Hope you've had a great week and are ready to tackle a new one tomorrow. As young people trying to do work we care about, there will be a time, most likely hundreds of times, when we simply have no idea what the hell we are doing. You'll be given a task or have to do something you have never done before, and be expected to get it done. 

You won't have excuses. You won't have something or someone to fall back on. And it's extremely scary. It must be a society thing, but generally we as humans hate not knowing. We hate not knowing how to do something, not knowing what something means, we hate not knowing how something will turn out. The unknown and not understood are shunned or feared. In our case, we don't have a choice. We must face the unknown, because a lot of the time the thing we must do that will matter the most is the thing which is unknown or scary to us. This unknown we must face scares the crap out of us, no matter how big or small it is.

For some people it could be something like calling your dentist's office to make an appointment. For others it's raising your hand in class to answer a question in front of the class. Or maybe it's speaking in front of 10,000... or even just one person. We all have different unknowns we'll have to face in our lives. Each time we face them, no matter how big or small they are, we are uncomfortable. It sucks to face it. You get that nauseous feeling in your gut, you start sweating, you want to say no and walk away. But every time you face it down and do it, you walk away stronger. 

You'll face the unknown many different ways, as you conquer one another will undoubtedly arise. For me, my main unknown I face on a daily basis now is sales. It's a large part of my job, and something I've never done before in my life. But the weird thing is I enjoy speaking with people, obviously a big part of selling. In two weeks I'll be giving a talk to incoming college students about their personal finances. For me this is no problem, a walk in the park. But give me a phone and tell me to cold call someone? Deuces. Count me out. No thanks.

I know in my mind every conversation I have, email I send, task I complete will make me stronger. I know that as a fact. There is also very little risk. Unless I say something completely egregious the worst that can happen is someone says no. I know all this, but it doesn't make it any easier. 

The unfortunate part about the unknown is there is no magic bullet. There aren't "7 Key Tactics to Crush Your Unknown Easily" although I'm sure there is a post like that somewhere. All you can do is suck it up, and face it. 

So I challenge you this week to be honest with yourself and figure out what your unknown is. Then go out and take it head on. It's going to suck in the moments right before you do, that much is basically guaranteed. But when it's over and you look down at your hands and realize you are still alive, and nothing truly horrible has happened, it will be an awesome moment for you. 

I promise to do the same on my end. This concept of the unknown will be a constant in the life we are trying to live. A life of doing work that matters and caring about what we do. The sooner you can get used to being uncomfortable the sooner you can have a bigger impact. 

Hit reply and let me know what your unknown is, then let me know when you conquer it and how it felt. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

The good stuff