Show me the person who doesn't believe better clarity could dramatically affect their business, finances and personal life and I'll show you a fool. A "freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity" is a pretty sweet deal on all fronts. The clearer you get with what you currently have; such as motivations, current situations, desires, fears, and aspirations the better off you'll be to deal with how you approach life.
The people who achieve greatness in this world get very clear about what they're here to do. They've made several big decisions, sometimes very early on, about what they want in life. What they can bring to the world, what kind of experiences they want to participate in, who they want to become and why they want to become that person. Not only do they make these decisions but they possess the character to embody them, to own them, and stick with them through whatever hurdles are thrown their way. Straying from your purpose isn't an option if you make it a part of your identity.
Achieving clarity will not occur without commitments being made. Sheer, uncompromising commitments that require wholehearted backing, about your identity and the way you'll choose to see the world. I'd like to reach down inside of your mind, if you'll let me, and show you three guaranteed steps to achieve true clarity.
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| See: your mind. |
Most of our minds work like a huge multi-lane highway without solid traffic directions. We have neural connections being made going every which way, establishing beliefs that interrupt the flow of other previously acquired belief systems. The longer you live and the more things you experience, the more lines of traffic start popping up. Crossing over each other, weaving in between and straight up ramming into one another. It's downright violent. Occasionally, a new belief flow will come along and knock the hell out of a current one that was in its way. A huge disruption will happen but the dominant belief flow will return to normal unless the new one provides persistent backup to permanently interrupt it.
No ones mental traffic will ever be perfectly organized or harmonious, but we do have control over redirecting it and establishing some rules. Eliminate belief systems that do not serve you, establish ones that do, commit to prioritizing certain belief systems and do not allow other random "traffic flows" that pop up to interfere. So although you cannot stop the inevitable interruption of a major belief flow from an outside stimulus, you can choose to constantly feed the major one so it's never interrupted permanently. Most importantly, you must be the police force of your own mental traffic. The sooner you arrive to break up a disastrous collision and the quicker you clean up your current unpleasant mental traffic the better.
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| You're here to be here. |
2. Methodically Explore Your Strengths & Weaknesses
The only way you'll ever discover your purpose in life, and therefore be able to align it with action to achieve clarity, is if you systematically explore your strengths and weaknesses. We do this naturally during our formative years, but all too often we get sidetracked or distracted by perceived failures, so we latch onto the first or second strength that we come across. Worse yet, we get attached to the idea of something that is a weakness and spend years working to become good at it, never achieving the level of excellence that would have been there if redirected to an area of natural strength.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for working on weaknesses and building upon them. The problem is that we currently have an average lifespan of just under 30,000 days. Better yet, let's call it 700,800 hours of existence. If that sounds like more than enough time to become outstanding in areas of weakness and strength, think about how quickly an hour becomes wasted. Waiting in line to get your license renewed, boom. Sixty minutes gone.
700,800 hours of existence is more than enough time to give absolute focus to key areas of your life, however, if managed properly. For this reason it's vitally important to continue exploring your strengths and weaknesses methodically well into adulthood, even if you skipped college. Don't get sucked into what's convenient, or what you're halfway decent at. If you're in this slump now, go take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself, "Do I want to live a decent life or would I rather live a driven and purposeful life?"
Just because you're currently doing something decently doesn't necessarily make it a strength. Does it drain energy from you or does it electrify you? Gauge it. No matter where you're at in skill progression, if it's a strength it will provide you with boundless energy - guaranteed. If it's zapping the life out of you, heed the warning and act upon it. Ignore the signs at your own risk.
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| Pick one, leave the rest. |
Before you can achieve true clarity you must make one thousand very important commitments. Absolute decisions that you'll have to re-commit to each and every day for the rest of your life. The first one is the easiest one, once you've done self-exploration and have determined your greatest area of strength, which is what you want out of life. If it's in relation to your career, it's who you'll become in order to build upon this strength and share what you can give to the world. If it's clarity in personal relationships, it's who you are as a mate and what you can bring to the table in that kind of partnership. Your finances, your family life, and your spirituality.
Clarity in every category can be achieved by becoming very specific in your commitments to these areas, but after making the first easy decision, you will have nine hundred and ninety-nine more decisions to make: what not to do.
Steve Jobs famously said, "Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do." Coming from the visionary who created and maintained one of the most thoroughly successful companies of the new millennium, the man was onto something. He cultivated an unparalleled environment of commitment and focus within Apple, establishing a company that went on to create revolutionary products that change the world. If Steve Jobs can do that by applying the principle to just his business, imagine what you will be able to accomplish when you put it to work for you in every aspect of your life. Total clarity.
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