Anxiety

How to Thrive Amid Uncertainty in an Endlessly Changing World

Turn the unknown from anxiety-inducing into a source of possibility.

Updated September 1, 2026 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

Key points

Not all uncertainty is the same. Five sources exist—and knowing them changes what you should do.
Uncertainty contains possibilities your brain may be filtering out.
Your brain can make uncertainty worse. Learning to shift its state can change what you see and do.

People who have taken risks successfully will tell you that change is inevitable and that you should embrace it. Those who have survived the abyss of uncertainty will tell you to have strong faith and believe you will make it to the other side. Yet when you are trembling and unsure of your path, these recommendations are as reassuring as weather reports, leaving you staring blankly into the abyss of uncertainty that stands before you. What should you do when you feel uncertain in every waking moment, and how can you better manage yourself now, when the future seems bleak and impossible to navigate?

Neuroscience research has identified five key areas you can adjust to help navigate uncertainty.¹ Uncertainty arises from ambiguous inputs, external and internal noise, insufficient information, or imperfect information processing. By addressing each of these factors progressively, you can become someone who thrives in uncertainty. When uncertainty hits, don’t try to solve everything. First ask: Where is the uncertainty coming from? Then use the three tools for your main source of uncertainty.

Ambiguous inputs: REINTERPRET

People may delay in responding to your e-mails, give you mixed signals about the safety of your job, or make you question your relationships. This ambiguity can be threatening. Neuroscience research indicates that some people are more prone to a negativity bias, though addressing this bias can help. There are three things that you can do:²

Question your first reaction. When something is ambiguous, your first interpretation may be more negative than the situation warrants.
Pause before deciding what it means. Give your brain time to consider other explanations.
Look for a more positive possibility. Ask yourself, “What else could this mean?”

External noise: FILTER

Every day, you’ll read something about the exponential rise of AI, threats to your job, random violent events, or some global catastrophe. It’s important to stay informed, but it’s also important to make a distinction between being informed vs. constantly forewarned. There are three things you can do.

Reduce the noise: Remove unnecessary distractions when possible.
Strengthen the signal: Make what matters stand out.³
Focus on the signal: Direct attention toward relevant information.

Internal noise: SETTLE

Sometimes, you are already perturbed, worried, overwhelmed, sad, or disappointed. This internal noise can make uncertainty feel worse. In fact, in 75% of cases, people under conditions of uncertainty mispredict that bad things will happen when they do not.^4,5 There are three things that you can do.

Manage the internal noise: Do one thing to lighten the overwhelm that you are feeling
Use self-talk: Remind yourself that your brain is a natural negative exaggerator
Implement positive anticipation: Build one positive event into your day each week and look forward to it

Insufficient information: NAVIGATE

Sometimes the future is simply too unpredictable to know what will happen. You may have no idea whether your job will remain or not, or you may have no idea if you will find a relationship that you want or not. There are three things to consider here, too.

Switch from probability thinking to possibility thinking: Stop trying to predict things in unpredictable environments. Instead, visualize what you want and keep that in mind.⁶
Use existential confidence: Let your commitments determine your reality rather than the other way around.
Switch from control to observe: Rather than trying to uncontrol your life in an uncontrollable world, use your inner resources to observe and respond instead.

Imperfect processing: RESET

You may not be thinking about your future in the best way possible, or you may be limited in your resources to do any of the above. The first step is to accept that, rather than worry about it. Acceptance may help the brain become less caught up in the pain, reducing the strength with which brain systems involved in attention, emotion, and self-focused thinking converge on it.⁷ Here, too, there are three things that you can do.

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Question your prior assumptions: Often, we come to any decision-making with expectations already baked into the brain, and then try to validate what we already believe.⁸ Question these expectations. e.g., that you will not find what you want
Imagine the opposite: For brief periods of time, use self-talk to tell yourself the exact opposite of your greatest worry.⁹
Self-compassion interrupts the inner critic: Notice the criticism, respond with kindness and understanding rather than attacking yourself, and remind yourself that struggle and imperfection are part of being human.¹⁰

You don't need to use all of these strategies at once. When uncertainty strikes, identify its main source: Is the situation ambiguous? Is there too much noise outside you or inside you? Do you simply not have enough information? Or might your own thinking need adjusting? Identify the source, then choose one of the three strategies that fits. The goal isn't to eliminate uncertainty. It's to become better at knowing what to do when it arrives.

References

1. Walker, E. Y. et al. Studying the neural representations of uncertainty. Nat. Neurosci. 26, 1857–1867 (2023).

2. Harp, N. R., Nielsen, A. N., Schultz, D. H. & Neta, M. In the face of ambiguity: intrinsic brain organization in development predicts one’s bias toward positivity or negativity. Cereb. Cortex N. Y. NY 34, bhae102 (2024).

3. Fernandes, T. P., Santos, N. A. & Dahlgren, L. N. Signal-to-Noise Efficiency Explains Inter-Observer Variability in Orientation Discrimination. Vision 10, 4 (2026).

4. Sarinopoulos, I. et al. Uncertainty during anticipation modulates neural responses to aversion in human insula and amygdala. Cereb. Cortex 20, 929–940 (2010).

5. Qiao, Z., Geng, H., Wang, Y. & Li, X. Anticipation of Uncertain Threat Modulates Subsequent Affective Responses and Covariation Bias. Front. Psychol. 9, 2547 (2018).

6. Redshaw, J. & Ganea, P. A. Thinking about possibilities: mechanisms, ontogeny, functions and phylogeny. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci. 377, 20210333 (2022).

7. Aytur, S. A. et al. Neural Mechanisms of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain: A Network-Based fMRI Approach. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 15, 587018 (2021).

8. Barrett, L. F. & Miller, E. K. Categorization is ‘baked’ into the brain. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 27, 435–456 (2026).

9. Stokes, C. & Hirsch, C. R. Engaging in imagery versus verbal processing of worry: Impact on negative intrusions in high worriers. Behav. Res. Ther. 48, 418–423 (2010).

10. Šoková, B., Greškovičová, K., Halamová, J. & Baránková, M. Breaking the vicious cycles of self-criticism: a qualitative study on the best practices of overcoming one’s inner critic. BMC Psychol. 13, 266 (2025).