One of the quiet assumptions people carry through change is that clarity should come first.

Figure it out.
Then act.
Then feel better.

But that isn’t how change actually works.

Most of the leaders I work with are not stuck because they lack insight or intelligence. They are stuck because they are waiting to feel certain before they allow themselves to move forward. They believe that not knowing yet means they are behind.

It doesn’t.

Not having it all figured out is not a problem. It is a phase.

During transitions, the old reference points stop working before the new ones are ready. Decisions may already be made. The change may already be underway. And still, internally, things feel unsettled.

That does not mean something has gone wrong.
It means orientation is still forming.

What often creates distress is not uncertainty itself, but the pressure to resolve it prematurely. People rush to conclusions, force confidence, or adopt narratives that feel tidy but incomplete. This can look like productivity. It can sound like decisiveness. But underneath, something remains unresolved.

Clarity that arrives too quickly is often borrowed, not earned.

Real clarity tends to emerge after you have lived inside the questions for a while. After you have felt what no longer fits. After you have noticed what you miss, what you resist, and what keeps asking for your attention.

This kind of knowing cannot be rushed. It has to settle.

You don’t need to map the entire future in order to take the next step. You need enough orientation to stay present and enough self-trust to tolerate the unknown.

That is not avoidance.
That is discernment.

In times of transition, the work is less about figuring everything out and more about staying in relationship with yourself while things reorganize. Paying attention to what feels unstable without immediately trying to fix it. Allowing meaning to emerge rather than forcing it into place.

If you are in a season where answers feel partial or incomplete, that does not mean you are failing the process.

It means you are in it.

You don’t have to have it all figured out.
You just have to stay engaged long enough for what’s forming to reveal itself.