Episode 226 Transcript: How to Become the Life Coach You’re Meant to Be with Levin Life Coach Academy
Nancy Levin: [00:00:00]
Welcome back to the Nancy Levin Show. Today we are talking about the very seductive trap of certainty and how waiting for everything to be perfectly planned is often what keeps us stuck.
So if you’ve ever felt frozen by the fear of making the wrong move. This episode is for you. We’re going to explore why the need for certainty can quietly sabotage our dreams, and how embracing uncertainty is actually the key to building the life you’re truly longing for.
And by the end of our conversation, you’re going to walk away with a new perspective and a few simple, powerful steps to help you move forward even when the path isn’t crystal clear, because the life you long for. It’s not waiting for perfection, it’s waiting for you. Here’s the deal. Each of us is living two lives.
First, there’s the life we show, the [00:01:00] world, the one built on expectations, routines, responsibilities. It might look polished from the outside.
It might even check all the boxes of what success is supposed to look like. But deep down, something feels off, something is missing, and then there’s the other life, the one we quietly long for.
It whispers to us in still moments. It sparks something inside when we dare to imagine it. This is the life that feels more true, more aligned, but we often write it off as too risky, too late, too unrealistic. So why do we stay in the life we’ve outgrown? Because it’s comfortable. It feels safe because somewhere along the way, we started to believe it’s all we’re capable of or it’s all we deserve.
But [00:02:00] here’s what I want you to know, that longing in your heart, it is not a fantasy. It’s your truth. It’s your soul’s compass pointing you toward the life you’re truly meant to live. So let’s look at what really keeps us stuck. We tell ourselves we need a plan. We want guarantees. We want certainty, a step-by-step map that promises no wrong turns ever.
But here’s the truth. Certainty is an illusion. You can have a plan and still life will throw curve balls. You can prepare endlessly and still feel unsure. And I know this because I’ve lived it years ago, I was a high profile event director at Hay House Publishing. I had the career, the title, the recognition.
On paper it was perfect, [00:03:00] but inside I was unraveling. I had spent so long managing the perception of others. I had spent so long projecting an image of perfection, staying polished, professional, composed, but that version of me was only half the story. And one day I did something radical. I told the truth to someone safe.
And spoke my own truth out loud. I said the thing I had worked so hard to hide, which at its core was finally admitting a truth. I had known for years the life I was living while picture Perfect felt like a performance. I wanted something more. I wanted something real. It wasn’t a [00:04:00] grand announcement. It didn’t actually come with a plan, but in that moment, something cracked open and I felt myself coming back into alignment because speaking the truth, even with a shaky voice and tear-filled eyes was the first domino.
I didn’t have certainty, but I had honesty, and that gave me something to stand on because taking action, even imperfectly, creates momentum and possibility.
Waiting for certainty only creates more waiting. And so if certainty isn’t the answer, what is?
Courage. The courage to begin without all the answers.
To trust that clarity comes through motion, not before it. I’m gonna share three practices that [00:05:00] significantly helped me move forward and can help you even when things feel unclear.
Step one is to start small. You don’t need to leap into the unknown. One step is enough. A single conversation, a new non-negotiable, a moment of honesty with someone who matters.
Small movement creates big momentum. Step two, reframe failure. I had to learn this the hard way.
Failure is not the enemy. It’s a mirror. It’s a teacher. Every misstep brought me closer to myself, so give yourself permission to be a beginner. And step three, build resilience. The more I leaned into uncertainty, the more I discovered my own strength.
I stopped needing every answer. [00:06:00] I started listening to my inner compass because the beautiful thing is that the more you practice–the braver you become. You stop asking, am I ready?
And you start saying, I’m willing. And here’s the other thing about certainty and uncertainty. With certainty. You’ve got what you’ve got with uncertainty.
You open up to a whole host of possibilities and opportunities and options and resources that were previously unavailable to you. So I’m gonna leave you with this. The life you want, the one that keeps calling to you. It doesn’t require perfection. It’s not waiting for you to be fearless. It’s simply waiting for you to take one real, honest, truthful step.[00:07:00]
Remember, movement mobilizes possibility because the life in your heart, it is not waiting for certainty. It is simply waiting for you.