There are at least 301 words with 11 or fewer letters in the English language that contain the word SHIP.

How do I know?

I went to www.WordFind.com, typed in S H I P, and added up the results. Sure, you can probably come up with another one or two – I’m not suggesting this is an exhaustive count, just the result of a quick bit of research I did on your behalf. You can click HERE if you want to see all of the results.

Some of them are common words you might use every day; words such as “worship,” “shipyard,” “penmanship,” and “ownership.”

Some are a bit less common, words like “shiplap,” lordship,” “township,” and “shipwright.”

And there was also a list of some I’d never heard of; including “duennaship,” “skaldship,” “chelaship,” and “shippon.”

But of all those 301 words, the most important one to help you find certainty in today’s uncertain world isn’t even on WordFind’s list.

Want to take a guess what it is?

Here’s a hint:

Think about what you need to do to prepare yourself for whatever’s going to happen next. And yes, I mean what you need to do right now, even though you don’t know what it is that’s coming next.

Let’s face it, we’re all in a state of uncertainty. We don’t know when the Coronavirus will be under control, we don’t know when we’ll be able to reopen our businesses, we don’t know when we’ll be sending our kids back to school, we don’t know when we’ll be able to travel again. We don’t know what’s going to happen with the economy, the unemployment rate, or the upcoming election. In fact, the only thing we’re certain about is that there’s going to be plenty more turmoil and confusion and there’s a good chance that things are going to get worse before they get better.

Clearly, the actions we’re going to have to take – and the pivots we’re going to have to make – are going to require know-how, vision, and courage. And one more thing. Because while we don’t know what’s awaiting us right around the corner, we do know that we have to keep moving forward to try and find our way.

Think about the last time you went to the circus. Remember craning your neck to look up and watch the trapeze artists? Remember how scared you were for them as they hurled themselves into the air and sailed through the sky until they were caught by their teammates?

To do that they needed the same exact three things you need to find your way to success through all the failure you’re seeing all around: know-how, vision, and courage.

1. Think of their know-how the same way you think of  your job skills. Just like the trapeze artists know exactly how to time their swings and how to properly grab their teammates’ wrists, you know how to do your job and apply your skills, talents, experience, and conditioning to get the task done too.
2. Vision is the ability to see what’s going to happen before it does. The men and women swinging back and forth above our heads can already see the proffered hands of their troupe members long before the open hands are actually in place. Likewise, you can predict what’s going to happen to your clients, your patients, your customers, your audience or whomever else it is you provide services for long before the opportunity to help actually presents itself.
3. Courage? I don’t think I need to point out the courage it takes for an aerialist to fling themselves into the air hundreds of feet above the ground and hope there’s going to be someone there to catch them. But you show the same courage every time you throw yourself into the marketplace and put your reputation, your finances, and let’s face it – your ego – on the line. Sure, failing might not be quite as dangerous or fatal as falling, but it still hurts.

Beyond those three attributes, there’s one more thing that both you and the trapeze artists depend on to accomplish goals and achieve success. And it’s the most valuable “ship” word of all.

Simply put, the word is “Relationship.”

And right now is the perfect time for you to create them, build them, enhance them, and strengthen them. Because no matter what’s coming next, we can all face it better together thanks to our relationships.