WHY ITS OK TO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING YET

We crave clarity. We want to know the destination before we take the first step. But throughout history, it was the explorers, rebels, and pioneers who began without a map, and created new worlds in the process.

Uncertainty isn’t a flaw of the beginning. It is the beginning. And some of the most meaningful journeys in history only found their direction after the journey began.

1. The Polynesians: masters of the unknown sea 

Long before GPS or compasses, Polynesian voyagers crossed the Pacific Ocean in double-hulled canoes, guided only by the stars, ocean swells, bird flight, and cloud patterns. They didn’t wait for certainty. They trusted the patterns of nature, the wisdom of elders, and their ability to course-correct in motion. They teach us that not knowing the whole path doesn’t mean you're lost, it means you're alive in discovery.

2. Ibn Battuta: the wanderer who became a historian 

In 1325, at the age of 21, Ibn Battuta left his home in Morocco to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He ended up traveling for nearly 30 years, across more than 75,000 miles, from West Africa to India to China. He didn’t know where his life was heading when he began. But by stepping into the unknown, he became one of the most legendary travelers and chroniclers in history. His story reminds us: uncertainty is often the birthplace of legacy.

3. The Taoist view: embrace the flow 

In Taoism, the concept of wu wei (non-forcing) invites you to move like water, without resisting the shape of the moment. You don’t need to control the direction. You simply need to move in harmony with it. “The way is formed by being walked.” You find the path through the walking, not before it.

4. Early explorers of the americas: curiosity before certainty 

Long before European colonizers redrew maps with force, Indigenous peoples in the Americas traveled across forests, rivers, and mountains, guided by instinct, the seasons, and spiritual signs. Movement wasn’t just practical, it was sacred. The beginning of a journey was a dialogue with the land, not a declaration of conquest. Their stories remind us: you don’t need to conquer the unknown, you need to be in relationship with it.

The real courage of starting without answers 

To begin without knowing is not weakness. It’s courage in its rawest form. It’s faith in the unfolding. It’s the humility to listen. It’s trusting that movement builds momentum, even when clarity is still forming.

Modern growth insight: 

You don’t need to know the entire plan to take a step. Allow room for the mystery. Let purpose emerge in motion. You’re not lost, you’re becoming.

Challenge for the week: 

Write down something you're avoiding because you “don’t have it all figured out.” Then answer this:

What is one action I can take without knowing the whole outcome? Take it. Let clarity catch up with your courage.