There are no guarantees that the plans we make, the ideas we have, or the life we seek will come to fruition. As the old saying goes, man plans while God laughs.

I’ve been a reader of business publications since I was 20. In the pages of the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., and others, one thing shone through as a recurring sub-theme and it was this: Lots of folks did not know God had told us to beware of uncertainty.

I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time. Eccl. 9:11

Believing that our talents, skills, efforts, and smarts are the definitive path to success — however you define that word — without understanding the role uncertainty plays is like believing choosing to swim the English Channel on a sunny morning means storms won’t roll in so you don’t have a chaser boat. Sheer madness.

Once we accept the role of uncertainty in our lives, then we can be more flexible in our approaches to anything we do.

Whether it is writing a book, developing a software company, or learning a new skill for an industry we’d like to be in, uncertainty keeps us on our toes. Uncertainty does not allow us to get complacent.

Uncertainty becomes our discipline.

Uncertainty becomes our friend.