What if being really clear on the worst case is part of finding the best way to decide how we approach the things that often feel most daunting?
No doubt someone has asked you ‘what is the worst that can happen?’
Their question was likely an attempt to encourage you to do something daunting and to help put the whole thing into perspective.
No doubt you’ve also heard the phrase hope for the best and expect the worst.
Balancing the worst with the best case scenarios is likely obvious, if less often asked. Seeing what we are worried about alongside what we want to move closer to offers the most complete picture from which to decide.
What about when the benefits or the best case scenario may not always be clear nor feel obvious?
What about when hope feels hard to come by?
What if sometimes sitting with the worst that can happen may be enough to help us choose the best path for us in the moment.
Importantly, what if we can do more than hope and expect?
While we cannot plan for every eventuality, we can get clearer on what we do hope for and what the worst is and in the process of getting clearer decide how to approach the moment at hand.
What does knowing the worst give us?
It seems odd to suggest labouring on, even focusing on the possible negative outcome. Yet if we are not clear on what we’re most worried about we cannot make the best decisions for how to approach something. Sometimes the clarity alone may show us the worst is not as bad as we thought and spurs us to action.
This blog has written a lot about reframing failure and fear of failure, similar to thinking about the worst case scenario the approach aims to create some objectivity.
Often our fears are legitimate feelings, feelings founded on ingrained survival mechanisms that keep us safe and help us feel a sense of belonging and dignity. Sometimes the feelings, part of a physiological response may not fit the context.
In these cases, considering the genuine worst case can be useful to provide some objectivity.
That objectivity can help us consider what is really at stake as much as what feels at stake, which could still be significant. From these positions we can create better plans in the moment as well as contingency plans for those possible worst case scenarios (factoring in their potential likelihood).
For example, if I am considering making a career move and it does not work out the worst case could be unemployment. I may still decide the why behind this career move is worth that risk (every decision likely has risk and reward). Knowing this worst case scenario I can consider what is important for me to factor in and plan for in the possibility of the worst case scenario. In this case questions like what will mitigate the impact of possible unemployment?
More than expecting the worst we can understand it and think about what we can do and what will lessen its likelihood.
More than hoping for the best
In entertaining the worst case scenario we can equally entertain the best case and consider what will make these more likely and in doing so the worst case scenarios less so?
What are the conditions we can create to help us in the unknown and when it feels difficult.
Going back to the career example, what may make the move a more likely success? Is it starting part-time? Is it saving up or simply reframing expectations of how long success may take or how long you are willing to commit to the change?
Again as much as possible it is finding the balance of the best and the worst and what we need to enable the other and to help soften the fall should it not work out.
What if the prospect of the worst is greater than its likelihood
Sometimes the fear of the worst case scenario and the feelings it creates are greater than the likelihood of it happening.
The likelihood of the worst case scenario could be nearly impossible but the fear of it so strong that we cannot consider acting nor the possibility of a positive outcome that would encourage us to act.
In examining the worst case scenario it may reveal something else we need to attend to first.
There is a chance this becomes a loop of inaction, especially if the solution is to act. If so who or what will make taking that step easier? What can we do or how can we respond to our reaction to this possibility? What is the first step to moving towards action?
It may be that continuing to contemplate the change, for example that career move, creates overwhelm, still knowing that now we can either take the step or take steps to be more comfortable with that overwhelm.
Clarity helps us focus on what we can control
Sometimes the worst case may be likely and real, in which case what can we control?
How does knowing that help us better approach that possibility?
In my work with people I have noticed that acceptance of the possibility of the worst case, however likely, is often of real benefit. It allows them to focus on what they can do and be at peace with what they cannot.
There is no single path to acceptance and sometimes sitting with the possibility of the worst case scenario is part of that process. Alongside sitting with it we can still choose how we want to approach it and again with more awareness of it make a more informed choice.
To paraphrase something a mentor once said to me ignorance is not bliss it is just ignorance.
Plotting the best path with the best and worst in mind
When we sit with the worst case we not only see what really matters to us we create the clarity that enables us to choose how to approach a situation, be it a daunting step or a difficult moment.
Not only can we practically prepare for it and consider what we can do to bring about the best case scenario, we can create the conditions to find the acceptance that underpins all decisions, big or small.
And in those moments where the opportunity may be great but the prospect of the worst case feels paralysing, what is the worst case scenario in not having a go?
When faced with daunting opportunity or difficult decisions, what would being clearer on what the worst case could be give you?
Really this is about finding the clarity that helps us make the best decision in the moment, best being what matters to us, what is important for us and with the greatest awareness (always limited) of what the possibilities are.
What would it be for us to not just hope for the best and expect the worst, but to be deeply aware of both and to live from that place of greater awareness?
