The First Step to Overcoming Doubt (Like an Explorer)
Fridtjof Nansen, serious doubter.
Explorers appear to us as bold figures, doubtless in their endeavors. But do they second-guess themselves like we do?
Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen sure did.
In 1888, Nansen explorer became the first to cross Greenland’s ice sheet—a 260-mile journey that took over 11 weeks to complete. His team’s motto? “Death, or the west coast of Greenland!”
Five years later, Nansen shocked the exploration world when he planned to purposely get his ship, Fram, stuck in the Arctic ice in order to take advantage of the current and become the first to reach the geographic north pole. Reckless insanity, everyone said. He did it anyway, and even though he didn’t make the pole, he set the farthest north record for the time.
The confidence of this guy, right?
But Nansen experienced the same inner turmoil as anyone else.
“We are oddly constructed machines,” he writes in Farthest North Volume 2. “At one moment all resolution, at the next all doubt.”
This from a guy who got his Phd in zoology the same year he crossed Greenland, who advised Roald Amundsen on his search for the northwest passage, who would later go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize after World War I for overseeing the repatriation of over 400,000 prisoners of war.
Doubt? Conflict? Nothing but, in fact.
Ugh! These everlasting cold fits of doubt! Before every decisive resolution the dice of death must be thrown.
Reading Nansen makes me reflect on how often I beat myself up over far more trivial ideas and goals (in a far less poetic way). How many times have I let self-doubt invent the ways I might fail? To tether me to my comfort zone? One day I’m a genius, the next an idiot. Or as Nansen puts it:
Today our intellect, our science…is not worth a pipe of tobacco…[Yet] To-morrow we throw ourselves heart and soul into these very researches, consumed with a burning thirst…Then down we sink again in disgust at the worthlessness of it all.
The unstuck Fram crew, returned from their Arctic journey, 1896.
Similar to an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, Nansen believed that a person had two souls in constant battle. One could propel him across frozen lands for months at a time. The otyer just wanted to kick back with some good tobacco. Seriously:
Let me fill a soothing pipe and be happy. No, the pipe is not a success. Twist tobacco is not delicate enough for airy dreams. Let me get a cigar. Oh, if one had a real Havana!
Of course he didn’t sit back with a cigar when his dreams beckoned him. He planned, he pursued, he rallied others around his ideas. But how? With this mindset:
Is it not in the struggle to attain knowledge that happiness consists?
Nansen knew that the struggle between self-doubt and dreams takes place at the very heart of the human condition. Happiness wouldn’t found in squashing self-doubt, but in making sure that his chosen activities were bold enough to manifest it in the first place. The struggle is the only way to attain knowledge. The only way to live!
H’m! as if dissatisfaction, longing, suffering, were not the very basis of life. Without privation there would be no struggle, and without struggle no life…
Author Steven Pressfield would agree. I recommend all of his books, but War of Art teaches to expect what he calls “resistance'“ with every expressive or important thing I want to do. Acknowledging that resistance is a good thing, or that you actually want your two souls to battle like Nansen did, that’s a tough one. But I think it’s the only way.
YOU HAVE TO LET THE BATTLE TAKE PLACE INSIDE. YOU HAVE TO EMBRACE SELF-DOUBT LIKE A WELCOMED GUEST ON YOUR JOURNEY. IT’S THERE TO TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING.
I think too much about goals I’ve failed to accomplish, and those I’ve failed to pursue. I wonder the same about explorers. How many were held up by conditions beyond their control? More so, how many people never became explorers because they failed to take the first step?
Let’s go a few steps ahead, as it were. Because as leaders, you know that helping others accept doubt isn’t like flipping a switch.
Here are 5 ways that you can help your teams overcome doubt at any point in their journeys. I’ll have other standalone videos and posts on most of these, so here is the overview.
1. Encourage a Growth Mindset
This is huge. When you reframe failures as discoveries you are emphasizing the value of setbacks. They are learning opportunities, right? Leaders can encourage team members to document lessons learned from challenges and revisit these reflections in team meetings. This practice builds resilience by shifting the focus from failure to growth. You are helping employees see each challenge as a step in their progress.
2. Foster Psychological Safety for Open Dialogue
Work on creating an environment where team members feel safe sharing their doubts. You can even set the tone by openly discussing your own challenges. What are the considerations to a particular opportunity? By being open about them, you not only show your team that doubts play a part in every decision, you give them better context to then think of better solutions. Regular “check-in” sessions to address concerns openly can also make employees feel supported without fear of judgement.
3. Use Mentorship to Normalize Doubt and Encourage Curiosity
Throughout exploration you will see a pattern of mentees taking their mentor’s efforts further. Roald Amundsen considered Fridjof Nansen a mentor. Not enough companies do this, and it’s a big miss. Think about pairing employees with mentors or more experienced team members. Encourage mentors to share their own stories of doubt and perseverance. They can then validate mentee doubts as part of the growth process. In doing so, you are not only improving institutional knowledge sharing, you’re helping to reduce the stigma around uncertainty, which is huge, especially in early stage companies.
4. Set Incremental Milestones to Cultivate a Sense of Progress
Explorers focus on one leg of the journey at a time. One day at a time. Hell, look at mountaineering and the intense focus on one step or one grip at a time. When you break down larger projects into smaller, achievable goals you help employees focus on incremental wins. Celebrating these smaller successes can maintain momentum and reduce the impact of doubt.
5. Emphasize Purpose-Driven Work
This is huge when you are trying to become a transformational leader. You don’t merely want to be a not only a “boss,” right? Remind the team of the overarching purpose behind their work, connecting it to a greater mission. Leaders can periodically revisit the team’s vision, sharing stories of past successes and challenges to reinforce the larger goals they’re working toward. Knowing they’re part of a meaningful journey, much like an explorer’s expedition, can bolster resilience in the face of doubt.