Stay calm in the unknown by turning anxiety into creative tension

You want stability and growth, both at once, and it ties a knot in your stomach. You write that sentence as is, and the knot loosens a little. When you put paradoxes on paper, the brain stops spinning sick stories and starts solving. You scan your body and find the heat is high in your chest, a seven out of ten. You breathe slowly, not to fix it, just to notice it. Then you design a probe. Not a life overhaul, a small test.

One manager I coached ran a safe‑to‑try probe when he was torn between leading a new product area and stabilizing his current team. He asked to spend Friday afternoons embedded with the other group for a month while keeping his usual responsibilities. After four Fridays, he had real data: the new domain excited him, but the move right now would overload home life. He postponed the switch, then set a clear plan to revisit in six months. The knot loosened because the unknown wasn’t an abyss anymore, it was a calendar entry.

When rumination spikes, you use a simple cue. Let your eyes soften and allow the faintest smile, the kind that says “interesting.” It nudges your state from threat to curiosity. During the day, you work in sprints and then step away for ten minutes: a short walk, a hot shower, even just leaning back with eyes closed. Incubation handles what concentration cannot. Your coffee is cold again, but your mind is warm.

Ambiguity tolerance grows when you name tensions, ground in the body, run reversible tests, and create space for incubation. This blends interoception (sensing internal states), behavioral experiments, and dual‑phase problem solving (focused then diffuse attention). It turns anxiety into creative tension, a fuel source you can steer.

Write down the two truths you’re holding, exactly as they sound in your head. Scan your body and rate the intensity so attention moves from story to sensation. Pick a safe‑to‑try step that honors both sides, keep it small and reversible, and schedule it. Work in a focused sprint, then take a ten‑minute incubation break and let your mind wander on purpose. When worry returns, use a soft‑eye, slight‑smile cue to re‑enter a curious state. Put the first probe on your calendar today.