Back to the Office: 5 Keys to Winning the Game of Uncertainty

Author's Note: For the first 4 months of 2022, one of the technical divisions at Intel Corp. invited me to imbed myself, as the leadership psychologist.

The goal: to deliver Optimism Rx, my burnout prevention & recovery program for leaders in the technical world. Each month, I delivered a training session plus 2 Q&A sessions for integration. At the end of the program, I offered my final remarks about living and leading during uncertain times now that we're headed back to the office. Here's the copy from my final remarks from the 4-month Optimism Rx series.

If life were a game – not a game of chance, but a game of uncertainty – how might you beat the game?

You would do so with poise, intention, focus, and determination.

The game is winnable.

All you really have to do is to shift your perspective from uncertain/unknown future, to the timeline where the circumstances might be uncertain, even unpredictable, but your strengths, your intellect, your abilities, your intuition are all known and trustworthy.

These are the times to believe IN yourself and to believe yourself and to trust yourself that you’re going to figure it out, that you are more than capable of mastering the game, of winning not just a single level, but the entire game.

Don’t bet against yourself. Trust yourself to master the game.

 5 Keys to winning the game of uncertainty.

1. Lean into the void, the space between what is known and what is unknown.

2. Remember that you’re a creator who is meant to contribute. You’re not longer just an employee.

3. Remember that you are not a victim to anything that confronts you, including uncertainty. You are a creator and that thing just ahead is a challenge, not a bully or a persecutor.

4. Don’t give up your creative power.

5. Remember that you’re not a resource, or a robot or a clone, or a cog in a great machine. You’re a human being with delightful and extensive abilities, that you’re able to create, to contribute, to press into the unknown future and make it known through the actualization of your heart’s desires.

View uncertainty as a challenger, or as a blank canvas onto which you paint your contributions, your desires.

What if you can’t get it wrong?

What if, instead of waiting for someone to tell you what to do next, or to direct you about something like Ultimate Flexibility… what if you decided ahead of time, what it means to you?

• What if you decided ahead of time how you want to FEEL when you’re experiencing ultimate flexibility?

• What if you decided to continue walking on the and/better time line that we activated a couple months ago? How might that change your perspective on the unknown/uncertain future?

• What if you were to take the principles and practices that you’ve discovered in the Optimism Rx and apply them to your everyday life?

• What if you made the decision to press into uncertainty, and imagine the best of what is possible?

And what if each of you, all of you, were to focus on the and/better outcomes everyday, even if you’re not entirely sure what it looks like?

What if the gift of uncertainty as you articulate and express ultimate flexibility is that you get to create it as you go?

What if you let go of wanting someone else to tell you what to do?

What if you started believing in yourself, and believing yourself that you have the ability and the responsibility to create the world that you most want to live in?

We know that there’s no play book for this stage of the game, but your game "cheats" are clear:

• Trade grit for hope

• Trade tenacity for optimism

• Trade hard work for gratitude

• Trade busyness for flow

Let go of the busy work, embrace and focus on what you’ve been called to contribute now and in the future.

I believe that emotionally intelligent people like you and me are wired for times like this. I also believe that rather than constantly seeking answers with our intellects, now is the time to lean into the uncertainty and to live in the question, allowing your innovative, intuitive consciousness to contribute the best of what is possible. 

Now is not the time to settle back in to the old ways of working and living.

You’ve been off that old gerbil wheel for a few years now. There are ways to keep the best of what you’ve cultivated during your pandemic life as you created your own flow, your own flexibility.

There are ways, but the new way calls for conscious and intentional living. To keep yourself off of autopilot, out of the rat race is a series of conscious daily, even moment to moment choices.

You have new tools.

You understand why optimism matters. You understand why happiness and wellbeing are central to a healthy and successful life. You know how to break the cycle of busyness. You understand the value and importance of emotions, yours and other people's.

Now is the time to put what you’ve learned into practice.

Now is the time.

Go, do.

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Would you like to bring Dr. McKay's Optimism Rx training series into your organization? Topics include: burnout prevention recovery & prevention, living & leading during uncertain times, breaking the busyness cycle, and other topics that are grounded in the science of positive psychology?

Send an email to brandi@drrobynmckay.com to request more information or to schedule a consultation.