there anyway that you could provide a forum to connect people together who might be interested in partnering up? (since we all have the same goals as evidenced by reading your blog). Is anyone reading this here interested in making some connections?
I know for myself, I would ideally like that person to be based in my hometown (Sydney, Australia) because some physical meetings might be a good way to force action in the initial steps, although this is not completely necessary.
Hey Jenny !
I live in Texas so would only be able to interact online but I might be interested in a “Joint Venture” Term was stolen from http://www.josepharchibald.com . We could discuss tactics and team up on one project …. I would not be able to start it for awhile as my offline business is seasonal and very busy right now. Email me if your interested at mrgutter@yahoo.com
ps. pat (feel free to combine my two post here together I forgot this)
I second Jenny’s idea of a forum of some sort for idea sharing or connecting with other readers. You might be able to have a few people as “experts” available at certain times for SEO related issues or whatever expert was available and charge some sort of fee. Love the blog … found you through the niche site duel … still following it and love the continual updates on it!
Uncertainty is a real driver but I wonder (too, as per some of the comments above) if uncertainty can turn into paralysing fear, and no progress (or backward progress) is made. I know a little uncertainty – if I have a buffer – motivates and energises me, but massive uncertainty, that will affect my security or family is a fine line.
Thanks for an interesting post Pat, as always.
Adding this to my Good Reads read list…
Must Read For You:
Malcolm Gladwell’s “Blink”, “Tipping Point” and “Outliers.”
Uncertainty is definitely driving me right now. I quit my day job a month ago in order to do what I love. I’m consulting part time, I’ve started a digital publishing house, and I have about six months to start pulling in a full time income. I’m not afraid, because I do have work lined up for at least the next 6-12 months, but I’m not at the income level I would like to be at.
This is exactly where I like to be. I’m not addicted to risk in an unhealthy way, but I do love the feeling. I haven’t yet deal with any serious doubts, and hopefully I wont. It helps that my family – wife, children, parents, siblings – are all pulling for me. I imagine it would be really difficult if I were surrounded by skeptics and doubters.
Pat, I’ve been following you for the last 6 months and really enjoyed your story. Now it’s time to write my own.
Good luck Adam
I am rooting for you too! One question … do you have a website for your digital publishing house? If so you should put it in as your website on post so visitors can check it out! I have also found that when those around me are supportive it is much easier to succeed and when they believe you will fail … I have had it both ways and It can make all the difference.
Blake
uncertainty is what most of us likes. your post is booming and great. thanks for sharing.
Great post once again Pat
I can’t believe you got laid off. I recently realized that companies do not really care about their employees. When tough gets tough, they just lay people off. I almost got laid off myself and received a WARN letter but fortunately, I found another job within the company so I am okay for now. However, it is driving me nuts because I know I can get laid off anytime.
Pat, I’ve been checking out your site the past few weeks and while most posts I find very useful and informative, this particular one resonated with me the most and gives the best explanation as to why I am finally attempting to do something to on my own.
I am fortunate in that I currently have a good job, but as we are going through a buyout, “uncertainty” creeps in more and more. So I started a blog myself as well as I’m having an iPhone app made that I’ve personally wanted for almost a year. (the 4HWW inspired me to do that) I don’t really know if my blog has a purpose or a target market yet. I just want to share my journey from day one and try to be as open as possible about that.
Thank you for all you do here and I hope to eventually have a sliver of your success online.
Thanks
Ryan Guynn
This is the second endorsement i’ve seen for Uncertaintity. Ok, I’m putting it on the wish list, but have to finish Drive and CashVertising first!
Dwight Anthony
FinanciallyEliteBlog.com