You do the same thing every day, every week, and every month.

And you get the same results every day, every week, and every month.

You have a routine. It’s safe, certain, like a cozy blanket wrapped around you, and it’s working for you. 

But is it? 

Is your routine driving you to the life you want to live, or is it keeping you cozy in the status quo?

Your status quo gets you through the day but doesn’t fulfill you. It doesn’t give you a sense of meaning and purpose; it doesn’t give you joy. 

You want to step out of the status quo and into something new—something that will give you everything you desire.  

Only one problem: Stepping out of the comfort of your status quo means stepping into the unknown. 

And the unknown can be terrifying.

But if you want purpose, passion, fulfillment, and meaning, you’ll have to step out of the status quo and venture into the unknown. 

It’s inevitable.

Everything you want is on the other side of everything you fear.

How do you walk courageously into the unknown?

Clarity: 

If you don’t know what you’d like to create, you will only increase your uncertainty. 

You’re adding to the unknown. 

Knowing where you’re going is empowering, and clarity is how you do that. 

When you get crystal clear clarity, you can design the blueprint to get you there. 

4 Questions to Ask Yourself to Gain Clarity:

• What brings me joy?
• What do I want more of in life?
• What do I want less of in my life?
• If I could snap my fingers and have anything I want, what would that be?

In Your Control/Out of Your Control:

Establishing what is within your control and what is outside your control is essential to stepping into the unknown.  

In Your Control: Time, energy, and attention are your most precious resources, so you should focus on them accordingly. 

When you establish what is in your control, Go all in without holding back. I find this to be easier when my actions align with my values. 

Out of Your Control: Understand and delineate what does not deserve your time, energy, and attention. 

People’s responses, the weather, and the passing of time are prime examples. 

If you drift off and worry or expend energy on things that are not in your control, no worries—realize you are and bring yourself back to what is in your control. 

Awareness will be your ally. 

Take time to stop, step back, and observe where your time, energy, and attention are going. 

Let Go of the Outcome: 

Letting go of the outcome is a mind-bender but crucial when stepping into the unknown. I’ll use my book as an example:

I wanted to sell 2,500 copies in the first quarter of its release. This was my goal and my target, and I did what I could (within my control) to hit it. But the outcome (2,500 copies sold) is out of my control. 

I can’t make someone hit Amazon’s “buy now” button. 

Letting go of the outcome takes the pressure off stepping into the unknown. In addition, letting go helps mitigate the uncertainty that comes with it, making it that much easier.

Letting go of the outcome has another benefit that I believe is critical to our self-worth. When we focus on the process (which is in our control and aligns with our values) and let go of the outcome, we are tying our self-worth to that which is in our control. 

Tying our self-worth to something out of our control (outcome) is a recipe for disaster. If I were to do this with the book sales, my self-worth and sense of self would depend on hitting 2,500. 

That’s a lot of pressure I don’t need. 

Krishna instructed Arjuna: “We have a right to our labor, but not to the fruits of our labor.”  

What a beautiful way of saying that the process is the reward. What matters is who we become on our way to accomplishing our goals. 

The goal, the destination, the fruit – these are just bonuses.  

Trust: 

When you focus on what is in your control and go full in, aligning your actions with your values and letting go of the outcome, something extraordinary happens. 

You trust that everything will work out as it was meant to. You did all that you could (in your control), and as a result, you stepped into the unknown. You moved forward in the face of uncertainty. 

You’re no longer the person you were when you took your first step out of the status quo. 

You understand something vital that will make your next foray into the unknown a little easier. 

Regardless of the outcome, you will be OK. 

When we know, we’ll be OK no matter what. We can act with courage, say the things we were afraid to say, and do the things we were afraid to do. We can step into the unknown.

Because we’ll be OK.

These steps are easy in principle but not always the easiest to execute. This leads to a bonus step to walking boldly into the unknown.

Bonus:

We can manage the fear of stepping into the unknown by taking the next smallest step, then the next, and then the next. 

Tiny step after tiny step. 

The Great Wall of China didn’t magically appear. Instead, it was constructed piece by piece. 

The same applies to your life. 

Leaving the known for the unknown is insane, but it’s also one of the most essential leaps we can take. 

These steps will help make that leap that much easier.

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