Clarity gives you peace of mind. Knowing who You are and what you have to do is vital. Not what school, parents or a manager told you that you should be. For that, you need clarity.
The rookie mistake is that people want clarity on their “mission in life”. Okay. Do you have clarity on your likes and dislikes? On your morning routine? On how to make choices or keep a relationship? Do you have a financial plan that you can envision clearly? When you expect “a mission”, by definition, you are awaiting goals and tasks to be assigned to you by… someone. There’s no such a thing. You have to decide for yourself what You will do, own the decision and own the outcome.
Let’s get to it!
Declutter can enhance clarity
Our brain has to process everything our senses perceive. It does so involuntarily. That’s why when you need to increase focus (like study for an exam) you usually need a quiet place, with reduced noise, TV turned off, etc. Physical declutter and digital declutter are esential. You can’t get clarity without focus. What meditation brings to the table is the ability to quiet your mind whenever you need to.
You also need some time alone. Go get a coffee by yourself or sit on a rock. Be with yourself for a while, at least once a week.
Avoid multitasking at all cost and pause distractions
We’ve talked here about the devastating effects of multitasking on your brain and productivity. Here’s some flash news to help you focus even more: you don’t have to answer every incoming call. You can call back. You don’t have to answer the door just because someone pushed the doorbell. Unless you are expecting someone, of course. Otherwise, it’s like ‘spam’.
If you need to get clarity on a topic, you have to pause distractions: TV, music, internet. They will just slow you down.
Sleep and eat well
We’ve talked here about the importance of sleep. In the absence of it, your results will be poor and your judgement clouded. Unfortunately there are a lot of motivational speeches on the internet that encourage you to sleep 4h/night. WRONG! You will just slaughter your neurons. Sleep is fundamental for your mind and body to regenerate. I’m not going to insist on food, as this site is not about nutrition and I would rant a lot about MSG. I will just say this and hopefully it makes sense. All living beings are able to adapt to their environment. However evolution takes millions of years or best case thousands of years. Chemicals have been introduced in our food as preservatives when mass production started. Certain chemicals are “considered safe” by FDA or similar institutes, because banning them would disrupt production and imports and cause an economic imbalance. Don’t get fooled by politics.
Try everything and keep what works for you
There is no universal solution. What helps most people may damage a few. You can’t guess what works for you. You have to try it. Because of your unique body and mind, a simple tea of some sort might be the best booster for you, versus coffee. Cold regions might be where you feel “at home”. Maybe “work from home” isn’t good for you in particular. Running a business may not be “the thing” for you.
Do you know the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter? It was a magic hat that was telling you to which House you belong to, based on your nature and skills. Well, in real life it doesn’t exist. You need to test everything and keep what works for you. Once you find out, don’t give up on those things once you get in a relationship (wink). Otherwise, you’ll just develop grudges against the person next to you.
Where do you start? Challenge the “never”. “I never did…” “I never tried…” If you never did or tried something, how do you know you will not find it awesome? Also challenge the “I will never…” unless there is some solid reason for it. “I will never go in a tank full of sharks waving a steak at them” makes sense. “I will never give up on my old car” is questionable.
What if you take a wrong path? You go back. I’ve explained it here.
Define your priorities to get clarity
I’m not talking about time management techniques here. If you were to manage a simple to-do list, it would’ve been easy. However, that’s got nothing to do with clarity. For example, it is important to pay your rent or repay loans, but that’s not your priority in life. You are not living to pay rents or repay banks. Your number 1 priority could be peace of mind or family or exploring the world. It could be spending time with your dogs, as much as you can. Of course, without undergoing some therapy, you might focus on being number 1, without questioning why you want to be an overachiever.
Btw, priorities change over time. Maybe you don’t have any familly now, so that one will not be at the top of your list. Yet, one day you may have and that day, “familly” may become your number 1 priority. You are supposed to change. You are supposed to evolve and adapt.
Put it in writing
It’s a sort of mirroring exercise, done on yourself. Put your top priorities on paper then try to read them in the third person, as if someone is stating what matters most for you. Does it sound right? Do you agree? If not, correct it.
Conclusion
Paraphrasing Jay Z, you need to “grant yourself a moment of clarity, a moment of honesty”. It will change how you approach things forever.
If you have enjoyed reading this or know someone who needs to hear all this, please go ahead and share it with your friends. Thank you!
Bonus section
Let’s get you started. Where do you enjoy spending your time most? Seaside /mountains / country side / city/ nature / cold places / warm places? Have you tried anything else? If you did and the place you keep going back to by choice is let’s say nature, in the summer, maybe that’s what you need: to live in a warm place surrounded by nature.
Do you know what the best wine / music / movie is? The one you like. Not the one acclaimed by critics or your friends. The one that You like. “The best” of something is decided based on fitness for purpose. The purpose is to make You, happy.
Most likely the last time you’ve made fully unbiased choices, you were a kid. Try to remember!
