Building in the storm
The storm isn't temporary.
Uncertainty isn't a phase we're passing through — it's the nature of life. We've just been hidden from its reality by decades of unprecedented stability, economic prosperity, and the privilege of living in societies that created an illusion of control over the uncontrollable.
And while we're waiting for the world to stabilise, life is happening. Skills are developing or atrophying. Relationships are deepening or dissolving. Dreams are being built or abandoned.
The question isn't whether we can wait out the storm, but whether we can learn to build within it.
The Inner Architecture of The Waiting Game
Here's what most people miss about crisis thinking: it's not really about the world ending. It's about avoiding the responsibility of living fully in an uncertain world.
Think through it. If everything's about to collapse, then why build anything? Why invest in relationships that might not last? Why develop skills that might become obsolete? Why take risks when there's no future to build toward?
The waiting game becomes a perfect excuse for staying small, not taking risks, not facing ones fear.
But there's something deeper happening here. Each generation's crisis reflects the specific challenges they refuse to face. The Y2K panic wasn't really about computers failing — it was about our growing dependence on technology we didn't understand. The Cold War anxiety wasn't just about nuclear weapons — it was about living with the reality that humans could destroy themselves.
Today's fears about AI and global conflict? They're really about our collective sense of powerlessness in systems that feel beyond our control.
The Certainty Addiction
Your brain is designed to prioritise survival over thriving. When faced with existential threats — real or imagined — it shifts into what researchers call "temporal discounting." Future rewards become less valuable than immediate safety.
This was useful when our ancestors faced genuine physical threats. But in a world where most dangers are psychological and systemic, this same mechanism keeps us trapped in short-term thinking.
The certainty addiction hijacks this system. It convinces your brain that the future is so uncertain that only immediate concerns matter. You stop planning, stop building, stop investing in anything beyond the next few months.
The result? A life lived in constant reaction mode, never quite building the momentum needed for real growth.
The Three Pillars of Storm-Proof Leadership
1. Temporal Sovereignty
Most people live at the mercy of whatever timeline the world imposes on them. News cycles, social media, cultural panic — they all demand your immediate attention and emotional investment.
Temporal sovereignty means reclaiming control over your relationship with time. It's the ability to zoom out when everyone else is zooming in, to think in decades when others think in days.
Practice this: For every crisis headline you encounter, ask yourself: "How will this matter in 10 years?" Most won't. The few that do are worth your attention, but only insofar as they inform your long-term decisions.
2. Agency Anchoring
When the world feels chaotic, it's easy to lose sight of what you actually control. Agency anchoring is the practice of continually returning your attention to your sphere of influence.
You can't control global politics, technological advancement, or societal collapse. But you can control your daily habits, your skill development, your relationships, and your response to uncertainty.
Create what I call an "Agency Inventory" — a weekly review where you list:
What you worried about that was outside your control
What you could have influenced but didn't act on
What you did influence and how it felt
This simple practice rewires your attention away from helplessness and toward empowerment.
3. Antifragile Commitment
Most people think resilience means bouncing back to where you were before. But antifragility — a concept from Nassim Taleb — means getting stronger from stress and uncertainty.
Instead of asking "How do I protect myself from change?" ask "How do I position myself to benefit from whatever comes next?"
This shifts your entire relationship with uncertainty. Instead of something to endure, it becomes raw material for growth.
The Practical Framework: Building in the Storm
The 10-Year Filter
Before making any significant decision, ask: "If I knew the world would be roughly the same in 10 years, what would I choose?" Then ask: "If I knew everything would be completely different in 10 years, what would I choose?"
The decisions that feel right in both scenarios are the ones worth making.
The Uncertainty Portfolio
Don't put all your eggs in one basket, but don't spread them so thin that nothing grows. Build a life with multiple sources of resilience:
Skills that transfer across industries
Relationships that transcend geography
Assets that hold value across economic systems
Practices that ground you regardless of external circumstances
The Present-Future Bridge
Every week, ask yourself: "What's one thing I can do this week that will matter regardless of what happens in the world?" This keeps you tethered to action rather than speculation.
The Paradox of Storm Wisdom
Here's the twist: the people who navigate uncertain times best are often those who take storm possibilities seriously — but refuse to let them paralyse their decision-making.
They prepare for disruption while building for continuity. They acknowledge uncertainty while committing to action. They stay informed about risks while remaining invested in possibilities.
This isn't denial or blind optimism. It's the recognition that regardless of what happens to the world, you still have a life to live and a self to develop.
The Real Storm
The only storm that's guaranteed is the one where you stop growing because you're too afraid of what might happen.
Every day you postpone building something meaningful because of uncertainty is a day stolen from your actual life. Every skill you don't develop, every relationship you don't deepen, every risk you don't take — these are the real casualties of the waiting game.
The world might change tomorrow. But if it doesn't, you'll want to have lived today.
Your Next Right Action
The antidote to the certainty addiction isn't ignoring the news or pretending everything is fine. It's developing the internal leadership necessary to act wisely in an uncertain world.
This week, choose one thing you've been postponing because "what's the point?" and do it anyway. Not because you're certain about the future, but because you're certain about who you want to be while you're here.
The world will keep turning. The question is: will you be turning with it, or will you be standing still, waiting for permission to live?
Written by Thomas Hatton
As a psychotherapist, Thomas seeks to empower individuals to overcome their personal challenges and achieve lasting growth. His ideal client is someone who is ready to do the deep inner work required for meaningful change.