Clarity. That understanding is what you need to be successful. Clarity on what you want, what you love, and what you’re passionate about will help you pursue those things with the energy and passion your life deserves. Clarity is something we would all like to possess, but sometimes we just don’t. If you feel uncertain and don’t feel as though you possess the clarity required to move forward, then you’re not alone. The world we live in is constantly changing so it’s not abnormal to feel that you lack clarity. Here are five ways to gain clarity.
- Uncover Your Identity
Who are you? Whom do you want to be? It’s easy to fall into a trap here. You start to think about what others want from and of you. Forget all of that. Shut out the outside noise and imagine that you live in a vacuum. Now, what makes you happy? What makes you feel fulfilled? On your death bed, what will you regret most? What should you start, stop, and continue to do? You only get one life to live and while you will face struggles, you must embrace them. Think about those struggles in terms of progress – nothing good comes easy. - Determine What’s Important
Who do you count as the most important person you know? Are you doing the best you can for them? Self-care is important, it’s important to do things for yourself and to have goals. Sometimes we lose clarity when we forget to consider how our goals impact others. Do your goals benefit anyone else? More importantly, is your focus on them negatively influencing people in your life? You might be pushing yourself hard thinking achieving your goal will benefit others, but you haven’t stopped to consider how the journey impacts them. When you remember others you serve yourself and it helps you gain clarity. - Identify & Avert
You have a greater sense of direction and you’ve identified who is important. Now, you have to identify what isn’t good for you. Identify your bad habits and learn to avert them. What forces your focus away from your goals? It might be people, activities or tasks. If you waste time or feed negative behavior when you do these activities or hang out with these people, cut them out. Time is non-refundable. It’s easy to waste because we just don’t know how much time we have left. Every second you waste is time that you could spend elsewhere. Remember that. - Develop Healthy Routines
By developing a healthy routine, you will soon realize just how much time you’ve been wasting. It’s incredible. A routine can highlight just how precious your moments are. Developing a healthy routine will help you gain clarity on what derails you, when you are at your best, and when you’re out of sync. It’s all about getting in your flow and riding through your day. - Face Failure Head-on
Before you can know what you do want, you need to know what you don’t want. You don’t want to eat liver, but you do like to eat chicken. You don’t like exercise, but you do like a home work-out. You don’t want to die young, you don’t want to be miserable, you don’t want to go through a breakup. When you know what you don’t want, it’s easy to fill in the rest of the blanks. That may require you to change direction. Unfortunately, sometimes before you can hang a left, you have to get through an obstacle. It’s okay to face failure. It’s how you respond to it that counts. When you fail, you pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and you go again.
Life is way too short to get caught up worrying about what doesn’t matter. You deserve to be happy, you deserve to live life how you want. To do that, you need a bit of clarity.