Living & Working Through Uncertainty: How Uncertainty Shapes Our Daily Choices


May 13
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
University of Richmond, Zoom gathering

Uncertainty is not a new human experience, but the pace and state of our world today can make it feel overwhelming. Whether it concerns the economy, our work, our relationships, or the news cycle, most of us are navigating a world that feels increasingly unpredictable. And yet, research suggests that how we respond to uncertainty matters as much as the uncertainty itself. This week, Intersections explores the psychology of uncertainty: why our brains resist it, how it quietly shapes the choices we make every day, and what it looks like to move from merely tolerating the unknown toward approaching it with greater flexibility, resilience, and even curiosity.

Meeting Details

What Will Be Explored

  • Why human beings are wired to crave predictability and certainty, and how that deep drive affects our thinking, behavior, and decision-making under pressure
  • The common coping behaviors uncertainty triggers, including excessive worrying, procrastination, micromanaging, and reassurance-seeking, and how to recognize and challenge them in ourselves
  • The difference between predicting the future and preparing for a range of possibilities, and why that shift in mindset can reduce anxiety and build resilience
  • Practical strategies for accepting and navigating uncertainty, including mindfulness, cognitive flexibility, focusing on what we can control, and exercising our sense of influence

What Attendees Will Gain

  • A better understanding of the psychological and physical ways uncertainty affects our daily lives, energy, and decision-making
  • Tools for reframing uncertainty from a threat to be avoided into a condition to be navigated with greater confidence and balance
  • Insight into how small, intentional mindset shifts can interrupt the downward spiral of worry and foster a healthier relationship with the unknown

Reflection Questions

We invite you to sit with one or more of these questions before Wednesday, or simply bring them to the conversation:

  1. Do you generally experience uncertainty as positive, negative, or neutral? Has your answer changed at different points in your life?
  2. How does uncertainty tend to affect your mood and energy levels throughout the day? Do you notice patterns in when it feels most manageable or most overwhelming?
  3. What are some of the physical signs that let you know you are in the midst of uncertainty? How does your body signal what your mind may not yet have named?
  4. How do you tend to approach uncertainty when making decisions? What strategies have served you well, and what habits have you found less helpful?
  5. Think of a time when something uncertain turned out better than you expected. What did that experience teach you about your own capacity to cope?
  6. Is there a difference between accepting uncertainty and giving up control? Where do you draw that line in your own life?

Please email Dr. Keith W. McIntosh at cio@richmond.edu, for more information about Intersections and to receive the pre-discussion materials for this session.